Energy prices below zero in South Australia, but Raise Regulation FCAS prices through the roof

A quick note at the end of the day today to follow my earlier tweets to record the situation in the 13:30 dispatch interval (that’s NEM time – so the 5-minute period ending 13:00 in Adelaide) when the dispatch price for the “energy” commodity dropped as low as it could go (-$1000/MWh for the five minute period)

Here’s a view of the energy layer in NEM-Watch v10:

2017-07-31-at-13-30a-NEMwatch-SAEnergyLow

… however if we flip to the “Raise Regulation” layer in NEM-Watch (one of 8 FCAS commodities) we see the inverse happening:

2017-07-31-at-13-30b-NEMwatch-RaiseRegHigh

Given some one-on-one conversations going on currently, it’s easier for me to post this here and incorporate this background into these conversations of what’s going on and why.  Apologies for those looking for more in the post here on this occasion …


About the Author

Paul McArdle
Paul was one of the founders of Global-Roam in February 2000. He is currently the CEO of the company and the principal author of WattClarity. Writing for WattClarity has become a natural extension of his work in understanding the electricity market, enabling him to lead the team in developing better software for clients. Before co-founding the company, Paul worked as a Mechanical Engineer for the Queensland Electricity Commission in the early 1990s. He also gained international experience in Japan, the United States, Canada, the UK, and Argentina as part of his ES Cornwall Memorial Scholarship.

1 Comment on "Energy prices below zero in South Australia, but Raise Regulation FCAS prices through the roof"

  1. I just simply have no faith in the NEM anymore. I am going to start to consider going off-grid to stop these thieving bastards from my money.

    I mean look at the prices, but it is made up on FCAS, absolutely outrageous.

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