4th Quarter Pricing Results and Outlook
Pricing Day Ahead Market (DAM) pricing continued to fall throughout the entire quarter due to the mild winter weather and the surplus of Natural Gas in storage. Forward pricing for 2016 contracts continued to trade at a two year low while day ahead and real time pricing reached historical lows. The average DAM price for […]
Weather Update & Projections: Spring 2016
November and December 2015 were extremely mild with record breaking temperatures in many parts of the Northeast. Mild temperatures and low levels of snow fall added to the pressure on falling prices and provided resistance to any upward movement throughout the end of December. WSI adjusted their forecast to push cold weather possibilities to the […]
The Fate of Nuclear Power: Why It Is Important To You
The United States has been entertaining the debate regarding the pros and cons of Nuclear Power and its development since 1979 when the world watched as one of the reactors at Three Mile Island came perilously close to a meltdown. Nuclear Power as an important generation source for electricity stayed the course and continued to […]
Weather Projections: Winter 2015-2016
If it is possible for multiple weather services to agree on the weather forecast than the winter of 2016 may be the first. WSI, NOAA and even the Farmer’s Almanac agree that there is a strong El Nino in effect and it appears that this El Nino will be around for most of the winter. […]
3rd Quarter 2015 Pricing Summary
Day Ahead Market Pricing in the North-East markets has touched new lows as the supply of natural gas continues to grow. Forward Pricing is also trading at historic lows with the 2016 calendar year pricing trading below 2010/2011 actual DAM pricing. The EIA and various market analysts predict that pricing will remain low with periodic […]
Domestic Renewable Portfolio Standards and Renewable Energy Credits: The Evolution Is On
Over the past decade, U.S. political conversations have increasingly turned to discussions about energy sustainability programs and environmentally-friendly energy generation projects. In turn, 30 states have developed individual Renewable Portfolio Standards in their efforts to reach specific renewable energy generation metrics over specific periods of time. These state standards typically require end-use electricity suppliers to […]
Federal Versus State Jurisdiction: the Argument Over FERC Order 745
A year ago, we wrote to you about the decision from the Washington, DC US Court of Appeals to vacate the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) Order 745 regarding Demand Response Services. The order, in effect since 2011, defines market rules on how compensation should be paid to demand response assets, basically placing them on […]
The Cost of Reliability
Under normal circumstances, the primary task of Regional Transmission Operators and Independent System Operators (RTOs/ISOs) is economic dispatch. This means meeting load needs at the lowest possible operating cost while maintaining system reliability. But under extreme conditions, RTOs/ISOs must switch to a different set of operating procedures focused purely on keeping the system safe and up […]