The WEM experienced a sharp price spike in WA1 on 14 June 2026, with prices surging from $196/MWh to a peak of $386.38/MWh across five consecutive trading intervals between 12:10 and 12:30. Prices nearly doubled within a single interval and remained elevated above $360/MWh for four intervals before moderating.
The spike was driven primarily by binding constraint F_MAIN+RREG_0220, which imposed marginal values ranging from $3.45 to $7.79/MWh across the spike period, indicating tightening system conditions. Secondary constraint F_T+NIL_ML_RECL_L6 also bound during the final interval with a $3/MWh contribution, suggesting multiple system limitations were active as demand or generation imbalances required progressively more expensive capacity to resolve.
Causal analysis generated by gridIQ's synthesis model from live AEMO market data: dispatch prices, generation mix, interconnector flows and market notices in the interval surrounding the event.