Power Trends Podcast

A surge in natural gas prices this winter was a reminder of the relationship between fuel markets and wholesale electricity prices.

Electricity prices are rising across New York, and understanding what drives those costs has never been more important. In this Power Trends podcast, NYISO Vice President of Market Structures Shaun Johnson breaks down the factors shaping today’s electricity supply charges and explains how wholesale markets produce the most cost-efficient solutions to meet consumer demand.

New York’s electric grid is at an inflection point. In the latest Power Trends podcast, Senior Vice President of System and Resource Planning Zach Smith unpacks two critical reliability reports recently issued by the NYISO: the Comprehensive Reliability Plan (CRP) and the 2025 Third Quarter Short-Term Assessment of Reliability (STAR).

In Episode 40 of the Power Trends podcast, NYISO Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Emilie Nelson offers a behind-the-scenes look at how the grid was managed during June’s heatwave, which brought record-setting temperatures across the Northeast. Nelson walks through the critical decisions and emergency measures that helped maintain adequate supply margins across New York.

The electric system is undergoing rapid and instrumental change on a scale not experienced since 1892 when Thomas Edison first electrified the Pearl Street station in lower Manhattan. In the NYISO’s latest podcast, President & CEO Rich Dewey and Executive Vice President & COO Emilie Nelson discuss how these changes are impacting grid reliability, supply resources and planning the electric system for the future. Diving into the NYISO’s recently released Power Trends 2025 report with Kevin Lanahan, podcast host and Vice President of External Affairs and Corporate Communications, they highlight how every plausible option and opportunity to bolster reliability and resource needs should be on the table.  

Collaboration between the industry and government will be paramount to maintain robust wholesale markets and ensure grid reliability as the state continues to promote rapid development of renewable resources in the coming year.

As temperatures drop, New Yorkers turn up their thermostats and demand for electricity rises.

How will the demand for electricity, a changing generation mix, and the transmission system evolve over the next 10 years? This is the question that our Reliability Needs Assessment (RNA) examines in order to assess and identify impacts to reliability.

As the diversity and scale of energy resources have evolved in recent years, NYISO’s market design team has been working hard to create and implement market innovations to support those technologies.

Our mission at the NYISO is to ensure power system reliability and competitive markets for New York in a clean-energy future, and to work with all stakeholders to build the cleanest, most reliable electric system in the nation.