US gas-fired power jumps about 13% in a day as wind output drops, Oct 21–22
US natural gas power output rose to 237,613 megawatthours (MWh) in the first hour of Oct 22, Coordinated Universal Time, about 13% more than a day earlier, as wind output dropped. Demand stayed normal.
A data update from FactIQ, written from Energy Information Administration figures. What is FactIQ?
Key figures
- Hourly natural gas power generation, contiguous US, first hour of Oct 22 (Coordinated Universal Time)
- 237,613 MWhup from 210,974 and 206,977 in the same hour on the two previous days; about 13% higher in a day2026-10-202026-10-22Hourly Net Electricity Generation from Natural Gas in the United States Lower 48 States (UTC Time)
- Hourly wind power generation, contiguous US, late Oct 21
- 13,000–17,000 MWhdown from about 55,000–57,000 early on Oct 21; recovered to 42,411 by the latest hour2026-10-202026-10-22Hourly Net Electricity Generation from Wind in the United States Lower 48 States (UTC Time)
- Peak hourly electricity demand, contiguous US, Oct 22–23
- 498,000–502,000 MWhnormal autumn levels2026-10-212026-10-23Hourly Electricity Demand for the Lower 48 United States (UTC Time)
Gas-fired plants made up for a drop in wind power
The data cover the Lower 48, meaning the contiguous United States. They come from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Hourly figures are in megawatthours (MWh), the electricity produced in one hour. Times are in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
Gas-fired generation shows how much natural gas power plants burn. That makes it an important source of demand for gas. In the first hour of Oct 22 (UTC), gas plants generated 237,613 MWh. In the same hour on the two days before, they generated 210,974 MWh and 206,977 MWh. That puts gas output at the evening peak up about 13% in a day.
Wind output fell steeply on Oct 21, then partly recovered
- Early on Oct 21 (UTC), wind farms produced about 55,000–57,000 MWh an hour.
- Later that day, wind output fell to roughly 13,000–17,000 MWh an hour.
- By the latest hour in the data, wind output had recovered to 42,411 MWh.
Demand for electricity did not cause the rise in gas use
Electricity demand in the Lower 48 stayed at normal autumn levels. It peaked at around 498,000–502,000 MWh an hour on Oct 22–23. The rise in gas-fired generation came from a change in which sources supplied power, not from higher demand.
Source: Energy Information Administration. See all EIA data in FactIQ.
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More from EIA
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- US nuclear outages reach 19,936 MW on Oct 21 as fall refuelling peaksOctober 21, 2026
- US Lower 48 power demand peaks at 498,372 MWh, above forecast, as gas output jumpsOctober 21, 2026
- US nuclear outages hold at 19,860 MW on October 20, 2026, near the fall peakOctober 20, 2026