Alberta’s weighted average Power Pool Price for March is currently $183.08/MWh, a decrease of $14.66/MWh or 7.4% relative to last week’s price of $197.74/MWh. Pricing over the past week averaged $135.28/MWh, with March 23rd and March 29th settling to less than $70/MWh. While there was some volatility on the 27th, when the daily price averaged $265.88/MWh, the remainder of the week’s settles were within expectations. There was also a noticeable increase in renewable generation over the past week, compared to earlier in the month, which helped to reduce peak demand pricing. Finally, there were only a few intermittent outages at Shepard Energy Centre and Battle River 5 this past week, which did not cause increased price volatility.
The weighted average Hourly Ontario Energy Price (HOEP) is settling at 2.5¢/kWh month-to-date, no change from last week’s settle. There was a slight increase in the use of demand response generators, as natural gas-burning supply rose by 0.9% (1330MW) over the course of this past week. Nuclear baseload generation picked back up, increasing its output to an average of 8347MW, a 14.97MW or 0.2% increase compared to last week. Hydro-based generation, on the other hand, decreased output, falling 1.4% to an average of 4201MW. Wind, solar, and biofuel reduced week-over-week output (-2.5%; 2008MW, -0.2%; 80MW, -11.8%; 36MW, respectively). With the first Global Adjustment estimated at 7.0¢/kWh, March’s total market price is settling at 9.5¢/kWh as of today.
Ontario has launched a Clean Energy Credit (CEC) Registry, which allows for recognition, display of certification, and tracking of CECs generated in Ontario. This would allow the purchase of clean energy credits from nuclear, wind, solar, hydro and bioenergy generation within Ontario. While the registry will allow the tracking of the CECs, it will not track the financial arrangements surrounding the sale and purchase, which would remain between the respective parties. Ontario Power Generation (OPG) will begin offering its CECs immediately, while the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) is expected to begin selling their CECs this summer.
– Mark Ljuckanov, Energy Advisor / Clara Birch, Energy Data Analyst
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