Business Issues Committee
In its final meeting of the year, the NYISO Business Issues Committee unanimously approved a motion recommending the Management Committee approve changes to the tariff to update the interconnection agreement between the ISO and Hydro-Quebec ahead of the completion of the Champlain Hudson Power Express.
Stakeholders also unanimously approved a motion recommending that the MC approve new tariff revisions to implement the Improve Duct Firing Modeling project, which will accommodate combined cycle generators equipped with duct-firing capability for real-time dispatch.
The committee also heard a market operations report for November. The average locational-based marginal price was $57.14/MWh, $10 more than in October and much higher than November 2024’s price of $35.26/MWh. The average year-to-date monthly cost of power was $70.24/MWh, a 70% increase over that of last year.
Natural gas and distillate prices also rose over the last month. Natural gas rose about a dollar to $3.16/MMBtu in November. Year-over-year natural gas prices have risen 60.6%. Jet Kerosene Gulf Coast rose about a dollar to $16.57/MMBtu, up 8.6% from last year. Ultra Low Sulfur No. 2 Diesel also rose a little over a dollar to $17.91/MMBtu. Distillate prices were up 12.8% year over year.
Operating Committee
The Operating Committee also unanimously recommended that the MC approve the tariff changes to facilitate CHPE integration.
Stakeholders also heard and approved a system impact study for a large load interconnection of a data center in the Buffalo area. Digihost, the project owner-operator, is seeking to increase its retail load from 9.8 MW to 60 MW. NYISO found that the project would not cause thermal or voltage issues on the local grid and that no new upgrades would be needed to support the project.
The OC heard a brief presentation of November’s operations metrics. Peak load for the month hit on Nov. 11 during the 5 p.m. hour at 20,325 MW. This set the peak for the 2025/26 winter reliability period so far but was below the all-time record of 25,738 MW set in January 2014. Peak wind occurred on Nov. 28 with 2,338 MW. Combined front- and behind-the-meter solar peaked at 3,510 MW on Nov. 4.
Several notable system events occurred during the month. On Nov. 11, NYISO issued an alert during the 11 p.m. hour and reduced power flows to 90% of ratings because of an intense solar storm. Several elements of the Smart Path Connect transmission project were put in service incrementally throughout the month.
