Climate Changed
Stiff Winds Blow Power Prices Below Zero Across U.S. Plains
- Warmer, sunny weather eliminating heating needs in Midwest
- Negative power prices stretched from New Mexico to Nebraska
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Warm and windy spring days are brutal for electricity producers on the Great Plains.
Power prices in Tulsa, Oklahoma, sank to negative $10.54 a megawatt-hour at 11:15 a.m. local time as above-normal temperatures quashed demand and stiff breezes drove up supply. Wind turbines produced more than half the region’s electricity, crowding out power from coal and natural gas plants, according to the grid operator, Southwest Power Pool.