Outage-Related Transmission Constraints to Impact Power Prices in PJM, NYISO & ISO-NE | Congestion Watch Blog

Congestion in April will largely be driven by outage-related transmission constraints, as maintenance for both generator and transmission kicks into gear. Electricity demand across the Northeast RTOs bottoms out in April, moderating demand-driven congestion. However, while warmer temperature forecasts moderate April load expectations in New England and New York, warmer-than-normal April weather is likely to trigger some cooling demand and increased electricity consumption in PJM.

Here is a high level overview of each RTO for April:

• PJM Update – planned generator outages are expected to reach 26,000 MW in the Mid-Atlantic region and 25,000 MW in Western PJM. Transmission work will be bullish for BGE and EMAAC. 765 kV and 345 kV line outages in Western PJM continue to be bullish for AEP and ATSI, and COMED.
• ISO-NE Update –  generator maintenance levels will reach above 9,000 MW in late April. Scheduled transmission outages will aggravate congestion in CT and NEMA.
• NYISO Update – planned transmission outages in April will affect all major NYISO transmission interfaces, aggravating state-wide congestion. New York generator maintenance levels are expected to peak near 10,000 MW.

Subscribers: Find out more about congestion drivers, detailed outage information and congestion analysis for April, 2022 and an update on the FTR auction in our recent issue of Congestion Watch.