By Andrew Iraola
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that natural gas consumption in the United States will increase 1% to set a record of 91.4 bcf/d (2.5 x 109 m3/d) in 2025. In its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, the EIA expects natural gas consumption to increase across all sectors except for electric power, which had been the source of most natural gas consumption growth in the previous decade.
Natural gas consumption was high in the beginning of the year, driving its forecast. In January, US natural gas consumption was a record 126.8 bcf/d (3.5 x 109 m3/d), 5% more than the previous record set in January 2024, according to data in the EIA’s Natural Gas Monthly.
In February 2025, US natural gas consumption was 115.9 bcf/d (3.2 x 109 m3/d), 5% more than the previous February consumption record set in 2021. Natural gas consumption in these winter months was driven in part by colder weather, including a polar vortex event in mid-January.
US natural gas consumption typically peaks in January or February, when demand for space heating in the residential and commercial sectors is greatest. According to household data from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, 45% of homes use natural gas as their primary heating fuel.
The EIA estimates that US natural gas consumption decreased this spring and summer, compared with consumption over the same period last year, especially in the electric power sector. Natural gas remains the most prevalent source of electricity generation in the United States, but so far in 2025 natural gas has lost market share in the electric power sector to coal, solar, and wind.
The EIA expects increases in natural gas consumed in the residential and commercial sectors to offset decreases in natural gas consumed in the electric power sector. The agency currently forecasts US natural gas consumption will decrease slightly in 2026, due in part to expected milder weather in the winter months and therefore less consumption in the residential and commercial sectors.
About The Author
Andrew Iraola is a research analyst for the US Energy Information Administration.
