Climate Changed
Most Exciting U.S. Power Market This Year Looks More Like a Bust
- Windy days can make or break Texas’s fossil fuel generators
- Shuttered coal plants hyped a summer of shortages that isn’t
Photographer: Steve Hockstein/Bloomberg
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It was supposed to be the country’s most-exciting power market this summer.
Texas’ power grid had all the right elements to create an electricity price surge in mid-July -- record usage and temperatures and a supply curtailment from the shutdown of three major coal plants. But aside from a few hours here and there, not much happened. And that may prove costly for traders sitting on bets that prices will soar in August, when demand typically peaks.