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| Thursday Feb 27, 2025 | |
| The last week has seen a deluge of rainfall showing up in Portland, as well as across much of the Pacific Northwest (to the extent that one EGPS colleague’s basement is currently flooded). The plentiful precipitation, combined with the warmer temperatures that have been present in the region, have prompted some swings from the PNW hydro system. Once again, the atmospheric river weather pattern that moved inland from the Pacific ocean largely missed northern Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia, its strength focused a little further to the South. This has been the pattern throughout the fall and winter, with any storms primarily targeting Oregon, southern Idaho, and further south into California and the Sierra Nevada mountains. Figure 1 | February Precipitation ... » read more | |
| Wednesday Feb 26, 2025 | |
| February 2025 has been quite cold in Alberta with over 1600 HDDs racked up this month. The figure below shows cumulative HDDs for December through February going back to 2017. While January was below average in terms of cold weather for the province, February was the coldest it’s been since 2021. Forecasts were covered in blue for much of this month, indicating below normal temperatures with most days in Calgary averaging below 0 degrees. Temperatures have taken a sharp turn in the last few days as highs are now over 40 degrees while overnight lows are just below freezing. With strong renewable generation and low demand over the weekend, pool price averaged under $2 in the heavy load last Sunday. The province is looking forward to their early start to spring, but for this blog ... » read more | |
| Tuesday Feb 25, 2025 | |
| The latest EGPS special report draws a fascinating parallel between basketball's coveted double-double and triple-double stats and the performance metrics within the western U.S. energy markets. Just as star athletes achieve these milestones by excelling in multiple categories, the energy sector's "stats" are driven by certain factors such as renewables, hydro, and natural gas performance. The report highlights how achieving a "triple-double" in this space is a rare feat, as strong solar and hydro outputs often reduce the need for natural gas generation—as seen particularly in California. This dynamic creates a unique set of challenges and opportunities for grid operators and other sectors in the market. Figure 1 | Double-Double or Triple-Double tied to West Energy Sector A closer ... » read more | |
| Monday Feb 24, 2025 | |
| The norm for North American winters is for conditions to worsen through November and December with shorter, colder days. Then January brings the climax, filled with winter storms and deep snow. Finally, February and March bring a closing act, with snow turning to slush and some, wildly optimistically, choosing to start wearing shorts again. This year broke from the mold for much of the US, with our focus today on the Midcontinent ISO. Here, February is the new January, with peak net loads making a surprise appearance in the second month of the year. Figure 1 | MISO Net Load 7 Day moving Average – Last 3 Years (YoY) The figure above gives a moving average of net load (load minus wind and solar) within MISO over this year and the past two. While January 2024 stands as the highest ... » read more | |
| Friday Feb 21, 2025 | |
| The United States has been experiencing a significant winter weather event this week. An arctic blast dropping deep into the center of the US towards the Gulf Coast with frigid temperatures expected to last the entire week. The map below from Pivotal Weather depicts the observed low temperature from Thursday morning. Most of the MISO and SPP states experienced negative temperatures. Texas was cold, but the lows mostly stayed out of the single digits. The forecast low for Friday is still quite cold but somewhat warmer than these values. From there, things will begin to warm up considerably. Figure 1 | Observed Low Temperatures on February 20, 2025 (Pivotal Weather) https://www.pivotalweather.com/maps.php?ds=rtma_ru&p=ndfd_sfctmin&r=conus So how did the electricity markets handle ... » read more | |
| Thursday Feb 20, 2025 | |
| ERCOT is in the midst of a late winter surge in demand, thanks to temperatures plunging in the past two days down into the teens (and even single digits in parts of the state) overnight. This is pushing peak system load up a projected 20 GW today compared to the start of the week just three days ago. At the same time, ERCOT wind is falling off hard, dropping 13 GW over the same period. This makes for a swing in net load of over 30 GW, and is pushing system net load up to a new high for the winter so far (the past three winters, in fact!). Figure 1 | ERCOT Net Load, Moving 7-Day Average We see the impact in the DA auction results from yesterday, pushing the North Hub HL price up to within striking distance of $200 (and a morning peak of around $900). These ... » read more | |
| Wednesday Feb 19, 2025 | |
| The groundhog’s proclamation at the beginning of the month is playing out as the regions east of the Rockies are experiencing frigid arctic temperatures as Minneapolis awoke to minus 18 degree temperatures Tuesday morning and as the day progresses could not muster a positive degree. The cold stretch is now moving into the Plains and South/Gulf regions this morning while the Tennessee Valley, Ohio Valley and Northwest will be active participants over the next 48 hours. Figure 1 | Atmospheric G2 – 15 Day HDD Accumulation compared to Normal Levels The image above represents the 15-day forecasted HDD levels by Atmospheric G2 where we compared the Lower 48 aggregated HDD levels (weighted) to that of the previous day’s forecast (red dotted line), last year (gold line) ... » read more | |
| Tuesday Feb 18, 2025 | |
| The SPP grid has seen significant shifts as February progresses as highlighted in our latest report titled “Growing Resurgence Tied to SPP”, with coal-fired generation making a notable comeback. While solar power continues its steady growth, cooler temperatures and increased demand have led to a surge in coal usage. Wind generation has been underwhelming compared to the past two years, causing net load to rise. This dynamic has prompted interesting changes in thermal generation, particularly in February, where coal output has nearly doubled compared to the previous year. These shifts hint at larger trends shaping the region's energy landscape. Figure 1 | SPP 12x24 Profile A closer look at thermal generation reveals a coal-to-natural-gas ratio shift. For much of 2024, natural ... » read more | |
| Monday Feb 17, 2025 | |
| One topic of frequent discussion on the virtual energy industry water cooler as of late has been CAISO’s proposed Extended Day Ahead Energy Market (EDAM). Billed as an addition to the extant Western Energy Imbalance Market, this would create a framework for voluntary day ahead trading across the West’s many electricity fiefdoms. However, it has faced a recent increase in scrutiny as a January PacifiCorp filing, and now a detailed report from PowerX, pointed out a baked-in market failure which would result in a significant transfer of capital for the West at large into California Figure 1 | Electricity Parallel Flow[1] The key concept to understanding the market failure is parallel flows, also known as loop flows. It is convenient to think of electrical transmissions as ... » read more | |
| Friday Feb 14, 2025 | |
| With 2024 data complete, EGPS presented this week its annual "Renewables Award" publication (included in each of the EnergyGPS eCommerce Packages offered to interested parties), where it provides an overview of the highs and lows for regions and technologies in this past year and presenting individual “Renewies” for various categories. In our report, and at the imaginary gala-awards ceremony dinner that went with it, we awarded the Most and Least Valuable Generation-Weighted Prices, Capture Ratio Leaders and Laggards, and Market Share Big Kahunas and Comeback Kids. The results for 2024 are shown below in Figure 1. Figure 1 | Renewies 2024 Summary Although 2024 wasn’t quite the blowout year that 2023 was, especially in ERCOT, it was a solid ... » read more | |