Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Grid Status @gridstatus.io · 1d

We’re early in the process of rolling out a new app— Nodal Analysis. DM if you’d like to test it and share feedback 🔌💡

We built it with two key upgrades:

1. A new database that runs on-demand analysis of years of data in seconds
2. An enhanced process for organizing the metadata for 75k+ locations

1 3 2

Grid Status @gridstatus.io · 5d

It’s duck hunting season as California’s summer fades away and demand from batteries takes firm grasp of CAISO’s daily demand curves 🔌💡

chart showing load with and without battery charging in CAISO

1 2 21

Grid Status @gridstatus.io · 19d

Track the tricks and treats of outage season with Grid Status

www.gridstatus.io/live/spp

SPP Live Dashboard and Price Map | Grid Status

Real-time grid conditions and LMP price map for SPP on Grid Status

www.gridstatus.io

1

Grid Status @gridstatus.io · 19d

Ten days prior, the 6th demonstrated that high net load doesn’t have to drive grid stress. It hit 95% of peak load compared to 79% on the 16th, but the ramp was much gentler, only rising by 7 GW

outages were 4.7GW lower and temperatures milder, leading to an on-peak DART spread of -$5.56/MWh

1 1

Grid Status @gridstatus.io · 19d

On the 16th, SPP had high net load as wind died off midday, leaving dispatchable generation to pick up 24 G of additional demand from morning trough to afternoon peak. Also tightening the stack, an additional 3.8GW of generation went on outage that morning

on-peak North Hub DART spread hit -$111MWh

1 1

Grid Status @gridstatus.io · 19d

Net load volatility is on the rise as SPP enters shoulder season 🔌💡

In decades past, the fall shoulder season left time for autumn fun like apple picking and the pumpkin patch. Today, new metrics like net load drive markets, and they can be most volatile when outages rise and weather varies

chart of net load in spp on september 6th and 16th, much bigger swings on the 16th

1 1 3

Grid Status @gridstatus.io · 29d

Very different load shapes, some crypto in ERCOT is also switching to be generic datacenters as well.

Some slides from this meeting

www.ercot.com/calendar/081...

In the first half of 2025 Traditional Data Centers load grew by about 5%
Most of this was observed from April 1 to May 10. (3.9%)
Current installed capacity = 6,400MW Approved to Energize (LLI) + Operational (non-LLI)

crypto, datacenter, storage load curves, all difference, crypto moves the most

ERCOT has approximately 380 storage/compute data centers.
Of those, 54 are considered Med/Large (>25MW).

4

Grid Status @gridstatus.io · 29d

Regular demand from crypto mining in ERCOT rose from 3.8 GW to 4.4, then fell back to ~4GW this year, far lower than forecasts

We're working on some cool new features to dig in on specific grid points and better serve insights on grid events, check out www.gridstatus.io/live to stay in the loop

Home | Grid Status

National overview of the US Electrical Grid conditions. Includes data from ERCOT, CAISO, PJM, SPP, MISO, ISO-NE, and NYISO

www.gridstatus.io

2

Grid Status @gridstatus.io · 29d

There’s more to be said about this report’s implications for long-term trends, but it’s useful in the here and now to understand how these facilities can already suppress grid-wide peak demand on hot summer days

This comes from 7 months of real-time crypto demand, published by ERCOT

1 2

Grid Status @gridstatus.io · 29d

While we can only estimate the specific breakdown given the many factors that make up load forecast error, the fact that crypto curtailment can account for the entirety of the error on certain days is clear evidence of their impact on the grid.

1 1

Grid Status @gridstatus.io · 29d

ERCOT load-watchers will know that many days this summer have had a strikingly flat peak load curve, driven by curtailment to avoid 4CP intervals. Less clear was just how much of the resulting forecast gap could be driven by extremely flexible crypto demand. It turns out the answer is a lot 🔌💡

On key summer days in 2025, crypto curtailment in ERCOT has met or exceeded the entire day-ahead load forecast error

From January through July, crypto mining in ERCOT grew by ~200 MW on net to ~4 GW, far lower than assumed by forecasts prior to 2025, but more than enough to drastically reshape peak load curves during the 4CP season.

graph showing this

2 5 16

Grid Status @gridstatus.io · Sep 4

Check out the blog for more, and when you're done reading, try out the new weather radar layer on our nodal price map!

