U.S. power consumption was on track to rise to record highs in 2022 and 2023 as the economy grows, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its Short Term Energy Outlook (STEO) on Tuesday. The EIA projected power demand will climb to 4,010 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2022 and 4,019 billion kWh in 2023 from 3,930 billion kWh in 2021. That compares with an eight-year low of 3,856 billion kWh in 2020, depressed by the pandemic, and an all-time high of 4,003 billion kWh in 2018. EIA projected 2022 power sales would hold at 1,477 billion kWh for residential consumers, but rise to 1,363 billion kWh for commercial customers as more people return to work in offices and 1,026 billion kWh for industrials. That compares with all-time highs of 1,477 billion kWh in 2021 for residential consumers, 1,382 billion kWh in 2018 for commercial […]