Report examines PJM, MISO fuel switching
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) maintains a November cold snap triggered a fuel price increase resulting in source switching in the PJM Interconnection (PJM) and Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO).
The EIA said in the wake of temperatures plummeting below freezing in 75 percent of the Lower 48 states, coal-fired power generation replaced natural gas-fired generation starting in late October in both regional transmission organization markets.
The breakdown showed the price of natural gas increased from an average of less than $2 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in October to a mid-November high of $5.11/MMBtu at the Tetco M3 hub, located in northeast Pennsylvania in the PJM.
Prices rose about $1.00/MMBtu and reached nearly $3.00/MMBtu at the Chicago Citygate hub in the MISO.
The EIA determined natural gas-fired generation has accounted for an increasing share of power generation in PJM and MISO, averaging 35 percent in PJM and 27 percent in MISO while this summer the natural gas market in the Lower 48 states experienced record-high natural gas consumption, relatively low natural gas prices, retirements of coal-fired generation and increasing natural gas-fired capacity.
The PJM Interconnection spans states in the nation’s Middle Atlantic region while MISO covers much of the Midwest and part of the Gulf Coast.
