Natural gas consumption set a record in January.
The lower 48 states consumed a record 141.5 billion cubic feet of gas on Jan. 16. That beat the previous record of 137.8 billion cubic feet on Dec. 23, 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The 2022 record occurred during Winter Storm Elliott, when temperatures plunged into the single digits and below zero right before the Christmas holiday.
The agency attributes the high consumption last month to a prolonged period of Arctic air over much of the country.
Demand for residential and commercial heating increased, as well as for electricity.
Gas consumption averaged more than 130 billion cubic feet a day from Jan. 14 to Jan. 21.
West Virginia is the nation’s fourth largest producer of gas, according to federal data.