Staff's 'Winter 2013-14, Energy Market Assessment Report to the Commission'

Winter 2013-14
Energy Market Assessment
Report to the Commission

Docket No. AD06-3-000
October 2013

Disclaimer: The matters presented in this staff report do not necessarily represent the views of
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, its Chairman, or individual Commissioners, and are not
binding on the Commission.

Slide 1

Winter 2013-14
Energy Market Assessment
Item No. A-5
October 17, 2013

1 of 15

Slide 2

Seasonal Outlook


Conditions look positive going into the
winter season

• Moderate natural gas and power prices
• Natural gas storage inventories are adequate,
although lower than last year’s record
• Growing natural gas production



Regional Assessment

• New England continues to be an area of focus

This presentation is Office of Enforcement’s Winter 2013-2014 Energy Market Assessment. The
Winter Assessment is staff’s opportunity to look ahead to the coming season and share our
thoughts and expectations.
Market conditions going into the winter are generally positive for natural gas and electricity
markets. Current spot and futures market natural gas prices remain relatively low in most
regions of the country and natural gas storage levels are in line with the five-year average.
Electricity prices are expected to track the natural gas market prices.
U.S. natural gas production continues to increase, driven by strong growth in the Northeast and
from natural gas liquids-rich production areas, such as the Eagle Ford Shale in Texas. Although
New England energy market reliability continues to warrant close attention, the Commission
conditionally accepted ISO-New England and the New England Power Pool Participants
Committee proposed tariff revisions regarding Winter Reliability Program components on
September 16 to mitigate reliability risks brought on by last winter’s fuel supply issues.

2 of 15

Slide 3

Another Warm Winter Forecast for
Much of the Country

Source: NOAA National Weather Service

As always, weather is the key wildcard going into the winter and is the main driver of natural gas
demand and prices. This chart shows NOAA’s outlook for the coming winter. The forecast
shows a chance for normal winter over the large eastern consuming region. Based on this, staff
expects that residential and commercial natural gas demand would be comparable to last year,
particularly in the Northeast. However, there is a high degree of uncertainty associated with this
forecast since NOAA’s earlier expectation of an El Nino event this winter is on hold. Data that
once showed growing signs of an El Nino – a warming of the water in the Pacific Ocean that
generally brings wet winter weather to the south and warmer-than-normal temperatures to the
northern tier of the country – are now becoming more neutral. Therefore, the chances of an El
Nino event significant enough to affect winter weather are waning.
NOAA expects a warmer-than-normal winter over the western half of the country, however
winter gas demand in the west is generally not a big driver of U.S. gas prices.

3 of 15

Slide 4

Gas Prices Climb from 2012 Lows

Source: Derived from ICE data.
Note: Prices as of October 1, 2013.

This map shows average year-to-date natural gas prices for key price points around the U.S.
Most natural gas prices across the U.S. are up 40 to 50% from last year and are back to 2011
levels. Despite the increase over last year, natural gas prices remain well below historic highs.
Outside of the Northeast, basis, the difference between regional price points and the Henry Hub,
continues to be low. Growing regional production across the U.S., coupled with plentiful
pipeline capacity, has helped to reduce basis nationwide.
The highest natural gas prices in the country are in New England. Basis between Algonquin
Citygates, a Boston area pricing point, and Henry Hub is up $2.22/MMBtu compared to last year,
due to ongoing pipeline congestion in the region. New England experienced occasional natural
gas price spikes over $30/MMBtu last winter and prices may spike again this winter as
temperatures fall and local pipelines become congested.
With the exception of localized spikes occurring during periods of high winter natural gas
demand, staff does not expect natural gas prices to significantly increase this winter.

4 of 15

Slide 5

Futures Prices in
New England Soar
Source: Derived from ICE
data.
^January and February
2014
*January and February
2013
*Power Note: Prices in
$/MWh; 2013 shows
Peak Fin-swap prices and
2014 shows peak future
prices. SP15 peak futures
for Jan and Feb 2014
have not traded yet and
the price is the average of
the last bid and offer.

*Gas Note: Prices in
$/MMBtu. Regional

futures natural gas
prices are the sum of
the Henry Hub futures
contract price plus the
regional basis futures.

