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The smoky air that choked the northeastern U.S. this week moderated on Friday, and the National Weather Service said air quality improved along most of the Eastern Seaboard.
The haze caused by ~400 wildfires burning in Canada, many of them in Quebec, remains severe enough for the weather service to issue air quality alerts for parts of the Carolinas and the Southeast, as well as in some areas of Texas and Oklahoma.
U.S. power generators were forced to burn more natural gas to produce electricity this week than usual, according to U.S. and regional power data, as Canadian fires blocked solar panels and interfered with wind power.
The amount of U.S. power generated by solar so far this week fell to just 4% of the total, compared with an average of 5% during the past month, and wind power dropped to 5% of total generation so far this week vs. a recent high of 12% in the week ended May 12.
As a result, power generators were forced to raise the amount of electricity generated by gas to 45% this week, up from 40% in recent weeks, which has helped to boost gas prices by ~9% over the five days before Friday.
ISO New England said gas-fired plants were providing 61% of power generated Friday morning, well above 2022’s average of 52%, as reduced solar production increased the amount of power that consumers pulled from the grid.
Nymex natural gas (NG1:COM) for July delivery -2.4% Friday to $2.295/MMBtu.
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Image and article originally from seekingalpha.com. Read the original article here.