NYISO Prepared for 2018/19 Cold After Weathering Last Winter’s Price Spikes
A little less than a year removed from a stretch of intense cold that blasted the East Coast and sent natural gas prices skyrocketing in early January, New York’s grid operator said it’s prepared to meet electricity demand this winter.
The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) anticipates peak demand of 24,260 MW on its system this winter, based on average winter weather conditions, including composite statewide temperatures of 15 degrees. That figure would climb under more extreme temperatures, with peak demand rising to 25,884 MW based on statewide temperatures of about 5 degrees.
During winter 2017/18, NYISO demand peaked at 25,081 MW on Jan. 5, coinciding with the “bomb cyclone” conditions that helped drive day-ahead natural gas prices as high as $175/MMBtu at Transco Zone 6 NY. That came as part of a two-week stretch of intense cold that began in late December 2017.
NYISO’s all-time winter peak was set during the polar vortex conditions in 2014, when demand climbed as high as 25,738 MW.
