Wholesale power sales were down by 4.2% in the third quarter, compared with Q3 2020, despite stronger sales in Florida and the Midwest, which were likely driven in large part by weather factors, an analysis of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission data shows.
S&P Global Platts on Dec. 16 posted on the Platts Market Center website its rankings of FERC's Electric Quarterly Reports of sales nationwide, which shows wholesale power sales totaling 1,474.2 TWh in the quarter ending Sept. 30, compared with 1,538.4 TWh for Q3 2024, a decrease of 4.2%.
These were the three biggest absolute decreases:
- PJM Interconnection, down 42.1 TWh, or 8.6%, to 445.5 TWh in the third quarter from 487.6 TWh in Q3 2020;
- Electric Reliability Council of Texas, down 17.6 TWh, or 7.7%, to 210.1 TWh in Q3 from 227.7 TWh in Q3 2020; and
- ISO New England, down 17 TWh, or 16.8%, to 83.7 TWh in Q3 from 100.7 TWh in Q3 2020.
However, this data has shortcomings. For example, the ERCOT data represents about 50-60% of actual sales, as FERC has limited jurisdiction over ERCOT market participants. Also, the PG&E and Southern California Edison sales in the California Independent System Operator represent an estimate, because those companies report sales one quarter later than others.
In contrast with markets where power sales decreased, the Midcontinent ISO's market participants reported Q3 sales of 239.6 TWh, up 5.3% from Q3 2020's 227.5 TWh. Southwest Power Pool market participants reported sales of 126.6 TWh in Q3, up 5.3% from Q3 2020's 120.2 TWh. Power companies in the Florida Reliability Coordinating Council reported sales of 11.8 TWh in Q3, up 9.5% from Q3 2020's 10.8 TWh.
CustomWeather data indicates population-weighted cooling-degree days in Q3 were 3.2% above Q3 2020 in MISO and 12.8% above Q3 2020 in SPP, but 6.1% below Q3 2020 in Florida.
Delivery point rankings
Despite the ERCOT sales data limitations, ERCOT had three of the top 10 power delivery points in the FERC Electric Quarterly Reports sales data:
- ERCOT North Zone, ranked No. 1, with Q3's 106.7 TWh, down 14.5 TWh, or 12.5%, from Q3 2020's 116.2 TWh
- ERCOT Houston Zone, ranked No. 5, with Q3's 40.9 TWh, down 3.2 TWh, or 7.3%, from Q3 2020's 44.1 TWh
- ERCOT West Zone, ranked No. 8, with Q3's 37 TWh, up 2.7 TWh, or 7.9%, from Q3 2020's 34.3 TWh
One factor in those delivery point numbers might be that Exelon, which has a large nuclear plant in Texas, and Vistra, which has Texas' largest generation fleet, were ranked first and second in power sales in the FERC data, with 126.6 TWh and 91.4 TWh, respectively.
Vistra in Q3 moved up from third place to take the No. 2 position from Shell Energy North America, which ranked third in the most recent quarter, at 75.7 TWh.
Nationwide, wholesale wind sales were up 10.9% on the year at 62.5 TWh in the third quarter, versus 56.4 TWh in Q3 2020, and wholesale solar sales were up 29.5% to 24.4 TWh in Q3, versus 18.9 TWh in Q3 2020.
However, wind and solar sales were down 19.9% and 0.5%, respectively, from the second quarter of 2021.
Top 20 Wholesale Power Sellers Comparison
Company
Q3 2021 MWh (1)
Q3 2020 MWh
% Change
Exelon Generation Affiliates
126,598,834
126,807,422
-0.2%
Vistra Energy
91,443,561
90,055,960
1.5%
Shell Energy North America
75,689,527
90,869,684
-16.7%
NextEra Energy Resources
50,388,270
44,539,165
13.1%
Calpine Affiliates (2)
48,410,676
60,815,112
NA
Citigroup Energy
40,407,267
61,314,624
-34.1%
Entergy Operating Companies
38,067,387
36,782,905
3.5%
PSEG Power
33,277,276
36,882,947
-9.8%
American Electric Power Regulated Utilities
32,186,758
29,071,971
10.7%
Energy Harbor
28,326,071
27,710,024
2.2%
NRG Energy
26,921,715
22,047,304
22.1%
EDF Trading Holdings
26,394,723
28,283,655
-6.7%
The Energy Authority
26,150,347
30,189,945
-13.4%
Xcel Energy
23,553,167
23,594,794
-0.2%
Dominion Regulated Utilities
23,396,650
25,101,146
-6.8%
Talen Energy (Riverstone)
22,843,607
23,353,309
-2.2%
Morgan Stanley Capital Group
22,539,756
25,033,595
-10.0%
Duke Energy Regulated Utilities
17,986,571
17,216,407
4.5%
BP Co. North America
17,951,596
27,969,091
-35.8%
Evergy
17,495,512
17,851,494
-2.0%
Total Projected (1)
1,474,200,000
1,538,359,483
-4.2%
(1) Q3 2021 includes an estimate for PG&E and Southern California Edison CAISO sales which are reported one quarter later than the normal filing schedule as well as other entities that have yet to file data or data filed was incomplete.
