RENSSELAER, N.Y. — NYISO power prices averaged $29.91/MWh in March, down from $33.83 in February, and $34.97 the same month a year ago, Nicole Bouchez, ISO principal economist, told the Business Issues Committee (BIC) on Wednesday.
The ISO’s year-to-date monthly energy prices averaged $60.06/MWh in February, up 59% from a year earlier. March’s average sendout was 413 GWh/day, down from 426 in February and 419 a year earlier.
New York natural gas prices for the month averaged $2.85/MMBtu at the Transco Z6 hub, down from $3.14 in February and off 18.2% from a year ago.
Distillate prices were mixed compared to the previous month but gained 19.3% year over year. Jet Kerosene Gulf Coast averaged $13.76/MMBtu, up from $13.72 in February. Ultra Low Sulfur No. 2 Diesel NY Harbor averaged $13.78, down from $13.86 the previous month.
The ISO’s local reliability share was 19 cents/MWh, higher than 14 cents the previous month, while the statewide share of -51 cents/MWh was up from -64 cents. Total uplift costs were higher than in February.
Broader Regional Markets
Reviewing the Broader Regional Markets report, Bouchez highlighted two sections updated since the previous BIC meeting.
Item No. 23 covers a PJM proposal to develop pro forma pseudo-tie agreements that would apply to New York Control Area (NYCA) generators that sell all or a portion of their capacity to PJM. The agreements would provide commitment and dispatch instructions to those generators to meet PJM’s — rather than NYISO’s — needs.
NYISO has expressed concerns that the removal of an in-state generator from the ISO’s commitment and dispatch process limits its ability to manage the generator to ensure NYCA reliability. The removal also introduces compliance issues regarding New York State Reliability Council rules and decreases the efficiency of the ISO’s least-cost solution in its day-ahead and real-time markets.
The ISO is working with PJM to find solutions acceptable to both grid operators.
Item No. 27 concerns how NYISO determines locality exchange factors, which became an issue in 2015 when the ISO’s Market Monitor, Potomac Economics, raised concerns about the treatment of capacity exports from import-constrained localities.
The ISO in February 2017 deployed FERC-approved capacity market changes and asked General Electric to identify possible ways to refine the current methodology using a probabilistic approach. That effort proved unsatisfactory to stakeholders, and the ISO has engaged GE to work further on a formula-based methodology for determining locality exchange factors.
Public Website Redesign
Dave O’Brien, a NYISO project manager, provided an update on the project to redesign the ISO’s public website.
O’Brien said the new design will debut in the fourth quarter with a more intuitive layout and navigation, better mobile device interoperability and an improved search function.
Stakeholders also expressed hopes that the website would better meet their needs. Howard Fromer of PSEG Power New York noted an example of spending minutes locating a document, being asked to sign in for access, then being redirected back to the homepage and to restart his search from scratch.
— Michael Kuser