What’s Keeping the Lights On?

Welcome to Grid Brief! Today we’re looking at power generation and power prices in America’s power markets, with news items where relevant.

What’s Keeping the Lights On?

Let’s start with a snapshot of generation nation-wide:

Natural gas and nuclear were the top generators in the country. Coal, wind, and solar fought it out for third place.

And here’s a map to orient you as we move through the market areas:

ISO-NE

Natural gas, nuclear, and coal were the biggest generators in New England. Total generation fell over the week.

Real-time prices remained relatively within keeping of day-ahead prices.

New England’s capacity auction saw a huge price increase.

“Capacity prices were significantly higher than last year’s auction returned,” reports Utility Dive. “The final results reflect a clearing price of $3.58 per kW-month across all zones and import interfaces, about a 38% increase over last year’s results.”

PJM

Natural gas, nuclear, and coal kept America’s largest power market humming.

Real-time and day ahead prices were well coupled until the end of the week when several price spikes rolled in.

PJM and three other ISOs published a proposal to improve natural gas and electricity sector coordination. “Electric reliability is increasingly reliant on the inter-relationship between the electric markets and well-functioning gas markets as well as the availability of adequate natural gas infrastructure,” reads the proposal.

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