EIA Reports

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
WASHINGTON DC 20585

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 1, 1998

Growth of U.S. Energy Consumption Slows as Economy Expands

During 1997, a year when the Nation's economy expanded by almost four percent, energy consumption grew by less than one percent -- the lowest year-to-year growth in six years. Weather was the major cause; a warm winter and very cool summer compared to last year resulted in lower than expected energy consumption.

Because domestic energy production in 1997 did not keep pace with consumption, energy net imports rose to an all-time high according to the Annual Energy Review 1997, released today by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Petroleum continues as America's largest energy import with neighboring countries or territories (Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Venezuela) accounting for over half of petroleum net imports into the United States.

The report also reveals the following milestones and trends:

In 1993 imports of petroleum exceeded domestic production for the first time, and in 1997 reached an all-time high.
Petroleum net imports are increasingly coming from countries in the Western Hemisphere. In 1997 our Nation's oil supplies that came from Venezuela alone matched the total volume of oil coming to the United States from the Persian Gulf.
Coal production and consumption rose to all-time highs in 1997. Nearly 90 percent of coal consumption was for electricity generation.
Nonutility power producers now account for 12 percent of the Nation's electric power production, and they rely heavily on natural gas while conventional utilities mainly use coal. The expanded coverage of the electric power industry in this year's report reveals recent trends in the industry as it enters a period of radical restructuring.
The number of operable commercial nuclear power units peaked at 112 in 1990, and no new nuclear units have been ordered since 1978. Units ordered but canceled prior to construction (124 between 1953 and 1997) and shutdowns (25 within the same period) far outnumber the 107 units operable at the end of 1997.

Annual Energy Review 1997 can be accessed electronically from EIA's World Wide Web site at http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/contents.html. Printed copies of the report will be available on or before July 14, 1998 from the U.S. Government Printing Office, (202) 512-1800, or through EIA's National Energy Information Center, (202) 586-8800.

The report described in this press release was prepared by the Energy Information Administration, the independent statistical and analytical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy. The information contained in the report and the press release should be attributed to the Energy Information Administration and should not be construed as advocating or reflecting any policy position of the Department of Energy or any other organization.

EIA Program Contact: Leigh Carleton, (202) 586-1132
EIA Press Contact: National Energy Information Center, 202/586-8800

EIA-98-13

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