A trend? Arguably, that capital expenditure number is only going up, for dozens of reasons, but the main one is electricity use across the country is due to rise anywhere from 11 % to 17% by 2015, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Among other things, that will require more than 50 gigawatts (GW) of new generation capacity. By 2030, demand will have risen 1.5% every year, and the nation will need a total of 347 GW of new capacity — almost a third more than what we currently have. To build it all will likely require a total investment of more than $300 billion (in 2005 dollars). Energy efficiency efforts and investment will help keep those demand totals where they are; without efficiency gains, they could be a good 200 GW greater.
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