Dive Brief:
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A report posted by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator late last week showed higher prices in the ISO from June to July.
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MISO reported an average real time locational marginal prices of $31.07/MWh in July, up from $28.13/MWh in June.
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In its Market and Operations Report, MISO attributed the rise to heavier loads and weaker wind generation during the period.
Dive Insight:
MISO in May said it would have adequate reserves to meet 2017 summer peak demand. That has been the case so far this summer, despite a drop in wind generation. The report projected a summer demand peak of 125 GW against 148.5 GW of available capacity.
Wind generation usually drops off in July and August and so far, this year has been no different than others. MISO reported less than 2.3 TWh of wind generation in July, down from nearly 3.8 TWh in June. Last July, MISO recorded 2.5 GWh of wind generation.
According to Platts, this July's average real-time locational marginal prices were about 4.5% higher than the average LMP in July 2016, which was $29.73/MWh, despite the fact that the 64.5 TWh of total cleared physical energy in July was about 1.4% less than the 65.4 TWh that cleared in July 2016.
The higher prices are likely attributable to natural gas prices, which often set the market price in MISO. Gas prices averaged $2.96/MMBtu in July, which was 6.1% higher than the average gas price of $2.79/MMBtu in July 2016.