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| Wednesday Feb 17, 2021 | |
| This week saw (and continues to see) North American energy markets behave in ways that were unimaginable in all but the most outlying of scenarios. It was no secret that the coldest weather in the past several winters was en route: we issued an alert to clients in early January noting that several meteorological forecasts were indicating the potential for a polar vortex to setup. But the intensity of the cold exposed the impacts of a variety of fundamental shifts that have been developing in the markets the past few years. Those shifts combined with widespread supply-side disruptions to drive gas and power prices to record highs that were leagues beyond previous highs. While the brunt of the cold action put its bullseye on Texas and the Midwest, its effects ... » read more | |
| Tuesday Feb 16, 2021 | |
| In sport, the saying goes 'records are meant to be broken' when an athlete or team plays at their highest level on a given day or over a period of time. For example, a track athlete that is performing at the World Championship or Olympics runs a race for the ages and beats the World Record that has stood for decades, that is an achievement in and of itself. In team sport, the Boston Celtics of the 50's and 60's was the team to beat as Bill Russell and company reeled off 11 championships. Along came this athlete named Michael Jordan, who put together six NBA championships where they consisted of two three-peat runs with two years off in the middle. The most recent record setting athlete playing in a team sport is that of Tom Brady who won his 7th Super Bowl with the ... » read more | |
| Monday Feb 15, 2021 | |
| The latest EnergyGPS Special Report, titled 'ERCOT's Red River Showdown', details what is happening in the Lone Star State as Mother Nature takes on the ERCOT footprint. As it has been well documented in our ERCOT Market Flashes over the past two weeks, colder weather was going to push down from the north unlike anything the state has ever seen. Figure 1 | Weather Pattern over the Weekend As a result of such, the power demand numbers were substantially higher compared to other winter months over the years. In fact, as we rolled into the middle of last week, the power demand numbers were going to exceed the peak summer levels seen over the past two years if not record breaking since the inception of ERCOT. Figure 2 | ERCOT Net Load Profile - Daily The graph above ... » read more | |
| Friday Feb 12, 2021 | |
| We are looking at more tumultuous times in US energy markets. Over the last few days we’ve been writing about the cold weather enveloping the country. Temperatures in Dallas are projected to decline throughout the weekend. The forecast for Monday is a low of 2 degrees and a high of 15. And yes, we are talking about Fahrenheit. Natural gas prices in certain markets have risen into the double digits. Pipelines are experiencing deliverability challenges and intra-day gas supplies are uncertain and volatile. This is a bona fide event in electricity and gas markets. I spend a lot of time working on ERCOT wind and solar transactions. I have a soft spot in my heart for the players in that market. I worry about the unhedged project when prices are low. I also worry about those with fixed ... » read more | |
| Thursday Feb 11, 2021 | |
| The weather forecast in Portland, OR over the next 72 hours is calling for the streets to be blanketed with snow and the daytime highs to not get over the freezing level on Friday. It happens a couple of times each winter, when the schools close (wait most schools are not in session), sporting events are postponed (once again already happening) and everyone works from home due to the icy conditions on the road (hmmmm, already doing that). I guess the world we live in can look very different in many ways as the COVID 19 virus is still in play. What does not seem to change is how the natural gas and power grids are impacted by what Mother Nature brings to the table in form of the winter weather. Figure 1 | Winter Weather Warning During a mild winter, there is a lot of looseness ... » read more | |
| Wednesday Feb 10, 2021 | |
| Just three winters ago, the Sumas price hub in the Pacific Northwest set that winter’s high-water mark for regional gas prices due to an explosion on an upstream supply pipeline causing severe downstream shortages. After those issues were resolved it was generally regarded that all was in the rear-view mirror. Even with this winter featuring numerous cold periods, no major gas price spikes have cropped up as the PNW seems sufficiently supplied. Headed into this current week, there were no expectations of any major price swings as, even though the coldest temperatures of the winter are en route, the region projected to be well supplied. That all turned on a dime this weekend, though, when the same upstream supply system that caused the Winter '18-'19 ... » read more | |
| Tuesday Feb 9, 2021 | |
| Over the past week there has been plenty of focus on the coming polar event that will run through the Lower 48. But that cold air has already made its effect north of the border. Alberta has been feeling the brunt of near record cold temperatures throughout the province. Departures are 35 degrees below normal at minus 20 Fahrenheit. This is as cold as it has ever been pushing the Nova system demand to record levels of over 7.5 BCF per day. Extreme conditions have also caused natural gas production to freeze off. Receipts are down from 11.8 to 11.3 BCF. This has taxed the supply/demand balancing forcing storage draws to their highest point on record of 3.4 BCF per day. With little storage withdrawal capacity left the market has to price back pipeline exports to satisfy native demand. » read more | |
| Monday Feb 8, 2021 | |
| Every since last January (2020), the Alberta power and natural gas markets have been on the radar screen as the month was one of the coldest on record. If you recall, the middle third of the month was nothing but unbearable as the daytime high temperatures did not surpass minus 10 degrees. The last I checked that is arctic cold, even for a guy who grew up in the Midwest where the wind chill was so cold it made your eyelids freeze as they watered walking around the corner of a building. Cold weather wreaks havoc on the power and natural gas grids as the former is battling units staying online with the morning and evening ramp blocks showing high hourly demand numbers. The latter has two key components that drive the balancing, the first is the colder weather impacts ... » read more | |
| Friday Feb 5, 2021 | |
| By Tim Belden Skyrim! What is Skyrim you ask? It was the roleplaying video game that I bought for my then-sixth grade son eight years ago. We drove together to the mall and made our way past the Cinnabon, the Sunglass Hut, Footlocker, and the candle cart to my son’s favorite store on earth – GameStop! It was a small, unremarkable store, but it sold all the video games a middle schooler could desire – both new and used. After a few minutes of browsing and asking a couple of questions related to compatibility we were on our way home. When we got home, I promptly lost my son to hours of online adventures. I was intrigued by the Game Stop store and the business model of selling new and used games. I did a little bit of research on the company and decided to make a modest ... » read more | |
| Thursday Feb 4, 2021 | |
| The Lone Star State gets a lot of attention as it's slogan is such that 'everything is bigger in Texas'. Little did the state's founders realize that it would pertain to the renewable energy sector known as wind generation. Over the years, the Texas electricity grid (ERCOT) has been adjusting to developers racing to get their turbines up and running to capture the federal production tax credits. The widespread attraction started out in the west, then transitioned to the middle of the state before heading north. The latest move saw the southern zone see a massive influx of wind capacity due to the offshore winds providing a better hourly profile compared to inland facilities (farms). At the end of the day, ERCOT has moved into the top slot of wind capacity ... » read more | |