The United States has transformed natural gas from a fuel the Department of Energy declared had “no future” in 1977 into the backbone of the national power grid, now supplying 43 percent of U.S. electricity and positioning the country as the world’s largest producer and net exporter. This reversal is not merely historical; electric cooperatives like Rayburn Electric Cooperative in Texas are actively expanding gas-fired capacity, purchasing a 758-megawatt combined-cycle plant in 2023 and adding 570 megawatts of black-start capable peaking turbines to ensure grid resilience.
The turnaround traces a half-century arc of technological convergence. Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing unlocked vast shale reserves, while advances in combined-cycle turbine efficiency — exemplified by the Siemens units at Rayburn’s Sherman station — dramatically improved the economics of gas-fired generation. Policy shifts, including the 1978 Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act’s eventual repeal and the 1992 Energy Policy Act’s opening of wholesale markets, created the commercial framework for private investment to scale these technologies.
Rayburn’s Sherman facility illustrates why gas retains a strategic role even as renewables grow. The combined-cycle baseload units provide steady, efficient power, while the adjacent peaking turbines — each capable of black-start operation — can restart the grid without external power after a blackout. This modularity allows maintenance without taking the entire station offline, and the compact footprint eases siting. For a cooperative serving distribution co-ops northeast of Dallas, these attributes translate directly into reliability and cost control for member-owners.
The fuel’s dominance also reflects a pragmatic reality: gas-fired generation balances the intermittency of wind and solar, which together supply 24 to 30 percent of U.S. power depending on season. Nuclear holds steady near 18 percent, while coal has fallen to just above 16 percent. No single technology displaced coal; rather, gas provided the flexible, lower-carbon alternative that could scale rapidly and integrate with evolving market structures.
Energy security considerations reinforce the trajectory. Domestic abundance insulates the U.S. from global price shocks that have roiled European and Asian markets, and export capacity — liquefied natural gas terminals along the Gulf Coast — converts that surplus into geopolitical leverage. The Rayburn expansion, with turbines sourced from Siemens’ Swedish facility, also underscores the global supply chains that now underpin domestic energy infrastructure.
Read the full report at Energy Central.