(2) Calpine year-on-year change is not comparable as affiliate Calpine Energy Services excluded bilateral sales in their Q3 2021 EQR report to FERC which have been quite significant historically.
Regional Wholesale Power Comparison
REGION
Q3 2021 MWh (1)
Q3 2020 MWh
% Change
CAISO (1)
115,337,045
126,537,893
-8.9%
ERCOT (2)
210,134,431
227,690,516
-7.7%
FRCC
11,805,536
10,785,305
9.5%
ISONE
83,744,934
100,703,880
-16.8%
MISO
239,610,875
227,508,084
5.3%
NYISO
59,721,744
65,431,771
-8.7%
PJM
445,526,781
487,600,700
-8.6%
SERC
70,479,935
71,646,183
-1.6%
SPP
126,599,739
120,185,245
5.3%
WECC (3)
100,069,769
100,243,240
-0.2%
Total Projected (1)
1,474,200,000
1,538,359,483
-4.2%
(1) Q3 2021 includes an estimate for PG&E and Southern California Edison CAISO sales which are reported one quarter later than the normal filing schedule as well as other entities that have yet to file data.
(2) The ERCOT figure above probably represents about 50-60% of the ERCOT wholesale power market.
(3) WECC excludes CAISO which is listed separately.
Top 10 Wholesale Power Delivery Points Comparison
DELIVERYPT
Q3 2021 MWh (1)
Q3 2020 MWh
% Change
ERCOT NORTH
101,650,219
116,156,120
-12.5%
PJM AEP ZONE
57,446,782
54,583,820
5.2%
PJM COMED ZONE
51,711,543
50,686,210
2.0%
NP15
45,704,120
43,241,027
5.7%
ERCOT HOUSTON
40,917,811
44,142,116
-7.3%
SP15
39,562,693
52,594,663
-24.8%
PJM ATSI ZONE
38,291,060
40,092,606
-4.5%
ERCOT WEST
37,018,670
34,310,897
7.9%
SOUTHERN
36,382,062
36,790,230
-1.1%
PJM PPL ZONE
35,878,425
34,690,861
3.4%
Total Projected (1)
1,474,200,000
1,538,359,483
-4.2%
(1) Q3 2021 includes an estimate for PG&E and Southern California Edison CAISO sales which are reported one quarter later than the normal filing schedule as well as other entities that have yet to file data.
Top 10 Wholesale Power Wind Sellers Comparison (1)
COMPANY
Q3 2021 MWh
Q3 2020 MWh
% Change
NEXTERA ENERGY RESOURCES
13,131,525
11,495,814
14.2%
ENEL GREEN POWER NORTH AMERICA INC
4,239,322
3,584,309
18.3%
AVANGRID RENEWABLES
3,910,629
3,853,624
1.5%
EDP RENEWABLES NORTH AMERICA LLC
3,168,026
2,793,629
13.4%
EDF RENEWABLES INC
2,854,542
2,485,428
14.9%
RWE RENEWABLES AMERICAS LLC
2,278,756
2,033,969
12.0%
CLEARWAY ENERGY GROUP LLC
1,805,234
1,795,215
0.6%
SOUTHERN POWER CO
1,803,364
1,424,852
26.6%
INVENERGY RENEWABLES LLC
1,594,466
1,629,781
-2.2%
ENGIE NORTH AMERICA INC
1,560,586
780,756
99.9%
Total
62,526,232
56,394,890
10.9%
(1) Utility scale wholesale sales from wind facilities that are for the most part facilities above 20 MW in size.
Top 10 Wholesale Power Solar Sellers Comparison (1)
COMPANY
Q3 2021 MWh
Q3 2020 MWh
% Change
NEXTERA ENERGY RESOURCES
2,435,146
2,021,662
20.5%
CON EDISON CLEAN ENERGY BUSINESS INC
1,924,136
1,628,600
18.1%
SOUTHERN POWER CO
1,507,895
1,582,039
-4.7%
DE SHAW RENEWABLE INVESTMENTS
1,289,634
769,993
67.5%
CAPITAL DYNAMICS
1,238,293
1,088,137
13.8%
BHE RENEWABLES LLC
1,052,174
1,062,354
-1.0%
GLOBAL ATLANTIC FINANCIAL GROUP LTD
996,682
885,216
12.6%
sPOWER
931,821
733,860
27.0%
CLEARWAY ENERGY GROUP LLC
894,250
788,680
13.4%
DUKE COMMERCIAL POWER
823,903
737,598
11.7%
Total
24,443,151
18,876,439
29.5%
(1) Utility scale wholesale sales from solar facilities that are for the most part facilities above 20 MW in size.
