Rising fuel costs, especially those of natural gas, drove up wholesale electricity prices in all U.S. regions in 2021, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in an analysis on Friday. Average wholesale prices for electricity at all major trading hubs in the United States were higher in 2021 than in 2020 as a result of the rising costs of the fuels used for power generation. Natural gas accounts for the single largest share of U.S. electricity generation and represented 40 percent of the fuel used for power in 2020. “The cost of natural gas is a significant driver of electricity prices because it often acts as the marginal (highest cost) fuel of generating units that operators dispatch to supply electricity,” the EIA said. Apart from generally higher natural gas prices in 2021 compared to 2020, the Texas Freeze in February 2021 also led to spikes in regional wholesale electricity […]