ISO-NE publishes amounts, sources of electric energy used to meet demand in 2022

ISO New England has published a breakdown of the amount of electricity produced by generators in New England and imported from other regions to satisfy all residential, commercial, and industrial customer demand from the power grid in 2022.

Total production for the year, known as net energy for load (NEL), amounted to 118,878 gigawatt-hours (GWh). This number was calculated by adding total electricity generation and price-responsive demand reduction within New England to net imports from and exports to neighboring regions, then subtracting the energy used to operate pumped storage power plants. Numbers are preliminary, pending the resettlement process.

Output from solar installations increased by about a third from 2021 to 2022, rising to 3,607 GWh or 3 percent of NEL. That made solar a bigger contributor than refuse, which saw a modest decline in output in 2022. Wind power was relatively steady from year to year at 3 percent of NEL.

Oil played a larger role in 2022 than in 2021, reflecting rising prices for the region’s main energy fuel, natural gas, that made oil more economical at certain times of the year. Oil accounted for 1,844 GWh, or 2 percent of NEL.

The chart below contains a brief breakdown of the resources used to meet NEL in 2022. More detailed information is available on the Resource Mix webpage.

Energy source	Energy produced (in gigawatt-hours)	Percentage of NEL
Natural gas	53,829	45%
Nuclear	27,386	23%
Net imports	16,780	14%
Hydro	7,734	7%
Wind	3,874	3%
Solar	3,607	3%
Refuse	2,813	2%
Wood	1,897	2%
Oil	1,844	2%
Landfill gas	421	0.4%
Coal	320	0.3%
Other	70	0.06%
Price-responsive demand	43	0.04%
Methane	39	0.03%

Note: Percentages shown may not sum correctly due to rounding. Historical data on consumer demand for electricity, and how that demand was met, is available in spreadsheet form on the Net Energy and Peak Load webpage