Wholesale Electric Costs Skyrocket in Jan 2018 with Polar Vortex
The Polar Vortex of Jan 2018 may be history, hopefully not to revisit.
However, its impact is still being felt.
Below is a table of the wholesale electric costs in the ComEd utility area of January 15, 2018
The Wholesale Energy Costs nearly doubled. As the wholesale market provides power to ALL utility and Realgy customers, every customer will feel this cost increase.
Realgy passes costs incurred each month. Typically our costs are below ComEd. In January 2018 the polar vortex caused a supply peak and corresponding price increase.
As this is a temporary increase and one that changes during the month, we collect it through the settlement recovery charge on your bill. It will only appear on your January bill. Then, like the Polar Vortex, it will go away.
ComEd, as a monopoly utility, will collect this increase as part of their next rate increase which will be as early as February.
Realgy Energy Services is a registered Retail Energy Marketer in the states of Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. We offer Service Plans that will provide electric and natural gas at wholesale pricing direct to customers without any utility markup. Our Service Plans work with the local utility to provide seamless service and annual energy savings. Service Plans include Guaranteed SavingsTM, ManagedPriceTM, ManagedGreenTM Index, Fixed and PriceAssuranceTM.
Realgy owns and operates 6 solar plants in Illinois and is looking to invest in additional locations.
DOE EIA Weekly Gas Storage Report
Working gas in storage was 2,584 Bcf as of Friday, January 12, 2018, according to EIA estimates.
This represents a net decrease of 183 Bcf from the previous week. Stocks were 368 Bcf less than last year at this time and 362 Bcf below the five-year average of 2,946 Bcf. At 2,584 Bcf, total working gas is within the five-year historical range.
Utility To Lower Default Service Rates Due To Federal Tax Cuts
So, the tax cut you heard about is lowering electric rates.
Baltimore Gas and Electric filed to lower its electric rate by 15%. This is due to their corporate tax rate decreasing from 35% to 21%. No word on if salaries are increasing for their employees. This will undoubtedly be a trend for utilities.
Remember, a utility is a monopoly and they can only earn their guaranteed rate of return; any surplus has to be refunded to customers.
Realgy Energy Services is a registered Retail Energy Marketer in the states of Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. We offer Service Plans that will provide electric and natural gas at wholesale pricing direct to customers without any utility markup. Our Service Plans work with the local utility to provide seamless service and annual energy savings. Service Plans include Guaranteed SavingsTM, ManagedPriceTM, ManagedGreenTM Index, Fixed and PriceAssuranceTM.
Realgy owns and operates 6 solar plants in Illinois and is looking to invest in additional locations.
Additional Information:
http://www.energychoicematters.com/stories/20180116b.html
DOE EIA Weekly Gas Storage Report
Working gas in storage was 2,767 Bcf as of Friday, January 5, 2018, according to EIA estimates.
This represents a net decrease of 359 Bcf from the previous week. Stocks were 415 Bcf less than last year at this time and 382 Bcf below the five-year average of 3,149 Bcf. At 2,767 Bcf, total working gas is within the five-year historical range.
Recent cold snap shatters Polar Vortex records for natural gas demand — could send bills surging
Citizen’s Energy Group reported a record use of natural gas. Due to the recent polar vortex (when temperatures drop to well below 0) from Dec 26 through Jan 6 (10 days) over 5.6 million dekatherms were used; MORE THAN a 25 day supply during normal winter weather!
With the extreme cold you had price increases of about 3 times more than normal. Bills will be higher for January. However, more moderate winter weather is forecast so the increase will be temporary.
Realgy Energy Services is a registered Retail Energy Marketer in the states of Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. We offer Service Plans that will provide electric and natural gas at wholesale pricing direct to customers without any utility markup. Our Service Plans work with the local utility to provide seamless service and annual energy savings. Service Plans include Guaranteed SavingsTM, ManagedPriceTM, ManagedGreenTM Index, Fixed and PriceAssuranceTM.
Realgy owns and operates 6 solar plants in Illinois and is looking to invest in additional locations.
Additional Information:
https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2018/01/09/recent-cold-snap-shatters-polar-vortex-records-natural-gas-demand-could-send-bills-surging/1013669001/
Electricity from Coal generation continues to decline in the US
The Federal Energy Agency (FERC) looks ahead annually and forecasts the energy supply for all the generation sources in the US. In the most recent forecast, the energy source being reduced the most remains coal. Natural gas, wind and solar will contribute the most new generation in the coming years. This is the trend that has been in place for 10+ years. Last year was the first time that coal contributed less than ½ of all US electricity.
Coal generation continues to decline as does coal jobs while solar and wind jobs more than made up for the net loss of jobs. However, the wind and solar jobs are generally not located in areas where the coal jobs are lost (with the exception of Illinois, and Indiana).
Realgy Energy Services is a registered Retail Energy Marketer in the states of Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. We offer Service Plans that will provide electric and natural gas at wholesale pricing direct to customers without any utility markup. Our Service Plans work with the local utility to provide seamless service and annual energy savings. Service Plans include Guaranteed SavingsTM, ManagedPriceTM, ManagedGreenTM Index, Fixed and PriceAssuranceTM.
Realgy owns and operates 6 solar plants in Illinois and is looking to invest in additional locations.
Additional Information:
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/ferc-20-gw-of-coal-capacity-headed-for-retirement-by-2020/514277/