www.gridstatus.io/map

1

Grid Status @gridstatus.io · Sep 4

Today, thunderstorm alerts can be a way for traders to make big swings, but as a real-time only stochastic event that interacts with a mix of deterministic and stochastic factors to create market outcomes, the final result can vary
/3

congestion rent attributable to TSAs over the last 11 years

big price swings on the source and sink sides of a july 1st, 2025 TSA

1

Grid Status @gridstatus.io · Sep 4

the 1977 blackout was a critical moment in NYC history, leading to deaths, arson, and new operational rules, like thunderstorm alerts /2

generators failing to meet claimed capability during the 1977 blackout and system frequency

1

Grid Status @gridstatus.io · Sep 4

New blog! This time on Thunderstorm Alerts in NYISO 🔌💡

TSAs are called when enough lightning strikes the Hudson Valley area in a short amount of time. This triggers line limits on the 345kV system flowing into NYC, to avoid conditions 1977 blackout conditions

blog.gridstatus.io/breaking-dow... /1

When Thunder Roars- Breaking Down NYISO’s Thunderstorm Alerts

NYISO's Thunderstorm Alerts have a grim origin, but also represent a unique trading opportunity. We dig into the history, impacts, and changes of this weather-induced market mechanism.

blog.gridstatus.io

1 3 4

Grid Status @gridstatus.io · Aug 26

The forecast appeared to heavily rely on those onshore wind speeds, and failed to take into account the consistent output from Erin's far flung winds

This is the Goldilocks zone for offshore wind, fast enough for nearly maxed out generation, not so fast as to cause systems-protection shutdowns

2

Grid Status @gridstatus.io · Aug 26

As Hurricane Erin approached New England last week, a curious thing happened. Wind generation in the ISO plateaued well above forecasts, sitting around the same level through Thursday into Friday

Wind was low onshore, and the MW level approximately matches Vineyard Wind's possible output 🔌💡

1 3 6

Grid Status @gridstatus.io · Aug 18

New blog! 🔌💡

Wildfire impacts are now a regular, if unwelcome guest during Northeastern summers, with smoke affecting both solar output and load patterns in New York and New England.

blog.gridstatus.io/canadian-wil...

High and Dry: Canadian Wildfire Smoke Complicates Northeastern Grid Operations

Wildfire impacts are now a regular, if unwelcome guest during Northeastern summers, with smoke affecting both solar output and load patterns in New York and New England.

blog.gridstatus.io

7 8

Grid Status @gridstatus.io · Aug 11

Congestion into the Baltimore area spiked as afternoon cooling load ramped up and demand increased, it had ticked up a tiny amount when the first Tx outages happened this morning, but steadily increased post-noon

nodal price map showing the mid-atlantic of PJM

3

Grid Status @gridstatus.io · Aug 11

Summer heat is only typical today, as BGE is forecast to only reach a fraction of its July demand peak

chart of load and load forecast in bge, load might only top out at like 5k MW

1 3

Grid Status @gridstatus.io · Aug 11

BGE was already facing conservation calls and EEA2 as the PJM area braces for potential outages following a generator transmission disconnect earlier in the day

2 4

Grid Status @gridstatus.io · Aug 11

The Baltimore area (BGE) of PJM just entered load shedding 🔌💡

Msg ID: 104779
Message Type: Load Shed DirectivePAI Trigger
Priority: Action
Effective Start Time: 08.11.2025 15:52
Regions BGE
A Load Shed Directive has been issued to mitigate an N-5 cascade analysis at 115kv Chestnut -Fredrick Rd 110-528-A in BGE .
Additional Comments: Load shed directive to maintain post contingency flow below 115% of load dump rating.

1 1 11

Grid Status @gridstatus.io · Aug 8

Wildfire smoke complicated NYISO’s BTM solar forecast this week, overforecasting by over 500 MW on Monday and underforecasting by 1,000 MW on Tuesday

This miss was not even, downstate zones, home to >50% ofload, hewed more closely to the forecast, while upstate zones saw large swings 🔌💡

2 7

Grid Status @gridstatus.io · Jul 29

Yup, detailed at the bottom of this blog from last year

blog.gridstatus.io/caiso-batter...

4

Grid Status @gridstatus.io · Jul 28

Another hot week across the eastern interconnection 🔌💡

~5 markets look to beat last summer's peak, while 3 seem likely to exceed this summer's forecast peak

You can track the outlook on our summer hazards dashboard: www.gridstatus.io/dashboards/e...

bar charts with load forecasts and demand records across markets

1 4