Electricity Monthly Update
Regional Wholesale Markets: January 2026
The United States has many regional wholesale electricity markets. Below we look at monthly and annual ranges of on-peak, daily wholesale prices at selected pricing locations and daily peak demand for selected electricity systems in the Nation. The range of daily prices and demand data is shown for the report month and for the year ending with the report month.
Prices and demand are shown for six Regional Transmission Operator (RTO) markets: ISO New England (ISO-NE), New York ISO (NYISO), PJM Interconnection (PJM), Midwest ISO (MISO), Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), and two locations in the California ISO (CAISO). Also shown are wholesale prices at trading hubs in Louisiana (into Entergy), Southwest (Palo Verde) and Northwest (Mid-Columbia). In addition to the RTO systems, peak demand is also shown for the Southern Company, Progress Florida, and the Bonneville Power Authority (BPA). Refer to the map tabs for the locations of the electricity and natural gas pricing hubs and the electric systems for which peak demand ranges are shown.
In the second tab immediately below, we show monthly and annual ranges of on-peak, daily wholesale natural gas prices at selected pricing locations in the United States. The range of daily natural gas prices is shown for the same month and year as the electricity price range chart. Wholesale electricity prices are closely tied to wholesale natural gas prices in all but the center of the country. Therefore, one can often explain current wholesale electricity prices by looking at what is happening with natural gas prices.
Wholesale prices
Electricity system daily peak demand
In January 2026, most electricity systems across the country saw their daily peak electricity demand in the middle of their annual range ending January 2026. One outlier was Southern Company, which saw its January 2026 daily peak demand very close to its all-time peak demand. This occurred because the Southeast portion of the U.S. experienced a significant winter storm during the month that spiked electricity demand in Southern Company's service territory. Conversely, California (CAISO) saw its daily peak electricity demand toward the bottom of its twelve month range as this part of the country experienced significantly above average temperatures in January, causing reduced demand for electricity.