Natural gas overtook coal as the top source of U.S. electric power generation for the first time ever earlier this year, a milestone that has been in the making for years as the price of gas slides and new regulations make coal more risky for power generators.
The research company SNL Energy in a new report using data from the U.S. Energy Department says about 31 percent of electric power generation in April came from natural gas, and 30 percent from coal.
A drilling boom that started in 2008 has boosted U.S. natural gas production by 30 percent and made the United States the world&apos;s biggest producer of oil and natural gas. Hydraulic fracturing has allowed energy companies to tap huge volumes of gas trapped deep underground in shale formations.