February held no operational surprises, MISO reported this week in a monthly market review.  

The grid operator said there were “no notable events” to wrap up winter. MISO experienced an 80-GW average peak over the month, with an 88-GW peak occurring Feb. 19.  

Real-time locational marginal prices averaged $22/MWh, about in line with February 2023’s $23/MWh but a far cry from 2021’s $61/MWh. The reduction is predicated on the return of $2/MMBtu natural gas.  

MISO’s coal use this February, 11.2 TWh, was nearly halved compared to February 2021’s nearly 22 TWh. Natural gas and wind generation compensated for the drop in coal generation.  

MISO’s growing solar fleet again registered record production Feb. 24 when it briefly supplied 7% of load at 4.6 GW. MISO has been setting solar generation records nearly every month as members add installations at a record clip.  

Daily generation outages were up year-on-year, with MISO reporting a 43-GW average outage rate over the month, higher than last year’s 32-GW average for the same period.