Sunday night's price spike.
Monday's West Texas premium.
Monday, November 9, 2026 · Morning edition, 6:00 a.m. Central cutoff
PLAIN-ENGLISH MORNING BRIEFEvery morning we check what electricity and natural gas cost on the wholesale market, the prices power companies pay before a plan reaches your bill. If you have a fixed-rate plan, these day-to-day moves do not change your price.
01 / Five things to know this morning
West Hub in the 15 minutes ending 8:30 p.m.; North Hub hit $156.57 in the same interval, while South Hub was $28.79 and Houston Hub $43.08. [2]
Per MWh over all 96 intervals. The day came in $22.86 above the day-ahead forecast at West and $25.99 above it at North. [2] [4]
West Hub versus North Hub, per MWh, over all 24 hours of Monday: $14.18 more in the West (about 1.4 cents per kWh), and higher in every hour. [1]
West load zone, 7 to 8 a.m. The highest West Hub price is $80.89, from 5 to 6 p.m.; North Hub is $66.06 in that hour. [1]
54 Bcf (1.4%) above the five-year average for this week; 109 Bcf (2.8%) below a year ago. Still the latest weekly report. [5]
02 / Sunday: the evening got expensive
ERCOT, the Texas grid operator, publishes real-time prices in 15-minute steps. Across all 96 intervals of Sunday, November 8, the West Hub averaged $76.23 per MWh and the North Hub $65.48. South ($34.30) and Houston ($40.36) stayed far lower. [2]
Sunday, Nov 8: real-time price every 15 minutes ($ per MWh)
The day-ahead market had not priced this in. For 8 to 9 p.m., day-ahead prices were $67.70 at West and $53.92 at North. The four real-time intervals in that hour averaged $177.53 at West and $147.11 at North. [2] [4]
| Sunday, Nov 8 | Real-time average | Day-ahead average | Highest 15-minute price | When (interval ending) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Hub | $76.23 | $53.37 | $189.61 | 8:30 p.m. |
| North Hub | $65.48 | $39.49 | $156.57 | 8:30 p.m. |
| Houston Hub | $40.36 | $34.89 | $57.92 | 11:30 a.m. |
| South Hub | $34.30 | $33.45 | $55.53 | 11:30 a.m. |
Averages are the mean of the 96 real-time intervals and the 24 day-ahead hours ERCOT published. [2] [4]
We cannot tell you what caused it. ERCOT's outage, transmission and demand data for Sunday evening was not available to us, so we name no cause. When one region's prices run far above another's, it usually means power is hard to deliver there at that moment, but that is a general pattern, not a finding about last night.
03 / Today: the West pays more again
ERCOT set Monday's day-ahead prices on Sunday afternoon (published 12:32 p.m. Central). Prices are lowest in the early afternoon and highest in the 7 to 8 a.m. hour at the West load zone and in the evening ramp, 5 to 6 p.m., at the hubs. The West Hub is higher than the North Hub in every hour; the gap is widest from 7 to 8 a.m. ($19.00) and smallest from noon to 1 p.m. ($8.98).
Monday, Nov 9: day-ahead price by hour ($ per MWh)
What the numbers say
Over the full day the West load zone averages $25.15 more than the North load zone ($71.87 versus $46.72). The West load zone also averages $13.46 above the West Hub, because a load zone prices the area where customers actually use power. [1]
Average, lowest and highest price for each location (24 hours, $ per MWh)
| Location | Average | Lowest hour | Highest hour | Peak hour ending |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Hub | $44.23 | $30.10 | $66.06 | 18 |
| Houston Hub | $39.27 | $30.09 | $49.73 | 17 |
| South Hub | $42.23 | $32.28 | $57.32 | 20 |
| West Hub | $58.41 | $39.61 | $80.89 | 18 |
| North load zone | $46.72 | $30.38 | $73.44 | 18 |
| Houston load zone | $40.08 | $30.37 | $50.87 | 17 |
| South load zone | $44.24 | $31.63 | $63.07 | 20 |
| West load zone | $71.87 | $52.50 | $91.58 | 8 |
Each average is the mean of the 24 hourly day-ahead prices ERCOT published. We re-computed every figure from ERCOT's file. [1]
All 24 hourly day-ahead prices ($ per MWh)
| Hour ending | North Hub | Houston Hub | South Hub | West Hub | West load zone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $46.06 | $35.74 | $33.27 | $61.25 | $70.34 |
| 2 | $45.05 | $37.90 | $36.63 | $62.23 | $74.00 |
| 3 | $41.71 | $33.81 | $32.28 | $59.48 | $72.02 |
| 4 | $45.32 | $38.96 | $37.80 | $63.68 | $77.92 |
| 5 | $51.00 | $41.90 | $39.68 | $69.25 | $82.59 |
