The records keep falling … the oil/gas price ratio hit another all time high on the 19th at 9.29 (Cushing closed at $102.58/bbl and Henry gas closed at $1.90/mmBtu). The gas price is the equivalent of oil at $11.02/bbl.
Meanwhile, low gas prices are driving the price paid to older renewable producer in California to near record low levels. In PG&E the April price for “Short Run Avoided Cost” is 2.7 cents/kWh. IMO prices this low will cause some renewable facilities to shut in, unable to recover operating costs, much less insurance or property taxes. It’s ironic for a state that is imposing a 33% RPS standard and implementing a cap and trade system to have a pricing mechanism that will force some production to, effectively, be flared.