ISO-NE capacity auction ends with prices up from record low

ISO-NE capacity auction ends with prices up from record low

As expected, ISO New England’s (“ISO-NE”) recent Forward Capacity Auction (“FCA”) 15 resulted in higher capacity clearing prices than FCA 14. The auction, consisting of five rounds of bidding, concluded on February 8th with preliminary clearing prices ranging from...
US sets new wind generation record

US sets new wind generation record

The US set a new record for daily wind electricity generation on December 23, 2020. According to the EIA, a total of 1.76 million MWh were generated from wind in the lower 48 states. The new record represented approximately 17% of the total daily US electricity...
2020 Saw Lowest Natural Gas Prices in Decades

2020 Saw Lowest Natural Gas Prices in Decades

Mild winter weather and the global COVID-19 pandemic drove natural gas prices in 2020 to the lowest annual average prices in several decades, averaging $2.05 per MMBtu at the national benchmark Henry Hub in Louisiana, according to EIA data. Natural gas demand for...
Declining natural gas-fired combined-cycle heat rates

Declining natural gas-fired combined-cycle heat rates

The average operating heat rate for combined-cycle generators has declined over the last five years. According to the EIA, natural gas combined-cycle power generators installed since 2015 have an average heat rate of 6,654 Btu/kWh. This average is nearly 25% lower...
Battery storage shows tremendous growth

Battery storage shows tremendous growth

Installed large-scale battery storage systems in the United States reached an all-time high as of the end of 2018. According to the EIA, a total of 125 installed battery storage systems having a combined capacity of 869 MW were operational in the US as of 2018. These...