| 6 | $56.72 | $43.03 | $40.20 | $74.20 | $85.18 |
| 7 | $58.96 | $41.59 | $41.30 | $76.16 | $88.37 |
| 8 | $55.63 | $43.98 | $43.41 | $74.63 | $91.58 |
| 9 | $45.72 | $42.04 | $44.63 | $63.85 | $84.29 |
| 10 | $37.74 | $38.59 | $40.25 | $51.57 | $68.74 |
| 11 | $33.36 | $35.66 | $35.44 | $44.16 | $58.60 |
| 12 | $31.75 | $35.45 | $35.13 | $42.10 | $56.04 |
| 13 | $32.25 | $35.64 | $35.19 | $41.23 | $54.22 |
| 14 | $30.10 | $32.85 | $33.97 | $39.61 | $52.50 |
| 15 | $31.72 | $33.83 | $35.05 | $42.04 | $54.66 |
| 16 | $39.79 | $39.93 | $42.72 | $50.10 | $61.36 |
| 17 | $55.33 | $49.73 | $56.24 | $68.85 | $79.21 |
| 18 | $66.06 | $49.73 | $54.50 | $80.89 | $91.22 |
| 19 | $55.47 | $45.25 | $55.48 | $68.97 | $79.18 |
| 20 | $52.10 | $45.18 | $57.32 | $67.03 | $80.01 |
| 21 | $45.48 | $40.13 | $54.69 | $58.98 | $72.56 |
| 22 | $40.25 | $38.10 | $48.34 | $52.27 | $66.29 |
| 23 | $33.78 | $33.39 | $41.92 | $46.61 | $63.80 |
| 24 | $30.21 | $30.09 | $37.97 | $42.79 | $60.27 |
04 / Natural gas and the longer view
Gas storage: no new report
The U.S. Energy Information Administration's latest report, released Nov 5 for the week ended Oct 30, showed an injection of 77 billion cubic feet (Bcf), bringing storage to 3,801 Bcf. That is 54 Bcf above the five-year average of 3,747 Bcf and 109 Bcf below the 3,910 Bcf of a year ago. The next report is due Thursday. [5]
Gas prices are steady
ENGIE's pricing page lists the December natural gas contract at $3.028 per MMBtu on Monday morning, up $0.030 from the prior settlement of $2.998. Gas is a major driver of Texas power prices, but a few cents of movement does not set a retail rate. [6]
Prices for 2027 have eased
Vistra's weekly report puts the benchmark price of power for calendar 2027 at $43.03/MWh in North Texas on Nov 5, down $1.80 (4.0%) from $44.83 on Oct 30. Houston was $45.13, down $1.53 from $46.66. These are benchmark prices for large buyers, not plan prices, and the report's latest quote is from Thursday. [7]
05 / What it means for you
Homeowners
These are wholesale prices, not a change to anyone's bill. A fixed-rate plan keeps its price for its term no matter what the market does. For scale, $1/MWh is 0.1 cent per kWh before delivery charges and the provider's margin. To see plans for your address, use our comparison tool.
Business owners
Fixed-price contracts generally do not pass daily wholesale prices through. Index and partly hedged contracts can, and Sunday evening shows why it matters: West Hub averaged $177.53 from 8 to 9 p.m. Ask which settlement point your contract uses, a hub or a load zone; today they differ by $16.95 in the 7 to 8 a.m. hour at West. Business electricity
Anyone shopping around
One night of wholesale prices does not decide what a provider will offer next. Compare each plan's Electricity Facts Label and your own usage, and note when your current contract ends. See how Power to Choose works and when switching makes sense.
Energy watchers
Hours-long spikes in one region while others stay calm are why grid batteries and flexible demand get so much attention. One evening is not a trading signal, and nothing here includes battery, outage or transmission data.
06 / What we could not confirm
- Why West and North spiked on Sunday evening. Outage, transmission and demand detail was not available to us, so no cause is named.
- Prices after 6:00 a.m. today. Check ERCOT's real-time page later to see whether Monday's evening matches the day-ahead prices above.
- Grid demand and capacity readings from this morning. They come from a rolling display that cannot be re-checked afterwards, so we left them out.
All figures were re-computed from ERCOT's published tables and checked against the EIA, ENGIE and Vistra sources below. Dollar amounts are wholesale prices, not retail bills or offers.
07 / Sources & references
- ERCOT day-ahead settlement point prices, Nov 9 2026 (24 hourly rows, published Nov 8)
- ERCOT real-time settlement point prices, Nov 8 2026 (96 fifteen-minute intervals)
- ERCOT real-time settlement point prices, Nov 9 2026 (intervals through 6:00 a.m.)
- ERCOT day-ahead settlement point prices, Nov 8 2026
- EIA Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report, released Nov 5, week ended Oct 30
- ENGIE Resources today's pricing data
- Vistra ERCOT Market Update, week ending Nov 6 2026 (PDF)