ISO New England real-time power price spikes Wednesday morning led to increased oil and 

hydro  generation  usage  as  an  abnormal  conditions  alert  remains  in  effect  due  to  the 

nor'easter that slammed the region. 

Real-time  prices spiked  above  $1,875/MWh  at  7:50 am EDT for two five-minute intervals, 

according  to  ISO data. Prices quickly fell, before jumping and hovering near $300/MWh for 

about an hour. Internal Hub real-time has averaged $27.25/MWh so far in March, 26% below 

the March 2017 average. 

The sudden spike in real-time prices Wednesday morning led to an increase in fuel oil  and 

hydro generation. 

Fuel oil generation spiked as high as 781 MW Wednesday, compared with a maximum of 20 

MW Tuesday. Fuel oil has accounted for 4.7% of the ISO's fuel mix so far in 2018, compared 

with 0.3% in the first quarter of 2017, thanks to strong winter storms driving up oil generation 

at the start of the year. 

Hydro generation spiked to 2,770 MW, compared with Tuesday's highest level of nearly 1,750 

MW.  Hydro  generation  has  been  about  9.6%  of  the  overall  ISO fuel mix so far this year, 

compared with 9.3% in Q1 2017. 

ISO New England issued an abnormal conditions alert Monday afternoon due to the nor'easte

r  and   the  alert  remains  in  effect  until  further notice. Once  the  alert  is  issued,  market 

participants are expected to cease any routine maintenance, construction or test activities on 

their equipment that could jeopardize the reliability of the power system.