The bomb cyclone weather event in early January 2018 resulted in record levels of U.S. natural gas demand and elevated wholesale natural gas and power prices around the country as reported in a special EIA analysis. A constrained natural gas pipeline network led to a significant increase in oil-fired and dual-fuel generation in New England and New York, and, to a lesser extent, in the Mid-Atlantic.
Day-ahead daily average peak-period power prices for January 5, 2018, one of the coldest days of the weather event, reached $247 per megawatthour (MWh) in New England and New York and $262/MWh in the Mid-Atlantic, compared with $30MWh–$50/MWh average prices in the preceding six weeks.
In New York, natural gas makes up more than half of the state’s total generating capacity, and about 70% of natural gas capacity can switch to oil. About 20% of oil capacity can switch to natural gas, and 13% of coal capacity can switch to oil or natural gas

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