ISO New England expects adequate power supply for winter demand

Washington (Platts)--9Dec2004

The ISO New England Thursday said the region's power supply should be adequate
to meet projected electricity use this winter. "We expect sufficient power
supply to meet New England's electricity needs this winter," Stephen Whitley,
the ISO's senior vice president and chief operating officer, said in a
statement. "However, we have taken additional proactive steps to enhance
system operations and ensure reliability should an extreme weather event
occur." The ISO projected the 2004-2005 winter peak demand at about 22,370 MW
under normal winter weather conditions. The forecast is 448 MW below the
standing record for winter electricity use of 22,818 MW set Jan 15, 2004. If
extreme weather conditions occur this winter season, the ISO said there is a
10% chance the region's winter electricity use could reach 23,255 MW, a new
seasonal record. The ISO said it expects adequate supply to be available meet
electricity use this winter.

Whitley said the region experienced unprecedented weather conditions in winter
2003-4 resulting in record-breaking electricity demand on the bulk power
system. Although the system continued to operate reliably during the January
cold snap, some generators were accused of deliberately shutting down
generation to sell natural gas at a profit. While a later investigation found
those claims to be untrue, the ISO said it had brought in both short- and
long-term remedial actions to improve reliability and market efficiency during
the winter months. In addition, the grid operator said it has worked closely
over the past 10 months with electric and natural gas industry
representatives, as well as public officials and market participants, to
refine forecasting procedures, introduce new electric market enhancements and
coordinate gas and electric system communications. New initiatives implemented
to date should improve power supply availability by up to 2,000 MW in the
event extreme cold weather conditions occur, it said.

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