P
o
w
e
r
G
a
s

Location
Massachussets Hub
PJM Western Hub
Northwest (Mid-C)
Southern California (SP-15)
New England (Algonquin)
Mid-Atlantic (Dominion South)
Southern California Border
Henry Hub

2014^
$100.00
$44.35
$37.37
$43.12
$11.75
$3.66
$3.95
$3.87

2013*
$65.65
$48.00
$34.58
$42.63
$6.59
$3.78
$3.88
$3.77

This table shows futures prices for power and natural gas at key regional markets as of October
1, 2013. Futures prices are a tool for consumers and producers to lock in winter prices to hedge
against price volatility rather than a predictor of actual winter prices. A marketer could lock in a
natural gas price at the Henry Hub for January and February for $3.87/MMBtu, 2.5% above the
futures strip this time last year.
For the coming winter, futures prices for natural gas and power are generally comparable to last
year’s low prices. The exception is New England, where natural gas futures prices are more than
$5.00/MMBtu higher than last winter, pushing futures prices at Algonquin Citygates to nearly
$12/MMBtu. Reflecting the close relationship between natural gas and electricity prices, winter
electricity peak futures prices in New England increased by 52% from last winter, to $100/MWh.
Consumers in the Mid-Atlantic can lock in lower natural gas prices than last year, a result of
rapidly growing Marcellus Shale gas production. Following natural gas price declines,
electricity futures declined moderately at the PJM Western Hub. Elsewhere, SP – 15 and Mid-C
electricity futures ticked upward for the coming winter reflecting the small increase in western
natural gas futures prices over last winter.

5 of 15

Slide 6

Power Burn Down as
Natural Gas Prices Rise
Demand (Bcfd)

%
2013 YTD 2012 YTD Change

Power Burn

22.9

26.3

-13%

Industrial

19.1

18.8

2%

Residential/Commercial

23.5

20.2

16%

Total Demand

69.1

68.7

0.5%

Source: Derived from Bentek Energy data.

Total U.S. natural gas demand increased almost 1% year-to-date. A 16% increase in residential
and commercial gas consumption, due to a return to normal winter weather earlier this year, was
offset by a large decrease in gas used for generation, otherwise known as power burn.
Power burn is down 13% from last year, with the largest decline in the Midwest where power
burn fell 36% from last year. As natural gas prices recovered from the 2012 lows, coal became
more economic in certain regions. This resulted in some generation switching from gas back to
coal, such as in the Southeast and PJM regions. Power burn this coming winter is likely to be
lower than last winter if coal and natural gas prices remain at current relative levels.
Moderate natural gas prices and economic recovery contributed to almost 2% growth in
industrial natural gas demand, led by growth from new natural gas-intensive industrial projects in
mining, manufacturing, and fertilizer. We expect industrial natural gas demand to continue to
grow, with $8 billion in capital expenditures in 105 industrial projects scheduled to begin
operations by the end of the year.

6 of 15

Slide 7

Total U.S. Natural Gas
Supply Stable
Supply (Bcfd)

2013 YTD

2012 YTD

%
Change

Gross Production

73.3

72.1

1.6%

Net LNG Send Out

0.3

0.5

-40%

Net Canadian Imports

5.1

5.5

-7.4%

Total Supply

69.9

69.4

0.6%

Storage Inventories (Tcf)

3.49

3.64

-4.3%

Source: Derived from Bentek Energy and EIA data.

Staff expects current production and storage levels to be sufficient to meet winter heating
demand load this winter in all regions. Total U.S. natural gas supply, specifically natural gas
production plus LNG and Canadian imports, is up less than 1% year-to-date, while natural gas in
storage is down 4%. U.S. natural gas production grew 1.6% year-to-date, as shale gas
production in the Northeast outpaced declining production from the Gulf Coast and the West.
Marcellus Shale gas production climbed to almost 12 Bcfd in August from last year’s 7.4 Bcfd
average. The Northeast is now the largest producing region in the U.S. Gas production from the
Eagle Ford Shale in Texas reached almost 5 Bcfd in August, up from 3.3 Bcfd a year ago.
Net U.S. natural gas imports from Canada are down 7% year-to-date as Canadian producers lose
market share to U.S. production. Despite the decline in net imports, Canadian gas will continue
to supply the Northeast during high demand periods this winter.
Natural gas supply from U.S. LNG import terminals dropped 40% to 0.3 Bcfd in 2013, the
lowest level since the late 1990s. With abundant domestic production and U.S. natural gas prices
much below global gas prices, the only LNG imports that are certain this winter are at Elba
Island in Georgia and Everett in Massachusetts, which have long-term contracts in place.
Finally, U.S. natural gas storage inventories are more than adequate for a normal winter despite a
decline from last year’s record level. A number of cold snaps in February and March depleted
last fall’s record storage inventories. As a result, the refill season started with gas in storage 30%
lower than last year. However, a relatively mild summer helped rebuild storage inventories to
the five-year average.

