Market status — September 6, 2026
PJMELEVATED
NYISONORMAL
ERCOTWATCH
ISO-NENORMAL
MISOELEVATED
CAISONORMAL
Emergency
Elevated
Watch
Normal
PJM — Heat wave alerts have lapsed, but a DOE emergency order stays in force through Sept. 8
- 5CP Capacity Tags: PJM served a preliminary hourly integrated peak of 152,518 MW on Sept. 1, followed by 141,533 MW on Sept. 2 and a forecast of roughly 146,265 MW for Sept. 4. The Sept. 1 hour is a strong late-season 5CP candidate and sits within about 4,000 MW of PJM’s 156,400 MW summer forecast peak. Source: PJM Inside Lines.
- Real-Time LMP: PJM issued Maximum Generation and Load Management Alerts for Sept. 1 through Sept. 3 and extended a region-wide Hot Weather Alert through Sept. 4, conditions that typically carry elevated real-time pricing in the Dominion, BGE and Pepco areas. The alerts have since expired and weekend loads are well below the peaks seen earlier in the week. Source: PJM Inside Lines.
- Demand Response: PJM called a Pre-Emergency Load Management Action on Sept. 1 in the Pepco, BGE, AEP, Dominion and ComEd territories, and obtained a combined DOE 202(c) emergency order effective through Sept. 8 for environmental permit relief and possible dispatch of backup generation at large loads. No new DR dispatch has been reported since the Sept. 1 event. Source: PJM Inside Lines.
NYISO — Quiet operations; capacity market design work continues
- ICAP Tag Tracking: No new UCAP tag updates or auction results in the last 24 hours. NYISO staff have recommended a new demand curve shape for the Demand Curve Reset while keeping the status quo proxy unit, which will shape capacity price formation in future capability periods. Source: RTO Insider.
- CBEP Program Alerts: No Customer Benefit Emergency Participation alerts or activations reported. New York continues work on a unified statewide demand response platform (Excelsior Power Program) that would consolidate utility DR programs. Source: RTO Insider.
- Day-Ahead Pricing: No notable zonal spreads flagged. NYISO restored two projects to its 2027 budget after stakeholder pushback on cuts tied to FERC’s large load show-cause compliance work. Source: RTO Insider.
ERCOT — Final 4CP month underway with no active grid alerts
- 4CP Season Tracking: September is the fourth and final 4CP month. ERCOT’s summer outlook flags September as an emerging risk period because earlier sunsets cut solar output while evening wind stays lower than in August, so late-afternoon peaks on hot weekdays remain the days to watch. Source: ERCOT.
- ORDC Pricing: No reserve shortfalls or high ORDC adder events reported in the last 24 hours. Source: ERCOT Grid and Market Conditions.
- Grid Condition Alerts: No Weather Watch, Conservation Appeal or emergency notices are posted. On the policy side, ERCOT missed a deadline to notify transmission and distribution providers of data center classification status in the Batch Zero large load study, adding uncertainty to the large load interconnection timeline. Source: RTO Insider.
ISO-NE — Record offshore wind output; no operational stress
- FCM Tag Events: No qualification events, de-list bids or show-cause notices reported. ISO-NE’s proposal to move from a three-year forward auction to a prompt capacity auction, targeted for June 2028, remains the key structural change for capacity tag planning. Source: Utility Dive.
- Capacity Market Integration: The region’s three offshore wind plants combined for a record 930 MW on the evening of Aug. 30, per ISO-NE’s report to the NEPOOL Participants Committee. Source: RTO Insider.
- Load Forecasting: No elevated load conditions are forecast for the week. The 2026 CELT report projects annual consumption rising about 0.9% per year through 2035. Source: ISO-NE.
MISO — Record September peak and brief footprint-wide emergency on Sept. 2
- Zonal Pricing: An early September heat dome pushed MISO to its highest-ever September peak of 123 GW on Sept. 2, above the 122 GW served during the July heat dome, with elevated day-ahead pricing across the footprint that afternoon. Source: RTO Insider.
- Planning Resource Auction: The fall (September through November) capacity price is $33.92/MW-day, down sharply from summer clearing prices of $424.30/MW-day in the North and Central regions. Source: MISO.
- Real-Time Settlements: MISO entered short-lived emergency procedures for its entire footprint on Sept. 2, the second such event this summer, which will drive emergency pricing and make-whole activity in that day’s settlements. Note that MISO will stop posting Pricing and Load, Generation and Interchange reports on its website after Sept. 30; data moves exclusively to the Data Exchange API. Source: MISO.
CAISO — No Flex Alerts; Western market realignment is the story
- Flex Alerts: No Flex Alerts or Energy Emergency Alerts issued. The 2026 summer assessment showed a 2,547 MW surplus above the one-in-ten-year standard, and September has passed without a conservation call so far. Source: CAISO.
- Renewable Curtailment: No notable overgeneration event reported. Wholesale energy costs in the region have declined sharply over recent years even as residential bills rise, according to CEC data. Source: RTO Insider.
- NQC Integration: No new RA deficiency notices. BPA Administrator Travis Kavulla signaled the agency may pivot from SPP’s Markets+ toward CAISO’s EDAM if independence conditions are met, and Portland General Electric is on track to join EDAM on Oct. 1. Source: RTO Insider.
Cross-Market Watch — Eastern heat dome fades; federal large load actions advance
- Weather: The same heat dome drove PJM’s 152.5 GW peak on Sept. 1 and MISO’s record 123 GW September peak on Sept. 2. Both markets have cooled into the weekend, but PJM’s DOE 202(c) order remains effective through Sept. 8. Source: PJM Inside Lines.
- Regulatory: FERC has directed NERC to file reliability standards for computational large loads by year-end 2026, following NERC’s Level 3 Alert on large load integration. Source: RTO Insider.
- Policy and Deadlines: A late-August presidential action restricts imports of bulk power system equipment, with supply chain implications across all ISOs. Also on the calendar: PJM’s Reliability Backstop Procurement targeted to open Sept. 30, and MISO’s Sept. 10 generator interconnection application deadline. Source: RTO Insider.
HOW INTELLASTAR ENERGY ANALYST CAN HELP
Today’s conditions create specific opportunities — and risks — for your organization.
PJM — Elevated
The Sept. 1 peak of 152.5 GW likely locked in a fifth 5CP hour, and your capacity tag for next year may have just been set.
Intellastar Energy Analyst ranks every summer hour against the running 5CP threshold so you know within hours whether a late-season peak counted. It also reconstructs your facility’s coincident load so you can validate the tag your utility assigns before it drives a year of capacity charges.
MISO — Elevated
A record 123 GW September peak and a footprint-wide emergency mean your Sept. 2 settlements will carry emergency pricing and possible LMR obligations.
Intellastar Energy Analyst flags emergency-priced intervals in your real-time settlements and reconciles them against your load and any LMR commitments. With MISO retiring its web market reports on Sept. 30, it also keeps your pricing and load feeds flowing through the Data Exchange API without a gap.
ERCOT — Watch
September is the last 4CP month, and a single missed evening peak can set your transmission charges for all of 2027.
Intellastar Energy Analyst tracks ERCOT’s load forecast against the running monthly peak and sends day-ahead and same-day curtailment signals when a 4CP interval is likely. It accounts for the late-season shift toward later, shorter net-load peaks so your team does not curtail on days that never count.