The US oil and gas industry stands poised to expand the natural gas share of the nation’s electric power mix of fuels under the current administration’s Clean Power Plan (CPP).

The CPP, deemed the signature accomplishment of President Barack Obama’s environmental legacy with its design to slash US greenhouse gas emissions, would increase the market share of gas among power fuels by 33% by 2020, according to the EIA. But could President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt—who has sued to block the CPP—for EPA Administrator squelch that growth opportunity? Without CPP, EIA projects a mere 8% gain for gas by 2020.

However, Platts RigData’s latest RADAR Report notes that US gas producers have doubled market share in the power sector since 1990 without the benefit of a CPP—purely on the strength of a massive new unconventional gas resource that has made natural gas cheaper than coal. Given ongoing momentum for gas-fired power replacing coal-fueled electricity, Platts RigData suspects the gain in the next 4 years may be <33% but >8%.

For more information on the RADAR Report, call 800-371-0083.