ERCOT Storage Performance | April 2026

ERCOT energy storage revenue and performance climbed across the fleet in April. Fleet average revenue rose 38% and DA TBx capture increased 50% compared to the Q1 2026 average. 

Median and average revenue have climbed together for the third month in a row, a sign the ERCOT market is starting to figure out storage operations under RTC+B.

Real-Time (RT) Energy drove the vast majority (83%) of fleet revenue in April. 61% of assets took DA Energy losses – perhaps making the wrong DA vs. RT call, or predominantly charging into DA Energy. Only 11% of assets ended the month with positive DA Energy revenue, underscoring how difficult it was to get right. 

Top earners differentiated by doing a better job avoiding DA Energy losses. Similar to the fleet average, the top 20 earners drew the majority of revenue from RT Energy (87%). On average, the top 20 earners saw 0% of revenue in DA Energy, while, on average, the fleet bled -5%. The differentiator wasn’t just leaning into RT Energy, since the fleet did that too – it was calling the correct price premiums and managing DAM exposure.

• Highest earning asset made $6.37/kW, while the top 50 revenue generators averaged $4.55/kW
• Median asset brought in $2.49/kW, with the fleet average higher at $2.60/kW
• RT energy made up the majority of revenue at 83%

The fleet averaged 78% DA TBx capture in April, up from March and continuing a climb that has held since January.

In keeping with the fleet, the top 20 performers generated the majority of their revenue from RT Energy, but at a lower rate than the top 20 earners – 71% of revenue versus 87%. The balance of their revenue came from AS capacity payments. The top 20 performers drew 30% of revenue from AS, more than double the 12% that the top 20 earners took from AS. Notably, DA and RT AS revenue split roughly evenly despite DA’s price premium, hinting that operators favor RT’s optionality over chasing DA’s higher price. The top performers’ AS revenue didn’t come at RT Energy’s expense. They layered it in at the right times and in the right products, boosting performance without giving up a strong RT Energy optionality. 

• Top performing asset captured 147% of its DA TBx opportunity, and the top 50 averaged 110%.
• Median asset captured 79% of its DA TBx, with the fleet average slightly lower at 78%.

RT Energy dominance held across every duration band in April. What separated the top operators within each band was the same lever seen fleet-wide – how much revenue was lost to DA Energy, with every top 10 cohort cutting those losses relative to its broader duration class.

Breakdown by asset duration:

• Short duration assets (≤1.24 hours) leaned hardest into AS of any duration class – a safer strategy to pick up incremental revenue than DA energy commitments for assets that cycle quickly. The full fleet still gave up 5% of revenue to DA Energy losses. The top 10 cut that loss to just 1%.
• Mid-duration assets (1.25–1.74 hours) took the largest DA Energy losses of any duration class, at -10% for the full fleet. The top 10 cut that loss to -6%, still leaning on RT Energy for the majority of revenue with AS filling out the rest.
• Long duration assets (>1.75 hours) saw the full fleet lean hardest on RT Energy (88%) and least on AS (15%) of any duration class. The top 10 leaned more on DA AS, trading some RT Energy exposure for AS revenue and cutting DA Energy losses to -1%.

Whatever the duration, the top performers’ edge traced back to the same skill – forecasting accurately and managing DAM exposure.

April 24 and 27 were the two most lucrative days of the month. Both days showcased classic shoulder season dynamics, with a Real-Time Energy spike in the evening driven by high thermal outages and wind underperforming forecast. 

Below, we walk through how a top-performing asset operated on April 24.

April 24th carried classic shoulder season fingerprints. Wind underperformed ERCOT’s Day-Ahead forecast by roughly 2.7GW right at the evening peak, combined with 26GW+ of thermal outages which left the supply stack thin – enough for RT Energy prices to peak at $1,000/MWh.

Ancillary Services told a different story with DA carrying the premium for most of the day. DA Reserves peaked at $87/MWh at 9pm, and DA Non-Spin held a similar premium until the spread flipped between 8 and 10pm, when RT NS prices climbed to $200/MWh.

How did a highest-performing asset operate on April 24, 2026?

Heading into April 24, the asset took DA positions almost exclusively in AS – with Non-Spin, ECRS, and Reserves committed from 10am through midnight. They only took on a single 1.2 MW DA Energy obligation for the 7-8pm hour.

Once the day began, the asset layered RT AS awards on top, banking incremental capacity payments hour after hour. The first move in Energy came mid-morning, when the asset discharged into a $70/MWh RT price bump, then charged back up through the following intervals to rebuild State of Charge (SOC) ahead of the evening. From there it held that near-full SOC through midday, leaning on the AS stack for incremental revenue.

The evening arrived, and the setup paid off. DA Reserves cleared above RT Reserves at $87/MWh at 9pm, so the day-ahead lock-in outperformed holding out for AS in real time. RT Energy prices broke $500/MWh at 7pm and kept climbing. The asset met its small DA obligation for the 7pm hour, then kept discharging well past it, running the battery from a nearly full 10MW down to about 1.8MW by 10pm. One full cycle, timed to land right on top of the day’s highest RT prices in the 9-10pm hour. Nearly 70% of the day’s revenue came straight from that RT delivery.

The asset closed the day at $0.79/kW and 342% DA TBx capture.

*Top earners defined as highest $/kW
**Top performers defined as highest percent of DA TBx captured