7 of 15

Slide 8

Bcfd

Northeast Supply Surges, New
England Constraints to Persist
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

Southeast

Mid-Continent

Canada-East

Total NE Production

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Source: Derived from Bentek Energy data.

In this slide, we further focus on the natural gas supply sources for the Northeast. Closer and
cheaper Marcellus Shale gas has largely displaced natural gas supplied to the Northeast via
pipelines from the Southeast, the Mid-Continent, and Canada. Supplies from the Southeast,
Mid-Continent. and Canada have fallen from around 12 Bcfd in 2008 to less than 6 Bcfd in 2013,
while Northeast production has increased from 2 Bcfd to over 11 Bcfd.
Despite the increase in local production, LNG imports remain essential for minimizing natural
gas price spikes in the New England market during peak winter demand days. LNG imports
provide alternate supplies when pipelines shipping natural gas from the south and east become
congested.
However, LNG is likely to remain in short supply this winter with price spikes in New England
not sustained long enough to incentivize LNG cargos. GDF Suez, the owner of the Everett LNG
plant in Massachusetts, is under contract to divert almost half of its supplies to higher priced
areas elsewhere in the world. Everett LNG now supplies only Mystic Power Plant Units 8 & 9,
and local above ground LNG storage, but does not send out significant quantities of regasified
LNG into interconnecting pipelines. Repsol, the owner of Canaport LNG, does not anticipate
receiving many cargos this winter or going forward. As of mid-2013, Repsol is under contract to
receive about two shipments of LNG a year, just enough to keep the terminal operating.
The new Deep Panuke production project, located offshore Nova Scotia, began flowing natural
gas in August and could replace some of the lost LNG supply from Canaport. The project has
the potential to supply 8% of New England’s peak winter natural gas demand once it reaches its

8 of 15

maximum steady production rate of 300 MMcfd. However, it will not entirely replace Canaport,
which is capable of almost 1 Bcfd of sendout, and the timeline for the project to reach peak
production capacity remains highly uncertain.

9 of 15

Slide 9

Algonquin Restrictions
Increase

# Days

150

Stony Point
Cromwell

100
50
0

Winter
10-11

Winter
11-12

Winter
12-13

Source: Derived from Bentek Energy data.

The New England market is served by natural gas supplies from the south via Tennessee Gas
Pipeline (TGP) and Algonquin Gas Transmission (Algonquin). Due to high power burn, the total
number of restrictions at key compressor stations on Algonquin increased last year despite a
warmer-than-normal winter. The Stony Point Compressor Station, shown above in green, is
located where supplies enter the system, while the Cromwell Compressor Station, shown in
orange, is used to measure constraints in the Boston market area.
Total restrictions increased last winter, meaning the number of days increased when no additional
supplies could be scheduled on the pipeline. As a result, almost no interruptible transportation
capacity was available on Algonquin for most of last winter. On a high demand day,
interruptions to pipeline customers with variable interruptible service are especially likely. The
most vulnerable pipeline customers are power plants with interruptible contracts. However,
indications are that LDCs have adequate firm transportation capacity to meet their expected
needs.
While numerous pipeline projects are due to begin service in the Northeast by the end of the
year, none are targeting New England until 2016 when Spectra Energy’s Algonquin Incremental
Market project is scheduled to enter service. The Texas Eastern Pipeline New Jersey-New York
expansion, scheduled to go into service this November, could alleviate constraints into New York
City, another market that experiences price spikes from pipeline bottlenecks. This 800-MMcfd
project will allow additional natural gas to flow from the constrained Tennessee 300 line to the
New York and New Jersey markets. Incremental Marcellus flows into the NJ-NY project will be
supplied via a 636-MMcfd Northeast Upgrade expansion project on Tennessee Gas Pipeline.

10 of 15

Additionally, Williams’ Northeast Supply Link expansion project will add 250 MMcfd of
incremental capacity along the existing Transco system allowing additional Marcellus gas to
reach major markets in New York. The additional capacity from these projects slated for this
winter should alleviate major price spikes at the Transco Zone 6 New York pricing hub.

