Commodities and Futures News

US power/natgas prices soar as heat wave boosts air conditioning use

2022.07.21 18:58

US power/natgas prices soar as heat wave boosts air conditioning use
FILE PHOTO: Overhead power lines are seen during record-breaking temperatures in Houston, Texas, U.S., February 17, 2021. REUTERS/Adrees Latif/File Photo

(Reuters) – U.S. power and natural gas prices spiked in several regions on Thursday as homes and businesses cranked up air conditioners to keep cool as a brutal heat wave blanketed most of the country.

In Texas, power demand hit a record high for a third day in a row. In New England, power prices rose to their highest since January 2018.

Electric grid operators across the country said they have enough resources to meet demand. So far they have only taken small steps to maintain reliability, like asking utilities to postpone maintenance on power lines and generating plants.

Several utilities asked consumers to conserve energy and activated demand response programs that compensate homes and businesses to reduce usage.

The United States is expected to use record amounts of power in 2022 due mostly to rising economic and population growth in Sun Belt states like Texas.

AccuWeather forecast high temperatures in New York, the nation’s biggest city, would rise from 95 Fahrenheit (35 Celsius) on Thursday to 98 F on Sunday. That compares with a normal high of 84 F.

In New England, next-day power jumped by 29% to $258 per megawatt hour (MWh) for Thursday, its highest since January 2018. Spot gas soared over 200% to $29.35 per million British thermal unit, its highest since January 2022.

Traders said such high gas prices make it practical for some New England power generators to burn oil instead of gas, something that usually only occurs in the winter.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which operates the grid for more than 26 million customers representing about 90% of the state’s power load, said power use hit 79,828 MW on Wednesday, its third all-time high in a row.

Real-time prices in ERCOT topped $1,000/MWh for a couple of hours on Wednesday. That compares with a five-year (2017-2021) of $56 at the widely-traded ERCOT North Hub, which includes Dallas.

One megawatt can power around 1,000 U.S. homes on a typical day, but only about 200 homes on a hot summer day.

Source

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 98,695.44 1.74%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 3,495.19 1.10%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.06%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 2.29 0.76%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 710.90 2.39%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 198.73 2.06%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.333032 0.23%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00 0.05%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 3,493.30 1.68%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.919307 1.14%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.257378 0.43%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 40.74 1.01%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 24.76 0.89%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 6.06 5.43%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 4,137.92 1.11%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000023 0.08%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 4.51 3.26%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 98,442.38 1.99%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.311611 4.98%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.386488 0.15%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 7.52 0.39%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 3,493.27 1.08%
hyperliquid
Hyperliquid (HYPE) $ 27.98 4.56%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 466.18 1.45%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 9.55 1.24%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 14.03 2.62%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 109.35 0.34%
bitget-token
Bitget Token (BGB) $ 5.82 18.05%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000019 0.84%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 3,686.01 1.32%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 5.53 1.46%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 0.999667 0.12%
aave
Aave (AAVE) $ 373.16 0.71%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 11.39 2.38%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 9.74 0.29%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.42%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.520526 0.39%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.159847 2.73%
vechain
VeChain (VET) $ 0.052239 1.44%
mantle
Mantle (MNT) $ 1.25 1.32%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 27.62 0.96%
render-token
Render (RENDER) $ 7.61 3.72%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 515.40 2.45%
monero
Monero (XMR) $ 196.50 3.14%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 3.81 0.30%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 24.95 1.63%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.37 2.01%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 1.00 0.14%
arbitrum
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.80804 1.56%
filecoin
Filecoin (FIL) $ 5.38 0.07%