Welcome to Grid Brief! Today, we’re taking our weekly look at what’s keeping the lights on in America’s power markets.

What’s Keeping the Lights On?

It’s time for our weekly breakdown of generation in America’s power markets. As ever, all data is pulled from the Energy Information Administration’s grid monitor.

Here’s a look at the generation mix nation-wide.

This gives us a clue for how the week should look: natural gas as the all-star, coal nipping at nuclear’s heels for second place, and wind gaining steam throughout.

Here’s a map of America’s energy markets to help you orient yourself.

ISO-New England

Natural gas, nuclear, and hydro kept New England humming.

New York ISO

New York looks very similar to New England, but with nuclear briefly edging out natural gas followed by hydro overtaking nuclear. Wind had a few flare ups and then lulled.

PJM

Natural gas and nuclear weren’t too far apart from each other in America’s largest power market. Coal played a distant third to nuclear. PJM submitted to FERC its penalties for non-performers during Winter Storm Elliott.

MISO

Midcontinent Independent System Operator had the usual three at the head of the pack—natural gas, coal, and nuclear—save for the moments when wind turned in a solid performance.

ERCOT

Natural gas was the stand out in the Lone Star state until the wind came roaring in. After that, solar and coal traded off third place. The Public Utility Commission of Texas recently launched a working group to make the state a hotbed for advanced nuclear power plants. Read more about that here.

Southwest Power Pool

Another big performance for wind took place in SPP. Normally, their generation graph shows a wild dance between natural gas, coal, and wind. There’s a little of that at the beginning of the week, but once wind swells into first place, it stays there. SWPP recently announced its expansion deeper into western territory. Read about that here.

CAISO

Natural gas and solar traded off in California for first place while hydro, wind, and nuclear vied for third.

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Conversation Starters

• France’s major utility’s power contracts are sluggish to start. “A trial EDF launched last month for a new wholesale model of auctioning electricity to be delivered in 2027 and 2028 has so far met little success, with just one contract sealed amid uncertainty over future regulation of French nuclear power, data from the state-owned power group showed on Tuesday. EDF launched the trial on Sept. 27 in a bid to get better visibility on its revenues, targeting the sale of power to competitors like oil major TotalEnergies, gas company Engie and traders,” reports Reuters. “If the current auction trial fails, however, it would weaken the position of EDF CEO Luc Remont who promotes long-term contracts as the basis for the group's economic model after 2025. According to EDF data as of Oct. 3, the 10 auctions organised so far resulted in only one contract clinched on Sept. 28 for electricity to be delivered in 2028 at a price of 86 euros per megawatt hour (MWh).”

• Illegal oil refinery fire kills over a dozen in Nigeria. “An explosion and fire at at an illegal oil refinery site in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region killed at least 15 people, including a pregnant woman, residents and a local environmental rights group reported Tuesday,” reports the Washington Post. “The blast happened Monday in the southern River state’s Emohua district, where illegal refineries are common. Residents said the death toll was likely to grow because many of the bodies were completed burned and dozens of people were injured.”

• Qatar unveils a titanic LNG project. “The Emir of Qatar has laid the foundation stone for the world’s largest LNG project, the North Field expansion project, which will boost Qatar’s export capacity by 48 million tons per annum (mmtpa) by 2027, state giant QatarEnergy said on Tuesday,” reports Oilprice.com. “The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani was joined by QatarEnergy’s President and CEO, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, who is also the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, in the ceremony at the Ras Laffan Industrial City.”

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