11 of 15

Slide 10

ISO-NE Addressing
Reliability Concerns




Change timing of the day-ahead
market
Winter Reliability Program
• Fuel Oil and Demand Response
procurement



Changes to the reserve market

The New England ISO reported that during periods of natural gas system constraints last winter
there were operational events that would have created reliability concerns if the weather had
been more severe. The ISO reported that natural gas-fired generators had difficulty procuring
fuel to meet their daily capacity offers. The ISO also stated that fuel oil supplies on hand last
winter were not sufficient for reliable grid operations during extended periods of cold.
ISO-New England has made several market changes to address the potential reliability concerns
raised by the region's dependence on natural gas. Notably, the ISO changed the day-ahead
market timing, created a winter reliability program, and made changes to the reserve market.
First, the electricity day-ahead market will close two hours earlier than last year, allowing gasfired generators to better coordinate their fuel-supply procurement in the natural gas markets.
Secondly, the ISO also created a winter reliability program, conditionally accepted by the
Commission on September 16, which provides additional compensation to certain resources,
among other features. The majority of the payments are to dual-fuel and oil-fired generators to
support the procurement of fuel oil. A second component of the winter reliability program is to
support winter demand response availability. In total, the program was targeted to procure an
equivalent of 2.4 million MWh. The ISO has secured 83% of its target for the program. Another
change ISO-NE has made to its market is to increase the amount of 10-minute non-spinning
reserves it procures in the forward reserve market and to increase reserve constraint pricing.
Staff will closely monitor these changes as they are implemented.

12 of 15

Slide 11

Monthly Average DA
Electricity Price
($/MWh)

ISO-NE Winter Electricity Prices
Correlate Strongly with
Gas Prices
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0

Feb
2013

0

5

10

15

20

Monthly Average DA Gas Index ($/MMBtu)
Source: ICE and ISO-NE prices via Energy Velocity

Last winter, New England’s average power prices for the month of February were higher than
any prior month in ISO-NE history, averaging $121/MWh in the day-ahead market. However,
these prices were not unexpectedly high given the high average natural gas prices. Shown are
the monthly average day-ahead prices during the last 5 winters for electricity and natural gas.
Over the last five winters (Dec. – Mar.), the monthly average day-ahead prices have been 99%
correlated, as natural gas has maintained the position as the marginal price-setting fuel during
most hours. There have been no major capacity changes since last winter with the exception of
the retirement of 326 MW of oil-fired generation, which ran infrequently last winter. Therefore,
we expect this same relationship between natural gas and power prices to continue this winter
and believe that power prices should spike if there are high natural gas price events.

13 of 15

Slide 12

Other Power Market
Developments






MISO integrates Entergy,
December 19th
Nationwide coal/gas
generation and capacity
shifts
NYISO prices also reflect
high gas prices
Source: MISO

In other regional power markets, MISO will integrate the Entergy operating companies and
several other smaller transmission systems into its market footprint on December 19. This will
create a new sub-region called MISO South, shown in blue on the map, and will add about 40
GW of generation and load to the MISO market area. To manage the transition, the RTO plans to
limit power flows between MISO South and the rest of MISO to about 2,000 MW over the first
several months of operation, with the limitation removed in stages as MISO and its neighbors
adjust to the new configuration. OE Staff does not believe that this will create any issues for the
upcoming winter, but will monitor the market for any issues.
Nationwide, the interplay between natural gas and coal will continue to evolve. As natural gas
prices returned this year to levels seen in 2011, some electricity generation shifted back to coal.
Still the electricity generation mix relied more on natural gas than in 2011 or any year prior, a
reflection, in part, of the shift towards gas-fired capacity. The dynamics of the increasingly
natural gas dependent electricity markets will become more pronounced in winter months as the
electricity generators compete with winter heating demand for natural gas.
Southeast New York is susceptible to natural gas price spikes, though they tend to be less severe
than in New England. If natural gas prices spike, fuel oil units will be dispatched and electricity
prices will spike to reflect the high marginal cost of oil generation.

14 of 15

Slide 13

Winter 2013-14
Energy Market Assessment
Item No. A-5
October 17, 2013

This concludes the Winter 2013-2014 Energy Market Assessment.

15 of 15