Increased Natural Gas Costs Push Up Power Prices for Midcontinent Independent Operator System

Spot natural gas prices at the Henry Hub increased by an average of $0.36 per million BTU in July, which in turn has bumped up electricity prices for the Midcontinent Independent Operator System (MISO).  Arkansas is one of several states in MISO that has moved towards natural gas as the primary resource for electricity generation.  Cheap natural gas prices over the past year had dropped MISO's real-time marginal prices to an average of $28.87/Mwh for July 2015.  The increased natural gas price has since moved that average to $29.73/MWh for July 2016.