Average coal dispatch price at MISO Indiana hub rises above natural gas: Platts Analytics

Houston — Coal's average dispatch price rose above natural gas for the first time this year at the Midcontinent Independent System Operator's Indiana hub in the week ended March 25, according to estimates from Platts Analytics.

Coal's estimated dispatch price, which includes the S&P Global Platts prompt-month 11,800 Btu/lb Illinois Basin price, averaged around $12.75/MWh in the week ended March 25, up from $12.67/MWh a week earlier.

Gas' dispatch price, which includes the prompt-month Chicago city-gates gas price, averaged $11.88/MWh in the latest week, down from $12.92/MWh a week earlier.

Coal transportation and insurance costs are estimated on a monthly basis from the US Energy Information Administration and calculated by subtracting the IB price from the weighted-average delivered costs, according to Platts Analytics. The prices do not account for additional costs associated with emissions.

Since the first week of the year, coal's dispatch price has declined by 75 cents, while gas has dropped by $8.27.

However, year-to-date dispatch price for coal is around $13.54/MWh, about 27% lower than gas' dispatch price of $17.23/MWh.

Prompt-month Chicago city-gates gas averaged $1.54/MMBtu in the week ended March 25, down from $1.7407/MMBtu the prior week, according to Platts. The prompt Illinois Basin FOB barge price averaged $31.80/st, or $1.347/MMBtu, up from $31.63/st, or $1.34/MMBtu, a week earlier.

Through March 26, coal made up about 29.2% of ISO supply in March, while gas was around 34.9%, according to MISO data. Coal accounted for 30.3% of the generation mix in February and 40.8% in March 2019, while gas was at 34.1% and 26.9%, respectively.