Electricity Monthly Update
Regional Wholesale Markets: February 2026
The United States has many regional wholesale electricity markets. Below we look at monthly and annual ranges of on-peak, daily wholesale prices at selected pricing locations and daily peak demand for selected electricity systems in the Nation. The range of daily prices and demand data is shown for the report month and for the year ending with the report month.
Prices and demand are shown for six Regional Transmission Operator (RTO) markets: ISO New England (ISO-NE), New York ISO (NYISO), PJM Interconnection (PJM), Midwest ISO (MISO), Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), and two locations in the California ISO (CAISO). Also shown are wholesale prices at trading hubs in Louisiana (into Entergy), Southwest (Palo Verde) and Northwest (Mid-Columbia). In addition to the RTO systems, peak demand is also shown for the Southern Company, Progress Florida, and the Bonneville Power Authority (BPA). Refer to the map tabs for the locations of the electricity and natural gas pricing hubs and the electric systems for which peak demand ranges are shown.
In the second tab immediately below, we show monthly and annual ranges of on-peak, daily wholesale natural gas prices at selected pricing locations in the United States. The range of daily natural gas prices is shown for the same month and year as the electricity price range chart. Wholesale electricity prices are closely tied to wholesale natural gas prices in all but the center of the country. Therefore, one can often explain current wholesale electricity prices by looking at what is happening with natural gas prices.
Wholesale prices
In February 2026, the eastern half of the country experienced normal winter conditions resulting in a wide range of wholesale electricity prices. New England (ISONE), New York City (NYISO), and the Mid-Atlantic (PJM) all saw their wholesale electricity prices range between $24/MWh an $260/MWh during the month, as these regions experienced below average temperatures earlier in February, which resulted in increased demand for electricity. Conversely, The western half of the country experienced well above average and even record temperatures during February 2026. This resulted in electricity systems in this half of the country to see reduced electricity demand during this winter month resulting in a relatively tight spread in their wholesale electricity prices.
Wholesale natural gas prices also showed the same geographic distribution as their respective wholesale electricity prices, with the eastern half of the country seeing a large range in wholesale natural gas prices and the western half of the country seeing wholesale natural gas prices trade in a tight spread during February 2026.
Electricity system daily peak demand
In February 2026, Southern Company and Progress Florida experienced the largest monthly ranges in daily peak electricity demand of all the selected electricity systems in the country. This occurred as these two electricity systems experienced cold snaps in early February 2026 that resulted in significantly increased demand for electricity. California (CAISO) was on the opposite end of the spectrum, as this electricity system's daily peak electricity demand was at the lower end of its twelve month range and was in a much tighter range during February 2026. This occurred because California experienced above average temperatures during the month, resulting in reduced demand for electricity.