[thackney]

From your link:

I got motivated to build a small spreadsheet using tables 1.1 and 3 from the Energy Information Agency’s 2008 US Electric Power Monthly publication.

The more current data will show a continued trend for less petroleum liquid used (which still includes the near-tar residual oil)

Table ES1.A. Total Electric Power Industry Summary Statistics, 2013 and 2012
http://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.cfm?t=epmt_es1a

Table 1.1. Total Electric Power Industry Summary Statistics, 2011 and 2010
http://www.eia.gov/electricity/annual/html/epa_01_01.html

Petroleum like diesel is too expensive to use for Electrical Power Generation except when special conditions make the options even more costly (like a remote Alaskan Village).

Most of the growth in electrical power generation the last few years has come from Natural Gas.

[DoughtyOne]

I wondered if other sources might indicate an even larger decline. I thought they might, because I believe we did used to use more petroleum based plants.

Right now there’s a big 995 gigawatt plant in Bangor, Maine being sold.