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Capture price and capture rate

Capture price is the average price over the hours a plant produced in, weighting each hour by its output. Capture rate divides it by a plain average price, so it shows whether the plant produces in cheap or expensive hours.

Also called capture price, value factor

Formula

Capture price = sum of (output MWh × price) ÷ sum of output MWh

Capture rate = capture price ÷ average price

Output
Metered MWh in each hour
Price
The price at the plant's node in the same hour
Average price
The stated benchmark, averaged over all hours

With real numbers10 solar plants, 2025: $164,206,404 ÷ 9,217,311 MWh = $17.82 per MWh. Capture rate = $17.82 ÷ $29.51 all-hours average = 60.4%

In the data

60%capture rate of the 10 largest ERCOT solar plants in 2025, against 66% for the 10 largest wind farms

Solar output comes in the midday hours, when prices were lowest, so each MWh was worth less than the all-hours average. The solar rate fell to 33% in April.

Monthly capture rate, 2025, % of the all-hours average at the same nodes
  • 10 largest wind farms
  • 10 largest solar plants
0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

ERCOT settlement metered net energy and real-time node prices, hourly, 2025, 175,180 of 175,200 plant-hours. Energy value is an estimate, not settled revenue. Benchmark: the time-weighted average at the same nodes.On the map

Built from InfraMap's 2025 data with the same tools the analyst uses.

Common mistakes

  1. Multiplying monthly output by a monthly average price. That misses which hours the plant ran in, so it is only a rough proxy.
  2. Leaving the benchmark unstated. Against the hub, the rate mixes location with timing. Against the plant's own node, it isolates timing.
  3. Dividing by an average near or below zero, which makes the percentage meaningless.

How the InfraMap analyst defines it

Export-weighted price and its ratio to a specified market benchmark. Monthly generation times average price is a proxy. Zero or negative benchmarks need separate treatment.

Capture price = sum of export MWh times interval price / sum of export MWh; capture rate = capture price / stated benchmark mean

Analytical definition with explicit export and benchmark boundaries.

Reviewed October 1, 2026 against the references below. The analyst and the MCP server answer with this definition.

Primary references

See it for any US plant

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