Ontario Loses Big On Electricity Exports in January 2015

Here's a post by Parker Gallant about Ontario losing money on exports of electricity:

"In January Ontario exported 2,043,768 megawatts (MWh) and for an average price of $29.55 per/MWh while Ontario electricity customers picked up the additional costs of the Global Adjustment pot of $50.68 per MWh.

The sale of that surplus (enough to supply about 2.5 million Ontario homes with power for the whole month) represented 15.6% of Ontario’s total demand. It resulted $58.5 million in revenue but cost Ontario electricity ratepayers $164 million."

Generally January is usually a low Global Adjustment month for Ontario, as electricity demand is usually high (space heaters and the like I would assume due to the cold) and more closely matches supply (especially wind, although solar production is also very weak in January). I haven't been checking the Global Adjustment numbers lately, but I should start again. A month like March with high average wind and low demand could be especially bad.