Electricity Monthly Update
Regional Wholesale Markets: April 2024
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
Wholesale natural gas and electricity prices hugged the lower end of the yearly range at all selected trading hubs throughout the month of April in response to mild weather and low energy demand across the country. At several trading hubs across the western United States, the combination of low energy demand and increased hydroelectric production even led to negative wholesale electricity prices on a handful of days during the month. Wholesale electricity prices set new 12-month lows in Southern California (-$26/MWh in CAISO), the Southwest (-$20/MWh at Palo Verde), Northern California (-$3/MWh in CAISO), and in the Midwest ($13/MWh in MISO). The highest wholesale electricity price at any of the ten selected hubs during April was $72/MWh in Texas (ERCOT).
Wholesale natural gas prices during April set new 12-month lows at five of ten selected trading hubs. Those new 12-month lows were set in Texas ($0.42/MMBtu at Houston Ship Channel), the Southwest ($0.43/MMBtu at El Paso San Juan), Southern California ($0.87/MMBtu at SoCal Border), the Midwest ($1.18/MMBtu at Chicago Citygates), and in Northern California ($1.85/MMBtu at PG&E Citygate).
Electricity system daily peak demand
Electricity system daily peak demand remained on the lower end of the 12-month period at all selected electricity systems. New England (ISONE), the Mid-Atlantic (PJM), the Midwest (MISO), and California (CAISO) were all at their lowest peak demand for the 12-month period ending April 2024, while New York (NYISO), Southern Company, and Texas (ERCOT) were all close to their lowest peak demand levels over the same period.