U.S. natural gas consumption set records in January as homes and businesses warded off a mid-month arctic blast, the Energy Information Administration reported Tuesday.

The 141.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas used Jan. 16 broke a one-day record set Dec. 23, 2022. The daily average of 118 billion cubic feet per day for the month also set a record, according to EIA, citing data from S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Nearly half of U.S. electricity — 49% — was generated by natural gas between Jan. 14 and 18, up from 42% at the beginning of the month, the EIA estimated.

President Biden has declared climate change the existential threat of our time and set a goal for U.S. electricity to be carbon-free by 2035. Fossil fuel consumption and production, however, are setting records.

The EIA also projects exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) will continue to rise, despite the Biden administration pausing new exports to countries with which the U.S. does not have a free-trade agreement.

The U.S. produced 106 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day and 13.3 million barrels of crude oil per day in December, both records.

Natural gas and crude oil production fell slightly in January. The EIA attributed the declines to cold-weather interpretations in production.

Crude oil production will bounce back to more than 13 million barrels per day in February, while natural gas production will reach 105 billion cubic feet per day by March, the EIA predicted in a new energy outlook Tuesday.

The EIA forecast that liquefied natural gas exports will rise to 14.4 billion cubic feet in 2025 from 11.8 billion cubic feet per day in 2023.

The Biden administration got laudatory tweets from Al Gore, the Sierra Club and others for its announcement in late January on LNG exports. The pause, however, does not apply to export projects already approved.

The U.S. is on pace to double LNG export capacity by the end of the decade, according to the Department of Energy.

“This increased capacity has and will continue to support our European, Asian and other allies,” the department said in a statement.

Snake River dams ramp up

In the Northwest, demand for energy supplied by the Bonneville Power Administration peaked the morning of Jan. 13. BPA said hydroelectricity, particularly the four lower Snake River dams, ramped up to meet the demand.

Lower Granite, Little Goose and Lower Monumental and Ice Harbor dams reduced generation overnight and ramped up to more than 1,100 megawatts during peak daytime hours between Jan. 13-16, the BPA reported.

The Biden administration announced in December it will undertake or help fund studies on replacing the four dams to help inform Congress if it considers breaching the dams to help salmon runs.