Southwest Power Pool: State of the Market 2017
Wind, volatility and market costs were up in 2017 but coal was down according to the annual report from the grid overseer
for 14 midwest, Plains and southwest states. The Southwest Power Pool’s annual report showed that peak load rose 1 percent to 51,181 MW, but actual electricity consumption was down 1 percent.
Wind generation capacity gusted to 23 percent of all generation in the SPP territories last year, up from 18 percent in 2016. Coal generation capacity is still king for the moment, but fell from 48 to 46 percent year over year.
Real-time price volatility nearly doubled in 2017, according to the SPP. Day-ahead and real-time congestion costs spiked to more than $500 million last year, a 70 percent increase over the nearly $300 million one year earlier.
