(Photo credit: Kenrick Mills on Unsplash)
Jan 18, 2025
Yesterday, 5’s Chief Risk Officer, issued a statement about how next week’s winter weather may affect energy markets and operations.
Expected temperatures going into Monday, January 20 and early next week will hit the lowest points of this winter season. Many parts of the country will see the coldest conditions since Winter Storm Elliott swept across most of the nation in December 2022.
PJM has issued a Cold Weather Alert for its entire footprint from Monday, January 20 to Wednesday, January 22. As of today, PJM is forecasting a peak demand that exceeds 140,000 MWs on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week. This level of demand would approach or exceed PJM’s historic winter maximum.
In Texas, New York and New England, temperatures are not expected to be as extreme as in prior winter events. However, natural gas curtailments are still possible and this forecast could change over the next 48 hours.
If you are an interruptible natural gas customer, be prepared to take action if your local utility issues an Operation Flow Order and your gas supply is curtailed. Keep a lookout for this and additional notifications.
If you are an electricity customer with exposure to index prices, take steps and prepare, if possible, to reduce electricity consumption on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.
We will continue to monitor the weather over the holiday weekend and will issue additional communications, if necessary.
Please reply to this email if you have any questions. Additionally, please forward this to others in your organization that need to be informed about this approaching winter weather.
Stay safe and stay warm.
Eric Bratcher
Chief Risk Officer
Zac Coventry specializes in energy portfolio management for large loads. He helps data center operators, energy managers, and private equity investors minimize CapEx and operational costs through supply chain management, energy brokerage, and strategic advising.
For a private consultation, please contact me.
