The price of power at the daily markets could vary Thursday, March 8, amid mixed demand outlooks for the close of the workweek.
Natural gas markets will also be watched for price direction. Tacking on 2.8 cents in the midweek session, NYMEX April natural gas futures were edging slightly lower early Thursday ahead of the release of the latest round of weekly storage data from the government. At 7 a.m. ET, the front-month gas futures contract was down just 0.6 cent to $2.771/MMBtu on light profit taking.
Market analysts and experts are calling for a storage withdrawal from 55 Bcf to 61 Bcf, with a consensus pegged at a 58-Bcf pull, which will compare to the 57-Bcf year-ago withdrawal and the 129-Bcf five-year average pull.
On the demand side, grid operators across the country anticipate diverging load at the close of the workweek.
In the Northeast, load in New England could reach highs at 16,030 MW on Thursday and 15,680 MW on Friday, while demand in New York could unwind as it is forecast to peak at 19,584 MW on Thursday and 19,285 MW on Friday. In the mid-Atlantic, stronger demand is in store, as PJM Western region load is called to top out at 55,999 MW on Thursday and 56,085 MW on Friday, while PJM Mid-Atlantic load is seen hitting highs at 36,846 MW on Thursday and 37,209 MW at the end of the business week.
In the Midwest, load in the PJM AEP region is poised to expand as it is called to reach 18,061 MW on Thursday and 18,242 MW on Friday, while PJM ComEd demand is set to decline as it is forecast to crest at 12,496 MW on Thursday and 12,232 MW on Friday.
In the South, Texas load should near 40,095 MW on Thursday and 38,168 MW at the close of the workweek, joining the downtrend.
In the West, load in California is projected to touch a high near 27,200 MW on Thursday and 26,130 MW on Friday, which should exert pressure on power dailies in the region with the day's trading schedule typically altered to feature partly weekend products for Friday-Saturday delivery.
In forward activity, pricing for April power varied across regions March 7, as market participants considered the conflicting impacts on demand of lingering cold in outlooks and moderating weather implied by the calendar.
In the East, April power was assessed in the low $30s in transactions off about 30 cents day on day in New England and down roughly 40 cents at PJM West. Along the forward curve, power for May delivery was marked in the high $20s in New England and also in the low $30s at PJM West.
In the Midwest, trades for month-ahead power slipped 40 cents to the high $20s at PJM Northern Illinois, while front-month power was valued in the low $30s in deals around 50 cents softer on the day at PJM AD and 75 cents weaker at MISO Indiana.
In the South, the ERCOT hubs saw prompt-month power change hands in the high $20s to the low $30s in transactions up about 10 cents to 20 cents. Regional trading action for May power spanned the high $20s to the mid-$30s.
In the West, an almost $2 gain drove North Path-15 April to the low $30s and a $3 increase steered South Path-15 April to the high $20. Power prices at Mid-Columbia for April advanced by around 40 cents to the mid-$10s and Palo Verde April climbed by roughly $2 also to the high $20s. Power parcels for May were discussed in the low $10s at Mid-Columbia and in the high $20s to the low $30s elsewhere in the region.

Market prices and included industry data are current as of the time of publication and are subject to change. For more detailed market data, including power and natural gas index prices, as well as forwards and futures, visit our Commodities pages.
