The nationwide price of electricity decreased 0.5% in 2011 as natural gas increased its share of power generation and overall demand fell. Western power prices fell between 7% and 19% due to robust hydroelectric output, while prices in the east were 3-12% lower because of cheap natural gas. The unusually mild winter in the northeast also contributed to keeping prices low.
Prices in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) area bucked the trend and jumped 40% because of the record-breaking 2011 summer heat wave in Texas. On nine days day-ahead prices even approached the cap of $3,000 MWh.
With a greater reliance on natural gas coordination between gas-fired generators and the pipeline companies has become important. Concerns about such coordination are particularly relevant in the northeast, which experienced coincident peaks in electric and gas demand during the winter, and in the southwest, which lacks robust storage infrastructure.
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