Tropical Storm Bertha made landfall along the Louisiana coast as a weakening system, offering temporary relief from extreme heat across the region even as forward electricity prices spiked sharply in anticipation of potential grid disruptions.
The storm moved ashore in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, maintaining maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. Atmospheric conditions played a critical role in mitigating the storm’s impact, as strong upper-level northerly wind shear pushed the heaviest precipitation offshore, keeping the core shower and thunderstorm activity largely away from the coastline.
“Strong northerly winds in the upper levels of the atmosphere are pushing that deep shower and thunderstorm activity away from the center,” said Jamie Rhome, Deputy Director of the National Hurricane Center. “Bertha has commenced the slow weakening that we have been forecasting over the last several days, and that weakening is going to continue.”
Despite the storm’s diminishing intensity, power markets surged. The Platts M2MS Power Forward Curve showed MISO Louisiana Hub on-peak electricity jumping more than 43% to approximately $63.15 per megawatt-hour for July 23–24 delivery, up from a day-ahead settlement of $44.04/MWh. Natural gas prices also gained, with Henry Hub spot gas advancing 4.4% to $2.943 per MMBtu.
The weather shift comes as grid operators expect near-term electricity loads to ease. Peak load across the Midcontinent Independent System Operator’s South Region—which encompasses parts of Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and Mississippi—is projected to drop 5.4% to roughly 32.3 gigawatts as average temperatures in the New Orleans area dip.
Farther west, utility providers in Texas prepared for potential impacts as the system tracks toward the upper Texas coast. Houston-based CenterPoint Energy activated its Emergency Operations Center and staged more than 2,000 frontline and contract workers to respond to potential outages amid extreme summer heat.
“The storm made landfall in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana,” confirmed Lena Jakowski, Chief Meteorologist at CenterPoint Energy, during a operational briefing as the utility braced for the storm’s approach toward Texas.
In the Houston area, where heat index values reached up to 115°F before the storm’s arrival, grid operator ERCOT projected a 3.7% drop in peak power demand as temperatures cool slightly ahead of the weekend.
