Tuesday, March 18, 2014 at 1:43PM

Natural gas pipeline constraints and higher demand in New England caused the average price of natural gas to rise 76% in 2013, which in turn pushed the wholesale electric energy price up by 55% over 2012’s record low price. Natural gas is the predominant fuel used to generate the region’s electricity, at about 46% of total generation in 2013, so wholesale power prices tend to track the price of natural gas. Preliminary data show that the wholesale energy price averaged $56.06 per megawatt-hour (MWh) in 2013, while natural gas averaged $6.97 per million British thermal units (MMBtu). The wholesale energy price was 30% lower than the all-time high of $80.56/MWh during 2008.

View the press release.