ERCOT load zones
ERCOT settles consumption in eight load zones. Here is each one's live real-time price beside ERCOT's trading hubs, and the spread between them.
ERCOT load zones
ERCOT settles consumption in eight load zones. Here is each one's live real-time price beside ERCOT's trading hubs, and the spread between them.
ERCOT load zone prices
Highest-priced load zone
$90.78
Houston Load Zone · LZ_HOUSTON
Lowest-priced load zone
$22.28
Rayburn Load Zone · LZ_RAYBN
Spread between load zones
$68.50
As of Oct 6, 3:05 PM CDT · $/MWh, real time
LMP by hub & zone
Hubs
HOUSTON$40.07
NORTH$23.21
PAN$16.91
SOUTH$47.73
WEST$39.7
Load zones
AEN$54.26
CPS$47.02
HOUSTON$89.01
LCRA$51.29
NORTH$25.69
RAYBN$21.38
SOUTH$50.07
WEST$49.41
What this shows
What a load zone is
A load zone is the area ERCOT uses to price the electricity consumed in it. Four are geographic: Houston, North, South and West. Four belong to municipal and cooperative utilities: Austin Energy (AEN), CPS Energy, LCRA and Rayburn (RAYBN). Each zone's price is the load-weighted average of the prices at the buses inside it.
Load zones are not weather zones
ERCOT also splits Texas into eight weather zones for load forecasting. Some share names with load zones but not boundaries. Prices settle by load zone; demand is forecast by weather zone.
What people ask
How many load zones does ERCOT have?
Eight: Houston, North, South and West, plus the Austin Energy, CPS Energy, LCRA and Rayburn zones of the utilities that settle on their own.
What are ERCOT's trading hubs?
Houston, North, South, West and Panhandle, plus the hub average and hub bus average ERCOT publishes beside them. Hubs are trading points; load zones are where consumption settles.
Is this the day-ahead or real-time price?
Real time: the latest settlement point price ERCOT has published for each load zone and hub, in $/MWh.