Remember a couple of years ago when gasoline prices floated between $4 and $5 a gallon for most of the summer? According to the federal Energy Information Administration, 2022 was a year of high energy prices overall.
ƵIn 2022, energy expendituresƵor the amount of money U.S. consumers spent on energyƵincreased 22% from 2021 to more than $1.7 trillion when adjusted for inflation, according to our State Energy Data System (SEDS),Ƶ the EIA reported Wednesday, Aug. 28.
ƵMore money was spent on energy in the United States on an inflation-adjusted basis in 2022 than in all but two years in our records. Higher U.S. energy prices in 2022 compared with 2021, particularly higher petroleum prices for transportation, caused most of the increase in total U.S. energy expenditures.
ƵPetroleum and natural gas prices were relatively high in 2022 in part due to RussiaƵs full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Prices have since fallen as global energy markets have adjusted to new trade patterns for crude oil and natural gas production has set new records in the United States.Ƶ
Adjusted for inflation, the two years that total energy costs were higher than 2022 were 2008 and 2011.
Lately gasoline prices have been in the range of $3 to $3.40 a gallon here in the Tri-State, although they are higher in some regions nearby.
Electricity prices are always a concern, and indications are they could jump higher in the next year or two.
ItƵs easy to overlook energyƵs role in our regionƵs economy. We have the Marathon Petroleum refinery at Catlettsburg, Kentucky. Pipelines carry natural gas, petroleum and petroleum products through the area. High-voltage power lines crisscross the region. Within a two-hour drive of Huntington are at least 19 electricity generating stations of various sizes Ƶ five coal, six natural gas, one biomass and seven hydroelectric. That doesnƵt count the number of small solar installations whose number continues to grow.
Energy use and production are changing. There are more electric vehicles on the road, and automakers are producing more gasoline-electric hybrids. Rooftop solar is common, and large manufacturing operations have their own solar farms to hold down their energy costs.
Yet energy matters are rarely discussed in the political realm unless they are tied to climate change or local emergencies. Candidates for governor rarely talk about how they would influence statewide energy policy, and national candidates tend to react to the controversies of the moment.
The availability and price of energy are legitimate matters of public conversation. They need to be discussed during political campaigns and legislative sessions. Public officials canƵt control energy markets, but they can contribute to economic and political environments that promote the availability and cost of energy in ways that benefit consumers, business and institutional users.
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