Stiff Winds Blow Power Prices Below Zero Across U.S. Plains

(Bloomberg) -- Warm and windy spring days are brutal for electricity producers on the Great Plains.

Power prices in Tulsa, Oklahoma, sank to negative $10.54 a megawatt-hour at 11:15 a.m. local time as above-normal temperatures quashed demand and stiff breezes drove up supply. Wind turbines produced more than half the region’s electricity, crowding out power from coal and natural gas plants, according to the grid operator, Southwest Power Pool.

Tulsa will top out at a sunny 73 degrees Fahrenheit (23 Celsius) this afternoon, above the 66 degree normal high for late March, according to the National Weather Service. Gusts are forecast to reach up to up to 30 miles per hour.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Martin in New York at cmartin11@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Doan at ldoan6@bloomberg.net, Joe Ryan, Will Wade

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.