PJM Real-Time Power Market Dashboard

Warm late-day conditions supported PJM’s demand peak, with actual load reaching 121.7 GW in HE18 against a 123.3 GW forecast. The strongest cooling-demand signal came from the southern and western footprint, where Richmond reached the upper-80s to near 90°F earlier in the afternoon and Columbus, Chicago, and Pittsburgh were in the low-to-mid 80s around the peak window. Mid-Atlantic storm cover and cooler late-day temperatures in Philadelphia, Newark, and Washington DC helped keep actual load below forecast during the peak hour.

Through HE21, real-time pricing averaged $95.95/MWh versus day-ahead at $48.90/MWh, leaving average DART at -$47.05/MWh. The real-time market was mostly orderly overnight and midday, but pricing strengthened sharply in HE17 and HE20-21 as evening net load tightened while solar rolled off and wind underperformed forecast.

There are no significant emergency procedures to report for today.

Forecast load peaked at 123.3 GW in HE18, while actual load peaked at 121.7 GW in the same hour. Forecast wind peaked near 3.9 GW in HE16, while actual wind peaked lower at 3.6 GW and remained below forecast during the evening peak period. Solar outperformed, with actual solar peaking at 9.2 GW in HE16 versus a forecast peak near 7.5 GW, but the late-day solar decline pushed actual net load to a 115.7 GW peak in HE21. Natural gas and coal carried the flexible dispatch response into the evening, with gas rising to 58.1 GW and coal to 21.8 GW by HE20 as renewable output declined and net load tightened.

Across observed real-time hours, DA LMP averaged $48.90/MWh compared with RT LMP at $95.95/MWh, producing average DART of -$47.05/MWh. The largest real-time price spike occurred in HE20, when RT LMP reached $502.28/MWh versus DA at $91.46/MWh. Load was close to forecast, but wind was roughly 0.7 GW below forecast, solar was nearly depleted, and actual net load was slightly above forecast while outages held at 27.1 GW, including 15.5 GW forced. Gas and coal output were both elevated, indicating the system was leaning heavily on dispatchable supply during the evening ramp.