Warmer weather and higher natural gas prices helped to increase utility coal burn in May, 

the US Energy Information Administration said Tuesday. 

In  its  latest  monthly  Short-Term  Energy  Outlook,  the EIA estimated coal consumption 

increased by 24.4% or 9.6 million st month on month to 48.9 million st. 

EIA said coal accounted for 27.6% of May generation, compared with 32% from gas-fired 

facilities. In April, coal accounted for 25% of generation and gas 31.5%. 

In May, the average spot Henry Hub natural gas price was $3.15/MMBtu, up 5 cents comp

ared  with  April. Prices  are  expected  to stay near $3.20/MMBtu through October before 

climbing at the end of the year to $3.43/MMBtu. 

Despite the additional coal burn, the EIA estimates utility stockpiles grew slightly in May, w

ith inventories up less than 1% to 164.1 million st. 

The agency predicts warmer weather should increase June coal burn to 59.5 million st and 

diminish stockpiles to 158.5 million st at month's end. 

Coal  consumption  should  increase  to 71.4 million st in July and peak at 72.5 million st in 

August when summer cooling demand is in full force.