Energy supplies and prices are major economic factors in the United States, and energy markets are volatile and unpredictable. Thus, energy policy has been a recurring issue for Congress since the first major crisis in the 1970s. As an aid in policy making, this book presents a current and historical view of the supply and consumption of various forms of energy. This book analyzes the competition between coal, natural gas and petroleum used for electricity generation by estimating what is referred to by economists as the elasticity of substitution among the fuels.