Dive Brief:
- Platts reports that as New York prepared for a major winter storm this week power prices in some regions spiked above $200/MWh.
- Though New York City was spared what many had expected to be a crippling blizzard, other areas of the Northeast and New England were hit with multiple feet of snow.
- While the region's utilities performed well, National Grid reported severe icing knocked out power to Nantucket, stranding more than 12,000 without electricity.
Dive Insight:
New England is digging itself out from the Blizzard of 2015, dubbed Juno, but National Grid — which had warned hundreds of thousands could be left without power — says its system has held up very well. As of 2 p.m. yesterday, the utility reported outages affecting approximately 15,300 customers, roughly 12,700 of which were on the island of Nantucket.
The entire island of Nantucket experienced severe icing, which knocked out both of the substation transformers. One transformer has been restored, but before the substation is put back in service National Grid said all of the power lines on the island must be checked for problems and repaired, if needed, before they can be returned to service.
NSTAR reported that as of 8 p.m. there were approximately 9,800 customers without power, most in the South Shore and Cape Cod regions of the utility's service territory. Those areas were hardest hit by flooding, high winds and snowfall. NSAR said it had already restored power to approximately 50,000 customers
New York City was spared the brunt of the storm, though the city took the historic step of shutting down its transit system in advance. But power prices spiked as the city braced for cold temperatures, and Platts reports NY-ISO New York City prices reached $197/MWh on Monday.
