Pricing and Trends

 HOEP 30 day trailing average (all hours)              $30.82 /MWh     Previous Report            $26.76

HOEP 30 day trailing On Peak average                 $37.57                                                   $31.91

HOEP 90 day trailing average (all hours)               $31.65                                                   $31.77

HOEP 90 day trailing On Peak average                 $36.14                                                   $36.44

 Current Term Prices (indicative only) 

 Market Commentary

 The wholesale market power price (HOEP) ended April at $30.82 /MWh with the On Peak average at $37.57.  May started with a bang, with Monday's average price of $56.27 and the On Peak average that day of $62.29.  Likely this is due to some unexpected demand from hot weather, and prices settled down on Tuesday to a more normal average of $34.41 /MWh.  Since Pickering nuclear station is still shutdown (reducing baseload power supply) we will see more volatility in price for the next few weeks.  It is scheduled to return to service by the end of May.

 The price of natural gas is in a holding pattern, and as a result, so are hedge prices for power.  The hedge prices actually rose a little bit in the last couple of weeks but they are still in the same low priced ballpark compared to where they were last year.  Hedging out a portion of your volume in 2011 or 2012 at these prices (or even more aggressive targets) is a reasonable thing to do, to protect against any unforeseen increases in power prices.