Vacation- returning 50 years later

Our apologies for the unannounced absence last week.  If pushing out an unedited edition of the WPO the Friday prior to last wasn’t enough of a clue that we checked out, here’s out announcement- we will be out last week on vacation.

Anyway, have you ever gone on vacation and kind of slipped off the grid a little and come back to civilization wondering, how long have I been gone?  Well, when we checked back in, this little jewel greeted us…Google in talks with SpaceX for Suncatcher orbital data center project.

After checking the calendar and confirming it still is 2026,we did a little dive into the story.  Once back online, we got a few folks asking about the plausibility of this in 2027 or the next 50 years?  The details of the project are a little lacking, as in almost no details, but if anyone can do it, it would be hard to bet against Space X and Google.  We are probably all old enough to remember when people laughed at Elon Musk at the thought of rockets coming back and landing on the same pad they launched from, and we are for sure old enough to remember when Google gained $420 billion in market cap in one day (see last WPO edition).

We aren’t about to dive too deep into this right now, but if one just thinks about solar being able to generate 24/7 unencumbered by clouds or night, there is some possibility.  Also, let’s not forget, given the extreme cold temperatures in space, water here on earth could be saved for where it is truly needed- golf courses and water parks.

Throw together the  physical and financial means to get it to space, and add a little Starlink technology, it’s hard pressed to say it’s not doable.

Natural Gas Market Commentary

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The natural gas market is starting to show some signs of life as summer heat begins picking up. The rest of the curve has been flat to lower, but the balance-of-summer strip has pushed back above $3.00 per MMBtu and is testing the upper boundary of its month-plus trading range.

Market participants seem to have taken note of stronger weather-normalized power burn and are bracing for a summer of higher demand. On the brink of what looks like the most substantial cooling load of the season so far, domestic production is still wavering. Recent fluctuations in volumes can likely be chalked up to seasonal maintenance, but we are still waiting for signs of meaningful growth to emerge.

The bigger picture remains the same: the natural gas market appears to be staring down the barrel at a summer of higher power generation demand, record LNG exports, and potentially flat domestic production. If this plays out, storage inventories could grow on a shallow trajectory that begins spooking traders about the upcoming winter. With Winter 2026-27 pricing still on the mat near four-year lows, this seems like as good of a time as any for end users to think about taking some risk off the table.

PJM Market Disconnect

Given our customer base, we publish PJM, MISO, and ERCOT market data.  Of interest to us has been the divergence of PJM in the futures market from the other two.  When asked about it this week, our comments almost mirrored those of our gas pals above.  In the summer, ERCOT and MISO become more of a solar and wind market and correlation with natural gas slips a bit.  While the charts below are calendar strips, a lot of the divergence is priced in the summer months ahead as natural gas summer strip has moved a touch higher.

We agree with the gas commentary above regarding the market and what might drive it.  What is interesting, the Middle East war, conflict, skirmish, whatever it is, has had very limited impact on US electric and gas markets.

Cocktail Corner

If at a party this weekend and a child, or maybe a grown up we aren’t judging, orders a Shirley Temple, chances are you’ll think of the child actor.  Did you know, and we realize this has nothing to do with energy, Shirley Temple was a United States Ambassador?  She started as ambassador to Ghana but became somewhat prominent as the US Ambassador to the Czech Republic during the fall of the Soviet Union. Her interest in the Czech came from being there during the 1968 revolution.  Her appointments were far from ceremonial as she was well known in political circles and considered very accomplished.

NOAA WEATHER FORECAST

DAY-AHEAD LMP PRICING & SELECT FUTURES

RTO ATC, PEAK, & OFF-PEAK CALENDAR STRIP

DAILY RTO LOAD PROFILES

COMMODITIES PRICING

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The WPO Ambassador’s Annex

When we started the WPO ambassador recognition, our intent was to just introduce some of the folks that either help with the make up of the WPO, or are just big fans.  Well our readers have spoken.  No one cares about anyone but RT….so it’s RT’s Ambassador Annex.

This week we wanted to check in with RT on some serious discussions on the energy world.  For instance, some conversation about the Space X and Google mission to bring compute power to space.  As you the readers have gathered by now, energy is mundane in RT’s world.

Case in point, RT has entered into the carrier pigeon game, or hobby.  As it happened, RT discovered one such pigeon in his yard and has been boarding the little fella/gal until it’s owner can be found.  The irony, or serendipity, of this story is amazing.  You see, RT was born and raised in Louisville, KY where he still lives.  As any young lad of a certain age growing up in Louisville, you are a fight fan because of one of the most famous people of all time, Diane Sawyer….actually Ali.  Well, because of his interest in the fight game, RT became a big Mike Tyson fan which, believe it or not, led him to carrier pigeons.  If you don’t know, Tyson has often said his only friends in Brooklyn were the carrier pigeons he raised on the roof of the brownstone where he lived.  Not having the overhand right of Tyson, RT gave the pigeon raising hobby a try in an attempt to be somewhat like his hero.  While it’s apparent when speaking to him that it still stings, let’s just say due to an unfortunate error, his pigeons were released and he decided to move on to some other hobby which we will eventually cover.

Anyway, what are the odds this rare and somewhat exotic hobby/therapy would return?  We excitedly asked RT if it’s possible it was one of his birds given they can live so long? “It’s obvious you don’t know anything about carrier pigeons, their recall is more a map then a scent.  I don’t live where I grew up so probably not.”, was his response.  Well regardless, good luck and let us know how it goes!

Oh by the way, if by the one in a million chance this pigeon looks familiar, give us a shout, we’d love to reunite you with your bird.