LANSING – The demand for energy in

Michigan is projected to increase across all sectors in 2015, assuming a return

to normal summer weather and reflecting continued price advantages in the

natural gas and petroleum markets, the Michigan Agency for Energy said Friday

in releasing its Summer 2015 energy appraisal report.

Commercial and residential customers

will benefit through lower heating and cooling bills, as well as lower prices

at the pump, the report concluded, while industrial customers and shippers of

manufacturing goods could also benefit from a 25 percent reduction in diesel

prices.

In the electric market, assuming

normal weather, the agency expects total electric sales for 2015 to increase by

1.4 percent to 104.1 thousand gigawatt hours compared to 102.7 thousand

gigawatt hours in 2014.

A return to normal summer weather

would also contribute to commercial and residential sector growth as demand for

cooling increases, the report found. In contrast, industrial sector demand is

expected to be relatively flat, with only 0.2 percent growth.

Natural gas sales in Michigan are

also expected to increase by 1.3 percent, even with expected consumption

declines for the residential, commercial and industrial sectors. Higher demand

in the electric generation sector is expected to increase total annual natural

gas sales in Michigan for 2015 to 853.4 billion cubic feet, an increase over

2014 consumption of 842.2 billion cubic feet.

Assuming a return to normal summer

weather, demand in the electric power sector is expected to increase as a

result of higher demand for air conditioning. In addition to weather-influenced

demand, consumption for electricity generation is likely to be heavily

influenced by the price of natural gas, the agency said in a statement.

On petroleum, the report expected

that strong U.S. employment growth coupled with reduced gasoline prices will

contribute to increased gasoline consumption of 1.4 percent in 2015. Much of

the growth can be attributed to sharp decreases in global crude oil prices, the

agency said.

Gasoline sales in Michigan are

expected to follow a recent trend of positive growth and are projected to

increase by 1 percent in 2015, marking the third straight year of gasoline

consumption growth.

Finally, diesel fuel sales in

Michigan are projected to increase by 1.2 percent in 2015 following robust

growth of 5.9 percent in 2014 that came as a result of expanding industrial

production as well as increased demand following a colder-than-normal winter.

This story was published by Gongwer

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