With the summer heat now becoming relentless, New Yorkers are putting their air conditioners to the test, driving demand for electricity to its highest so far this year, according to Bloomberg.
With temperatures steady in the 90’s and on some days approaching 100 Fahrenheit in New York City, electricity demand is estimated to reach 30,400 megawatts, according to the state’s grid operator. This would exceed demand from July 20 and 21, which were the two hottest days of the year so far.
The strain on the electric grid on those two days was tempered by the fact that they fell on a weekend, when office and factory buildings were idle and not using as much power as they would during the week.
Meanwhile, wholesale power prices in New York City nearly doubled on Tuesday this week to $62.57 per megawatt-hour, the highest price since February 25 (even higher intraday).
Power in New England, where there is also a heat advisory, spiked 41% to $51.45 per megawatt-hour.
Imagine what those prices would be if Enron was still randomly shutting down parts of the nation’s grid…
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2ysOYuK Tyler Durden