The average price of New England wholesale electricity in July was 39 percent lower than a year ago, largely due to milder mid-summer weather.
Wholesale prices were $34.91 per megawatt hour in July, according to regional grid administrator ISO New England, compared to the $57.12 per megawatt hour paid in the region for July 2013. The pricing in July 2014 also was 8 percent lower than the pricing in the previous month of June.
The main reason for the price drop was July’s temperature and humidity were significantly lower compared to July 2013, leading to lower demand for electricity to run air conditioners and other devices, according to ISO.
The commodity price of natural gas – the main fuel for New England’s power plants – was 33 percent lower than last year, also leading to a decline in electricity pricing.
The lower summer electricity pricing is in stark contrast to the winter pricing, where January, February, and March all set record high prices in their respective months. The winter spike was caused by cold temperatures and constraints in the natural gas transmission pipeline, which limited the amount of fuel available to power plants in the winter months.
