October 2026 in MISO was defined by Day-Ahead spreads. Day-Ahead four-hour top-bottom (TB4) spreads at Indiana Hub averaged $463/MW-day, up 151% year over year. They finished above Real-Time's $323/MW-day for only the second time in twelve months.

Modo Energy's virtual BESS (vBESS) benchmark in MISO North could have earned $579/MW-day, 20% more than MISO South's $482/MW-day. Day-Ahead energy arbitrage made up 52% of North revenue, and regulation 65% of South's.

Four days carried 32% of MISO North's October revenue. The largest was October 13, when record heat and low wind pushed MISO net load, demand minus wind and solar, to 90 GW.

Key takeaways

• A BESS in MISO North could have earned $18.0/kW-month against MISO South's $14.9/kW-month. Day-Ahead energy arbitrage opened the gap, while regulation made up 65% of MISO South revenue.
• The Indiana Hub Day-Ahead TB4 spread rose 151% year over year to $463/MW-day, second only to July in the past year.
• Day-Ahead spreads finished above Real-Time's $323/MW-day for the second time in a year. Real-Time paid more on only 7 of 31 days, so a battery committed in the Day-Ahead market captured more of October.
• MISO had 66 GW of capacity offline on an average day, up 7 GW year over year. Forced and short-notice outages, not planned maintenance, drove the increase.
• On October 13, record heat and low evening wind pushed MISO net load to 90 GW, and Indiana Hub Day-Ahead prices cleared $1,071/MWh. For a MISO North battery, that one day was 15% of October's revenue.

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What a battery in MISO earned in October

A BESS in MISO North could have earned $579/MW-day in October, or $18.0/kW-month. Revenue rose 65% from October 2025 and 17% from September 2026.

Most of the North's gain came from Day-Ahead energy arbitrage, which earned $303/MW-day against $47/MW-day a year earlier. Regulation revenue fell from $300/MW-day to $271/MW-day.