ESAI Power publishes Energy WatchTM to help investors, generation owners, developers, utilities, regulators, and energy buyers understand the micro/macro trends impacting energy prices. ESAI produces 10-year power price forecasts for major price hubs and zones within the three Northeast power markets using security-constrained dispatch modeling.
We deliver an ongoing analysis of both North American and Northeast regional natural gas markets. Gas price forecasts and market commentary are included in the Energy WatchTM quarterly and monthly publications. ESAI Power provides basis forecasts for most Northeast-delivered gas pricing points, including Tetco M3, Transco Zone 6 New York, and Algonquin City Gate. We track pipeline and gas infrastructure projects and analyze changes in pipeline system constraints that can impact regional basis spreads.
ESAI Power’s latest Energy Watch market update includes our current 10-year power and natural gas price forecast across PJM, NYISO and ISO-NE. The update also includes our natural gas price forecast, based on our fundamental long-term view, along with forward market prices for the initial years. This blog post will delve into the critical details behind our near-term and long-term 10-year energy market forecast for ISO-New England.
The most recent RGGI quarterly auction (Auction 62) was held on December 6, 2023. The clearing price was $14.88/ton, 7.4 percent higher than the clearing price of $13.85/ton on September 6, 2023 (see Figure 1). Auction 62 represents the third consecutive auction with increasing clearing prices, which follows three prior consecutive auctions with decreasing clearing prices.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rule to strengthen the primary (health-based) annual National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for fine particle pollution, PM2.5. Specifically, the EPA is proposing to revise the primary annual standard from 12.0 µg/m3 to a value within the range of 9.0 and 10.0 µg/m3.
Power forward contracts for this summer are trading north of $100/MWh in PJM, NYISO, and ISO-NE. Implied forward spark spreads – an indicator of the profitability of gas-fired power plants – have exploded, greatly exceeding anything that has historically been realized in the power markets.
Coal-fired power plants are subject to a myriad of federal environmental regulations that have led to significant retirement waves when plant owners face capital expenditures for compliance that cannot be supported by market revenues. Many coal plant owners are now facing significant potential compliance costs due to rules regulating disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCRs). CCRs, also known as coal ash, are produced from the process of burning coal and operating flue gas desulfurization equipment at coal-fired facilities.
ESAI Power’s latest issue of EnergyWatch™ discusses regulations affecting coal combustion residuals (CCR) under EPA rules for wastewater discharge and CCR disposal and handling. Several coal-fired plants in PJM have announced retirement plans or are at-risk of retirement due to compliance requirements with these rules. Clients of our Energy Watch service received an accompanying spreadsheet with data about the affected plants. Also included are ESAI’s Power and Natural Gas forward pricing forecasts in PJM, NYISO, ISO-NE.
In just 15 years, the U.S. has gone from a net importer of LNG to becoming the world’s largest Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) exporter in 2022. The U.S. will surpass Qatar and Australia with an estimated 14 Bcf/day in exports by the end of 2022, up from 10 Bcf/d of export capability with the completion of the first wave of export facilities in mid-2021. LNG exports continue to be the most significant driver of U.S. natural gas demand.
The upcoming winter’s natural gas and power prices outlook for PJM, NYISO and ISO-New England continue to trend up despite the warmer-than-normal weather forecast. The forwards appear overvalued and ESAI Power holds its bearish stance on natural gas and power prices. The markets bullish outlook is based on a recent uptick in delivered gas and global LNG prices, but ESAI Power’s outlook has key insights driving a stable gas and power forecast.
This blog looks into the impact that offshore wind development in NYISO has on gas-fired generation facilities and their net energy revenues. The recent approval of CLCPA’s minimum statewide offshore wind goal and NYSERDA’s authority to procure offshore renewable energy credits (ORECs) puts renewables at the forefront of NYISOs market development. The Boardwalk Offshore Wind and Beacon Offshore Wind Project that were recently awarded OREC contracts are just the start of the lofty 9 GW offshore wind target.
Our Q2 issue of Energy WatchTM came out this week. In our Q2 Energy WatchTM report ESAI Power provides an update on the Seasonal NOx regulations under the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule and the expected impact on allowance prices, Northeast power plant emissions, and wholesale power prices. For each ISO, ESAI Power provides an overview of projected net energy revenue expectations for key generation technologies.