The energy market is always evolving where the goal is to define certain fundamental components that push the hourly price signal towards a new inflection point.  Such inflection points take on two types, the first is what the bulls call the upside while second is tied to the bears the downside to price.  These bookends deliver volatility in the marketplace, especially ones that now include every renewable technology, batteries and the old-school hydro generation.  California is a prime example of such a region and with Mother Nature delivering multiple atmospheric river systems across the northern part of the state over the past few weeks, the real-time inflection point is aiming to the downside as the storage dams sitting upstream are showing above normal levels heading into February and the run-of-river facilities are taking on increasing flows from the rainfall portion of the precipitation.

Figure 1 | CAISO Battery Dashboard Breakdown – Hourly