Electricity demand will increase in June as temperatures rise and higher loads become the main driver for ISO New England, PJM and NYISO.

Generator maintenance will no longer be a major factor in June.  The power generation maintenance season will largely be completed by the end of May and outage levels will be minimal throughout the summer.

Significant transmission work continues in ISO New England, PJM and NYISO.  Some Congestion Watch highlights include:

• ISO New England has scheduled month-Long line outages at Lexington and Holbrook, increasing the congestion potential in NEMA and SEMA, respectively. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on overall energy demand in New England continues to be limited.

• In PJM Mid-Atlantic, 230 kV line outages at Bagley will continue to aggravate congestion in BGE through mid-June. Additional line outages will be bearish for PPL and PENELEC. Generator maintenance levels will be minimal in June and all nuclear reactors are expected to be available.

• In Western PJM, major transmission line work will be bearish for AEP and bullish for ATSI. The Covid-19 pandemic continues to moderate PJM electricity demand.

• NYISO transmission outages will continue to impact the Central-East interface, increasing the congestion potential in Zone F. Line work along the Leeds-Pleasant Valley corridor will be bullish for congestion in Zones G-K. Zone A congestion is expected to increase. Only minimal generator maintenance is expected in June and all nuclear reactors are expected to be available – we note that the Indian Point unit 3 retired as of May 1.

Find out more about congestion drivers in June in our recent issue of ESAI’s Northeast Congestion Watch.