How a battery earns in New England (ISO-NE)

In ISO New England a battery earns from a day-ahead spread of about $51/MWh — roughly 90% of the average price — because the region runs on a thin fuel margin: natural gas fuels close to half of annual generation (about 60,500 GWh in 2025) yet New England has no local gas and limited pipeline capacity. When cold snaps collide with heating demand, gas hub prices jump (about $11/MMBtu in early 2025) and power follows — January 2025 real-time prices averaged $135.08/MWh (up 112% year‑on‑year) and a February 2026 cold snap drove wholesale prices to $441.8/MWh. Storage is paid twice: it captures that volatility through arbitrage while also selling a capacity obligation into the Forward Capacity Market (FCM), where more than 700 MW of new and existing battery cleared the 2025–2026 auction.

51$/MWh

Day-ahead spread — ≈90% of avg price

441.8$/MWh

Feb 2026 winter cold-snap price spike

700+MW

Battery cleared FCM 2025–26 auction