Load

Mixed price movement returned to the spot market Monday, with gains outweighing losses. Cooling load remained fairly strong across the South and Southwest but was spotty in more northerly market areas. The return of industrial demand from its usual weekend layoff supported cash prices, but the 16.2-cent drop by July futures on Friday provided negative guidance.

With heating load starting to fade a bit in northern market areas and having nearly disappeared in the South, the cash market saw mixed pricing Thursday that included many flat points and leaned to the downside in a majority of cases. Because of colder weather than expected and linepack shortfalls in some instances, the Rockies continued to be much stronger than the overall market, but Thursday’s gains were considerably smaller than those on Wednesday.

Thursday’s 51.6-cent futures slide and the weekend loss of industrial load were able to trump frigid weather either continuing or being reestablished over the weekend as the prevailing influences on Friday’s cash market. The result was flat to lower prices at a large majority of points.

The cash market defied light heating load in the East, prior-day futures weakness, the “weekend effect” and bearish storage expectations by staging a rally at most points Thursday.

Weighed down by continuing mild weather in most of the East, with heating load starting to recede again in the Rockies and Plains after a blizzard had passed, and by a January futures drop of more than 31 cents a day earlier, the cash market was in retreat at nearly all points Thursday. Only a couple of flat to slightly higher locations in the still-frigid Rockies avoided the overall softness.

For the time being, Mobile, AL-based Bay Gas Storage Co. Ltd. is growing its gas storage business on the back of the load-following needs of gas-fired power generators in Florida and elsewhere in the Southeast. In the future, the company could transform itself to serve the needs of natural gas customers sourcing gas supplies arriving in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and Mobile Bay area.

With a 31.9-cent futures spike on Monday as support in addition to this week’s spread of power generation load due to higher temperatures, cash prices continued their run-up Tuesday.

As on Friday, the cash market was mixed and mostly softer again Monday. However, with air conditioning load starting to rebuild gradually in the South and already being well established in the Southwest, Monday’s trading featured were more flat to moderately higher points in the mix than on Friday.

Prices were in a steep slide across the board Monday, with heating load continuing to recede and the cash market no longer having prior-trading-day screen support. All points yielded more price ground Monday than they had gained on the previous Friday.