Posted: April 24, 2026, 1:11 pm

NERC Alert Coming on Datacenter Large Loads

This week Utility Dive broke some news as they announce NERC is expected to release a Level 3 Action Alert regarding large loads such as data centers. The alert is the result of instances where large loads unexpectedly dropped from the grid. We’ve written a bit about these, specifically one in Virginia where a lightning arrestor failed on a powerline and the datacenter monitoring equipment read the hiccup as an imminent threat to the infrastructure, and cut roughly 1500MW of load in 60 datacenters.

The alert is expected to be released in early May and will include actions to be taken by transmission owners an reliability coordinators which will include new modeling and monitoring. For those looking to get an early start, a draft is included in the agenda of the Board of Trustees Meeting from last week.

Natural Gas Market Commentary

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After six straight days of painfully slow gains, NYMEX natural gas finally found some real momentum over the past two days. The prompt-month May 2026 contract took more than a week to add 10 cents before giving all of it back on Thursday and continuing lower through Friday morning. From a high above $2.72 on Wednesday, the front of the curve is now trading near $2.50 per MMBtu for the first time since late 2024.

With no major changes providing a clear catalyst for the abrupt change in sentiment, yesterday’s storage report appears to be the primary driver. The EIA reported a 103-Bcf increase in underground inventories, marking the earliest triple-digit storage build in the 33-year history of the weekly data. It served as a reminder of just how bearish near-term fundamentals have become during the second half of April. The report week featured especially tame weather, allowing residential and commercial load to slide to the lowest levels of the season during a week that also lacked any meaningful cooling demand from the power sector. All in, domestic natural gas demand was near lows usually not seen until the true heart of shoulder season in May.

While heating needs have picked up a bit this week across some northern markets, the increase has been marginal and nothing to write home about. The market now seems focused on the lack of meaningful cooling demand in forecasts through mid-May and is further discounting near-term risk. Tighter underlying fundamentals are still helping support the market, but at the end of the day natural gas remains weather-driven, and an extended shoulder season can go a long way toward offsetting stagnant production and rising export demand.

NYISO- Telling It Like It Is

This week the New York ISO took to social media to tell the story how they need more generation. While we could summarize it, it’s best to hear it in their own words. A pretty frontal tale of the current situation. Oh by the way, as irony would have it, this was released on Earth Day.