Santa Clara, CA --California electricity prices fell for a second day on expectations that mild weather will limit demand for demand power to cool homes.
Peak demand tomorrow on the California Independent System Operator's grid, which covers 75 percent of the state, is expected to be 3 percent lower than today, at 28,440 megawatts, the operator said on its Web site. Demand usually drops on Friday afternoons as offices and manufacturers wind down for the weekend, traders said.
"We don't have a whole lot of weather right now as far as cold or heat, so our loads are way down," said Steve Hance, an energy trader at Silicon Valley Power, the municipal utility of Santa Clara, California.
Wholesale power for delivery tomorrow and Saturday on the grid in Northern California fell $2.85, or 7.6 percent, to $34.64 a megawatt-hour, according to Bloomberg data. It was the lowest price in a week.
Power for delivery on the grid in Southern California fell $3.05, or 8.2 percent, to $34.13.
Power for delivery at the Mid-Columbia trading point, along the Columbia River in Washington and Oregon, fell $2.49, or 7.5 percent, to $30.70.
Source: Bloomberg
