Good Afternoon,
Here are a few highlights of what’s going on in the west today.
Temperatures
It’s been mentioned each of the past two days, but cold temperatures are soon to hit Mid-C, though it’s looking more and more like ‘cold’ may not be the most accurate description. Minimum temperatures have been forecasted 5 degrees colder than forecasted yesterday for January 3rd; now sitting at a potential 10+ year low of 14 degrees for Mid-C as an aggregate.
Take a closer look at the larger population centers of Mid-C, and you’ll notice a similar story. Portland has a chance to set a 10+ year record low for several consecutive days beginning on the first.
Seattle won’t quite hit the low temps that Portland will see, but still should set new 10+ year minimum temps.
Taking a broader look at the west we see that just one of the 17 major stations that Ansergy monitors is currently registering temperatures above average (Albuquerque). Billings is the furthest below normal at 16.4 degrees from climo.
Water Supply
Grand Coulee again added a couple more percentage points to its reservoir, and now sits at 87% full. Will be something to keep an eye on next week as demand should go through the roof.
Demand
Demand in SP15 is down 1250 MW week over week, and down 955 MW year over year. Loads have remained mostly unchanged for the past three days.
River Forecast
The 10-Day River Forecast is up from the STP forecast for each of the next ten days, though especially moving into next week. There is little change in yesterday’s forecast compared to today.
Gas Reports
Mid-C Nodal Power Summary (by Plant)
Mid-C decreased close to 13,500 MCF as a whole largely thanks to two Northwest stations dropping out completely (Goldendale Generating Station, and Evander).
Demand decreased in all hubs except SP15 (3.3%) and Great Basin (3.7%). NP15 showed the largest nominal drop at 158 MMCF (4.9%).
SoCal Citygate dropped $0.06, while the other hubs remained mostly unchanged give or take a penny.
Outages
350 MW returned to SP15 today, including 85 MW of gas. NP15 also had some plants come back online — 244 MW of hydro, and 57 MW of geo.
Renewables
Mid-C wind hit 4000 MW multiple times on the 27th, and will have the opportunity to do the same today as well. The forecast also suggests relatively calm winds as the cold front settles onto the Northwest.
Transmission
TTC dropped 50 MW mid-day yesterday, and flow is down nearly 200 MW in daily average. This drop comes after four consecutive days of increases.
Flow south increased nearly 300 MW day-over-day. BC did show some imports briefly on the 27th when it reached a peak of 375 MW at 3:00 PM.
Have a great rest of your week,
William