THE OPERATOR OF THE REGION’S POWER GRID said on Thursday that the wholesale price of electricity fell by more than a third in 2015, primarily because of lower prices for natural gas, the fuel used to produce nearly half of New England’s electricity.
ISO New England said the average wholesale price for electricity in the region fell from 6.3 cents a kilowatt hour in 2014 to 4.1 cents in 2015. The retail price of electricity, which includes charges for transmission, distribution, and energy efficiency measures, typically tops 17 cents a kilowatt hour.
The lower price of electricity in 2015 was due primarily to slumping prices for natural gas. According to ISO New England, the average price of natural gas in the region fell 41 percent in 2015. The average price per million British thermal units dropped from $7.99 in 2014 to $4.73 in 2015. ISO New England said the price spiked to an average of $11.36 during the winter months of January, February, and March “when the total regional gas demand stressed the region’s natural gas infrastructure,” but even that higher price was still 43 percent less than in 2014.
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About Bruce Mohl
Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.
About Bruce Mohl
Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.
Electricity consumption held steady in 2015, with total usage falling 0.3 percent.
The report by ISO New England comes as Massachusetts lawmakers are poised to make a number of strategic energy decisions to meet electricity demand while reining in carbon emissions. A bill coming up for debate in the House would direct the state’s utilities to go through a bidding process to purchase large quantities of offshore wind and hydroelectricity from Canada, possibly in conjunction with other forms of clean energy.
The Baker administration is also hopeful that the region’s natural gas pipeline infrastructure can be expanded to keep the relatively cheap fuel flowing, particularly in winter months when capacity often becomes tight because so much of the fuel is being used for heating.
