MISO’s real-time energy prices in February 2025 nearly doubled from a year earlier as the footprint saw higher load and gas prices.

The grid operator recorded an average $41/MWh real-time locational marginal price over the month compared to an average $22/MWh in February 2024, according to an operations report. The RTO’s real-time price closely tracked January 2025’s average, at almost $42/MWh.

While coal prices stayed flat year-over-year in February at an average $2/MMBtu, gas doubled from $2/MMBtu to $4/MMBtu. The RTO’s real-time price was nearly as high in February 2022, when it hovered at $40/MWh as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began sending gas prices upward.

In a previous winter round-up, MISO’s Independent Market Monitor said the historically low gas prices of 2024 evaporated due to sustained cold weather across the country. (See MISO: Better Preparations Clinched Winter Storm Operations.)

Load in February 2025 also trended higher than in 2024. MISO averaged 80 GW with a 105-GW monthly peak this year and a 71-GW average and 88-GW peak last year. The RTO also reported an average of 39 GW in daily generation outages, 4 GW better than in February 2024.

For February, solar contributions became consequential enough to earn a spot in MISO energy fuel mix totals. The RTO observed an 11.5-GW all-time solar peak Feb. 21, 2025. The figure is in line with MISO’s estimate that it would end winter with a 12-GW solar fleet. (See MISO Estimates Solar Fleet will be 12 GW by Winter’s End.) MISO entered winter registering 8-GW solar output records.

Otherwise, MISO’s reliance on coal in February 2025 was unchanged from 2022, at 18 TWh. Natural gas inched upward to 16 TWh, higher than 2022’s 14 TWh.