Laserfiche WebLink
o Generation in many cases was constrained due to natural <br />gas well and pipeline freezes, wind turbine freezes, the wind <br />not blowing, coal pile freezes, and freezes at power plants <br />themselves, although much of the freezing occurred in Texas <br />rather than in SPP and MISO. Nuclear and hydropower were <br />functioning as far as we understand at this point, but we are <br />aware of one nuclear plant that tripped off in Texas due to <br />the load-shedding and safety issues. Solar is not a major part <br />of the energy mix, but was unavailable in some cases <br />because of the lack of sun or snow/freeze on solar panels. <br />Diesel “peaking” “generators functioned well and were able <br />to aid grid stability. <br />o Spiking natural gas prices soared, contributing to extremely <br />high wholesale energy market prices in ERCOT, SPP, MISO, <br />and even other regions. <br />What are the financial impacts on public power? <br /> <br /> First, it’s worth noting that public power’s customers really are <br />the utility. They have no shareholders or equity investors, so any <br />impact will be borne by customers. <br /> Some members of the public power community—particularly joint <br />action agencies, which serve power public power utilities—have <br />reported spending more than their entire 2021 budget for natural <br />gas within days. <br /> Similarly, public power utilities who buy power on the wholesale <br />market were forced to pay high prices to obtain power to serve <br />customers. <br /> Not all public power utilities were negatively impacted financially. <br /> <br />What is the outlook? <br /> <br />359 <br />