Random ISO NE Update -- Unnerving -- September 15, 2021

A reader writes:

While I seldom check in on the New England electricity situation any more, the current European status prompted me to take a look at today's ISO site for NE. 

Interesting stuff.

Spot price passed $100/Mw this morning ... $90+ as of this post. 

The Day Ahead (tomorrow)  for the Boston area (about 95% of the actual cost, in routine operations) is over $119/Mw. 

Oil being burned amounts to 2% (in September!) and is almost as much as the total wind generation.

These people are sleepwalking into an unmitigated disaster should very cold snaps hit that area come this winter. 

That reader and I are on the same of music. I seldom check in on the New England ISO now that I have a better feeling for it. 

But wow, look at the spot price for electricity this morning. A lot of folks wrote me regarding the "Texas Freeze" last February (2021). The difference between the two: New England has a structural issue that is not being addressed by New England, whereas the "Texas event" was a one-off, and regulators are addressing the issue. 

To put the $120 / Mw in context, one expects to see numbers between $15 and $30. ISO NE can be tracked here. Wow, $90 right now and this should be the best time of the year -- no longer the hot summer and not yet the cold winter. This is unnerving.