ISO-NE’s energy market value reached about $1 billion in December — more than double the total value of the market in December 2024 — due to lower temperatures and increased natural gas prices, ISO-NE COO Vamsi Chadalavada told NEPOOL Participants Committee members Jan. 9.  

ISO-NE declared inventoried energy days on Dec. 22 and 23 due to cold weather. Combined payments and charges over the two days totaled more than $2 million, with about $383,000 coming from net spot payments and the rest attributed to base payments, Chadalavada said. The updated projected cost of the program now is just shy of $80 million. 

The system also hit its monthly peak during the evening of Dec. 22 at 19,030 MW, Chadalavada noted. This peak was significantly higher than the December peaks from the previous two years, which were under 1,800 MW. In its 2024 Capacity, Energy, Loads and Transmission forecast, ISO-NE projected the peak for this winter will reach 20,300 MW, part of a broader trend of increasing winter peak loads in the region.  

ISO-NE said in early December it expects to have adequate energy supplies for the winter. (See ISO-NE Says Region Has Enough Resources for Upcoming Winter.) 

Power-system carbon emissions for 2024 remained higher than the previous year by roughly a million metric tons calculated through mid-December, largely due to increased gas generation, Chadalavada’s presentation noted.  

Also at the Participants Committee, members voted unanimously to approve market changes concerning the metering of load assets and storage as transmission-only assets.