Wholesale electricity prices are projected to decline across most of the United States this winter compared to last winter, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s annual winter assessment released Thursday.
Prices in the Southeast, New York and PJM Interconnection are expected to fall by more than $5/MWh, FERC said, citing the Energy Information Administration. FERC expects the Southwest Power Pool will have the lowest average winter-time wholesale prices at $38.21/MWh among U.S. regions.
Heading into the winter, installed U.S. capacity increased by 35 GW from a year ago to 1,223 GW and battery storage is expected to surge to 10 GW from 4 GW in the same period, according to the winter assessment. All regions are expected to have more capacity this winter compared to last, except PJM and New England, FERC said.
About 49% of expected winter capacity additions come from solar, 19% from battery storage, 16% from natural gas and 14% from wind, FERC said. Coal-fired generation makes up 62% of the expected retirements and gas-fired capacity accounts for 32% of them, according to the report.