POWER MARKETS
WEST Throughout February spot prices have cleared very soft on the backs of light winter demand, surplus natural gas supply and very strong hydro production. Currently, the SoCal gas storage levels are significantly higher when compared to last year. The oversupply of gas is posing flexi-bility concerns as we are moving towards spring. Over the next month SoCal will need to pull gas out of storage, to make sure they have flexi-bility in the spring time to inject excess gas into the caverns. This should lead to implied heat rates dropping and soft power prices during this period.
ERCOT Term prices are down by some $0.20-$0.30/MWh for the week. In addition, some intermittent triple-digit real-time settles have occurred in the morning- and evening-ramp hours. West Load Zone basis is aver-aging nearly $55/MWh for the month, mainly because of line maintenance.
EAST For the most part, Real Time prices held steady with minimal price movement in MISO, PJM, and ISO-NE after last weekend’s cold front, they spiked in NYISO zones last Friday morning. DART spreads across the main trading hubs moved downward from last week. Notably, the on-peak spread at Mass Hub is averaging ($7)/MWh this week.