New England spot power hits $400/MWh on cold, gas prices

Washington (Platts)--14Jan2004

Wholesale electric power prices for delivery in New England for Thursday and the balance-of-the-week shot to $400/MWh because of bitter cold and high spot gas prices. A large amount of gas-fired generation has been forced off-line in the region because of soaring gas prices. "These natural gas units cannot be run because of the price of gas, currently at $70," one New England industry source said. Prices for spot gas a Algonquin city gate have reached $74/MMbtu, the New England Independent System Operator's morning report showed outages totaling nearly 8,500 MW Wednesday, up from 4,855 MW from Tuesday.