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| Friday Aug 9, 2024 | |
| ERCOT’s summer started out with some warmer temperatures across the entire South Central region while July delivered a hurricane from the south and some stints of modest temperatures that ultimately kept the net load numbers in check. As we moved into August, the wind output faded to start the month but is now trying to start its move back up to a level that is more common for the middle of the third quarter. Figure 1 | ERCOT Key Market Fundamental Components – Hourly The ERCOT grid also has an abundant amount of solar generation hitting the grid these days as the month of July saw new record highs come into play twice and it would have been more if it were not for the cloud cover that came with Storm Beryl. All components mentioned are on display in the figure above ... » read more | |
| Thursday Aug 8, 2024 | |
| With July now on the books the summer is in full swing, and Mother Nature picked and chose where to deliver blistering summer heat versus where to keep temperatures relatively cool, all playing out in the load numbers for the various markets across the country. Some regions such as PJM, already in the conversation for structural demand growth leading up to the summer, were hit hard, where elsewhere numbers fizzled, such as ERCOT in Texas. One area that was hit with some good summer heat was California. July also marked a first for CASIO in 2024, as this was the first month since the start of the year that posted a month-over-month decrease in solar output, as the rapid expansion appears to have settled down within the ISO for now. The figure below plots average ... » read more | |
| Wednesday Aug 7, 2024 | |
| Back in December 2021, we first tackled the question of how much natural gas the CAISO battery fleet was displacing. We wrote a special report titled ‘Batteries Just a Drop in Gas Burn Bucket’ and declared it was safe to hit the snooze button on the issue for a few more years. The capacity of the CAISO fleet was only 2.6 GW and peak discharge from the fleet was less than a gigawatt on the average evening. Our best estimate for gas displaced by batteries then was around 0.01 BCF a day. Flash forward to July 2023, we checked in again in a special report titled ‘CAISO Batteries’ Impact on Power Burns’. By this point, the fleet’s capacity had almost doubled and the peak evening discharge for an average evening had more than tripled. Still, the impact on gas ... » read more | |
| Tuesday Aug 6, 2024 | |
| Last week we published a blog titled “New York’s 70 by 30 Reality” where we discussed the lack of progress towards the state’s clean energy goals. The states on the left coast have similar ambitious clean energy goals. How are they faring compared to New York? California and Washington both have renewable portfolio standards as well as carbon programs that require emission reductions. California requires 60% RPS and 48% emission reduction (relative to 1990) by 2030; 100% clean energy by 2045. Washington State requires 100% greenhouse gas neutral and 45% emission reduction (relative to 1990) by 2030 and 100% RPS and 95% emission reduction by 2050. Oregon requires an 80% reduction in emissions by 2030 and 100% by 2040. The amount ... » read more | |
| Monday Aug 5, 2024 | |
| Monday’s CAISO auction results were a little glimpse from the past as SP15 settled $31.66 over that of NP15 across the heavy load hours while the light load remained somewhat tight settling in at a $1.26 premium. This type of clear was common a few summers ago when the SoCal natural gas space was dealing with restricted storage capacity tied to Aliso Canyon’s rules and regulation all the while the transport capacity tethered to the El Paso Pipeline was lowered due to rehauling specific segments tied to disruptions in prior years. Figure 1 | CAISO Day-Ahead Marginal Congestion Component (MCC) - Hourly Since both issues have been addressed with the CPUC ruling allowing more molecules into Aliso Canyon and El Paso Pipeline’s urgency to build a more robust ... » read more | |
| Friday Aug 2, 2024 | |
| The transition from July to August has come with some heat across the Midwest and Northeast while ERCOT/SPP has seen a drop in their respective wind output. The former is driving up the power demand numbers while the latter is expanding the net load volume by taking away the most volatile renewable resource from the supply stack. Figure 1 | ERCOT Net Load Profile – Hourly The impact to the natural gas grid is simple, the power burn numbers are moving up with the past three days sitting over 50 BCF/d with a high of 53.8 BCF on Thursday. These are the highest numbers of the summer, but it has not been enough to get the natural gas spot prices and/or near-term forward months to move up. In fact, with the EIA Weekly Storage number presenting an injection during the ... » read more | |
| Thursday Aug 1, 2024 | |
| The entire West is gearing up for another round of hot temperatures and high demand in the coming days, coming after over a week of moderate weather, especially in the Pacific Northwest from the Cascades over to the coast, keeping us working from Energy GPS offices in Portland, Oregon feeling nice and cool. The Northwest has dealt with plenty of heat and strong demand for much of the past month, starting after the 4th of July holiday and holding until about one week ago. The forecast shows real heat moving into not only into the PNW but also the rest of the West, starting tomorrow to usher in the new month of August. Figure 1 | Hourly Load by Market, Last 7 Days and 7-Day Forecast The impact to demand is clear to see in the ... » read more | |
| Wednesday Jul 31, 2024 | |
| The month of July broke plenty of heat records across the globe, including the hottest day ever recorded just last week. For California, the state started the month out with a heat wave over Independence Day and will end the month with wildfires raging and more heat on the horizon. In our latest article, titled ‘Summer Bliss – CAISO’ , we take a look back at the first heat waves of the month for both CAISO and the Pacific Northwest and compare to what we can expect for the heat coming in the next couple weeks. Read on for a sneak peek. Figure 1 | CAISO Actual Temperatures and Differences from Normal in July 2024 From a price perspective, the initial heat wave to the 2024 Summer was quite calm as the grid operations were leaning on a healthy natural gas fleet, plenty of ... » read more | |
| Tuesday Jul 30, 2024 | |
| In our daily morning reports for SPP (Southwest Power Pool), we have highlighted how SPP has benefited from robust wind generation at crucial times when demand is high. The figure below displays the daily supply and demand conditions in SPP over an 18-day period. The top pane illustrates power demand, the second pane shows wind generation, the third pane presents net load, and the bottom two panes depict day-ahead prices. Forecasted numbers are represented by lines, while shaded areas indicate real-time values. Figure 1 | SPP Daily Profile, July 7th- 15th During the period from July 12th to 16th, when load averaged between 40-45 GW, wind generation was quite strong, averaging in the mid to upper teens. Wind output decreased as load declined. Additionally, starting on July 25th, demand ... » read more | |
| Monday Jul 29, 2024 | |
| Around 3 p.m. last Wednesday a car went up in flames north of Chico California. Quickly, a fire (the Park fire) spread up the dry gullies and forests of the Sierra Nevada foothills. By last Sunday the blaze had grown to cover 360,000 acres and was only 12% contained. A massive cloud of smoke sits over the hills, hundreds of buildings have been destroyed, thousands of people have evacuated. One impact of this fire missed in most reporting is its damage to electrical infrastructure. Figure 1 | Footage of the Park Fire from PG&E Electrical Infrastructure The above photo is the last image from the Richardson Spring Rd camera, sourced from Alertcalifornia.org. It shows PG&E infrastructure, now at the center of the blaze, engulfed in flames. This image is on or near a 500 KV ... » read more | |