WECC Power Markets Short-term Outlook: October 2024

Report Summary:

After a challenging start to 2024 due to the cheap natural gas price environment, power prices have rebounded over the second half of the year in conjunction with recovering natural gas prices. This sets the stage for 2025 and beyond. Though warmer than normal winter weather forecasts have softened the front of the natural gas price curve, there remains the expectation of gradually increasing prices over the next five years. When this is pitted against demand growth driven by large loads and the resulting tighter supply stacks, there is a lot of upside potential in power prices over the short term across many regions of the country.