NYISO Says It Has Adequate Reserves For Summer 2013
June 06, 2013
NYISO said it expects to have enough reserves to meet peak demand this summer despite power plant retirements. The ISO’s demand should peak at 33,279 MWs, which is forecast to be 840 MWs above last year’s peak but 660 MWs below the all-time peak set in 2006. The peak forecast is based on normal summer weather with temperatures in New York City at 95 degrees; if heat waves push temperatures to 100 degrees in the city and elsewhere, peak demand could rise to 35,770 MWs. NYISO can count on 41,452 MWs of supplies, including 37,925 MWs of in-state generation; 1,558 MWs of demand response; and 1,969 MWs of imports from neighboring regions. Supplies dropped about 2,220 MWs from last year's levels, largely due to the retirement of 1,700 MWs of generation. NYISO’s reserve margin is 17 percent, and it would need just 38,936 MWs to meet that. But the positive overall picture does not necessarily translate into all the areas of the state, NYISO noted, as transmission bottlenecks into the downstate area could make things tighter there.