Contract Expiry & Settlement
ElectronX contracts expire at the end of every hour. Understanding when and how they settle, and what happens to your collateral along the way, is essential for managing your positions effectively.
This page is a plain-English guide. The authoritative expiry and settlement terms for each contract are in the Product Specifications and the specification PDFs linked there.
When contracts expire
Every ElectronX contract is tied to a specific hour of delivery. Contracts are identified by their hour ending (HE), which is also when they expire: HE14 ends at 2:00 PM, HE09 ends at 9:00 AM, and so on. At that moment, trading in that contract closes. The HE is dependent on each ISO's designated timezone.
If you hold an open position at expiration, it proceeds to settlement automatically. You do not need to take any action. Alternatively, you can offset your position before expiration by entering the opposite side during market hours. Closing out before expiry locks in your realized P&L and returns your settlement fee to Available to Trade.
Settlement: ERCOT
ERCOT contracts settle same-day, shortly after expiration, using real-time price data published by ERCOT throughout the contract hour.
How the settlement price is calculated
ERCOT publishes Real Time Settlement Point Prices (SPP) every 15 minutes. For each hourly contract, ElectronX uses the arithmetic average of the four 15-minute interval prices that fall within the contract hour. ERCOT's prices (and HE contracts) are in CT.
For example, the HE01 contract (expiring at 1:00 AM CT) uses the average of the four prices ERCOT publishes for: 12:00–12:15 AM CT, 12:15–12:30 AM CT, 12:30–12:45 AM CT, and 12:45–1:00 AM CT.
Bounded Futures
If the average is within the contract's price bounds, it becomes the Settlement Price directly. If the average falls outside the bounds, the applicable boundary is applied: average below floor → Settlement Price = floor; average above ceiling → Settlement Price = ceiling; average within bounds → Settlement Price = average.
Binary Options
The four-interval average is called the Floating Price. It is compared to the Strike Price (the prior day's day-ahead market price for that hub and hour): Floating Price ≥ Strike Price → Settlement Price = $100; Floating Price < Strike Price → Settlement Price = $0.
Finality
The first published prices provided by ERCOT are considered final and are not subject to further adjustment.
Settlement: PJM
PJM contracts have a different settlement timeline from ERCOT. The key distinction: PJM does not publish verified real-time prices until the following business day.
How the settlement price is calculated
PJM publishes verified real-time hourly Locational Marginal Prices (LMPs) between 11:00 AM and 12:00 PM ET on T+1 (the business day after delivery). ElectronX uses these verified hourly LMPs as the Settlement Price. PJM's prices (and HE contracts) are in ET.
Bounded Futures & Binary Options
If the verified hourly LMP is within the contract's price bounds, it is the Settlement Price; if outside, the applicable boundary applies. For Binary Options, the verified hourly LMP is the Floating Price, compared to the Strike Price (prior day's day-ahead LMP for that location and hour).
PJM contracts expire every hour at the top of the hour. Because PJM settlement occurs on T+1, your committed collateral is held overnight after a PJM contract expires. It is not released until the verified LMPs are published and settlement is processed the following business day. Do not plan to redeploy collateral from expiring PJM positions on the same day. For contracts expiring on Friday, collateral is held through the weekend and released following Monday's settlement publication.
Finality
The first published prices provided by PJM are considered final and are not subject to further adjustment.
Settlement: MISO
MISO contracts, like PJM, settle on T+1, but MISO publishes its Preliminary Ex-Post prices every day, including weekends, meaning collateral is released the morning after expiry regardless of the day of the week.
How the settlement price is calculated
MISO publishes Preliminary Ex-Post hourly Locational Marginal Prices (LMPs) by 8:00 AM EST on T+1. ElectronX uses this single verified hourly LMP directly as the Settlement Price; no averaging across sub-hourly intervals is required. MISO's prices (and HE contracts) are in EST — always EST, does not change to EDT.
For example, the HE13 contract (expiring at 1:00 PM EST) uses the Preliminary Ex-Post LMP that MISO publishes for that hour ending at the applicable pricing location.
Bounded Futures & Binary Options
If the verified hourly LMP is within the contract's price bounds, it is the Settlement Price; if outside, the applicable boundary applies. For Binary Options, the verified hourly LMP is the Floating Price, compared to the Strike Price (prior day's day-ahead LMP for that location and hour).
Because MISO settlement occurs on T+1, your committed collateral is held overnight after a MISO contract expires. It is released once the Preliminary Ex-Post LMP is published and settlement is processed, by 8:00 AM EST on T+1. Unlike PJM, MISO publishes prices on weekends, so Friday positions settle Saturday morning.
Finality
The first published prices provided by MISO are considered final and are not subject to further adjustment.
Settlement: CAISO
CAISO contracts settle same-day, similar to ERCOT, using Fifteen-Minute Market (FMM) Locational Marginal Prices published by CAISO on their OASIS platform throughout the contract hour.
How the settlement price is calculated
CAISO publishes FMM LMPs every 15 minutes. For each hourly contract, ElectronX uses the arithmetic average of the four FMM LMPs for the contract hour at the specified pricing location. CAISO's prices (and HE contracts) are in PT.
For example, the HE01 contract (expiring at 1:00 AM PT) uses the average of the four prices CAISO publishes for: 12:00–12:15 AM PT, 12:15–12:30 AM PT, 12:30–12:45 AM PT, and 12:45–1:00 AM PT.
Bounded Futures & Binary Options
If the average is within the contract's price bounds, it becomes the Settlement Price directly. If the average falls outside the bounds, the applicable boundary applies. For Binary Options, the four-interval average is the Floating Price, compared to the Strike Price (the prior day's day-ahead market price for that hub and hour).
Finality
The first published prices provided by CAISO are considered final and are not subject to further adjustment.
Settlement: SPP
SPP (Southwest Power Pool) contracts settle same-day, shortly after expiration, using real-time price data published by SPP throughout the contract hour.
How the settlement price is calculated
SPP publishes real-time Locational Marginal Prices (LMPs) every 5 minutes. For each hourly contract, ElectronX uses the arithmetic average of the twelve 5-minute interval prices that fall within the contract hour. SPP prices (and HE contracts) are in CT.
Bounded Futures & Binary Options
If the average is within the contract's price bounds, it becomes the Settlement Price directly; if it falls outside the bounds, the applicable boundary applies. For Binary Options, the twelve-interval average is the Floating Price, compared to the Strike Price (the prior day's day-ahead LMP for that location and hour).
Finality
The first published prices provided by SPP are considered final and are not subject to further adjustment.
Settlement: NYISO
NYISO contracts settle same-day, shortly after expiration, using real-time price data published by NYISO for the contract hour.
How the settlement price is calculated
NYISO publishes an Hourly Real-Time Time-Weighted Locational Marginal Price (RT TW LMP) for each contract hour, calculated as the time-weighted average of the twelve 5-minute real-time LMPs within the hour. ElectronX uses the hourly RT TW LMP directly as the Settlement Price. NYISO prices (and HE contracts) are in ET.
Bounded Futures & Binary Options
If the hourly RT TW LMP is within the contract's price bounds, it is the Settlement Price; if outside, the applicable boundary applies. For Binary Options, the hourly RT TW LMP is the Floating Price, compared to the Strike Price (the prior day's day-ahead LMP for that location and hour).
Finality
The first RT TW LMP published for an hour ending by NYISO is considered final and is not subject to further adjustment.
Settlement: ISO-NE
ISO-NE contracts settle same-day, shortly after expiration, using real-time price data published by ISO-NE for the contract hour.
How the settlement price is calculated
ISO-NE publishes an Hourly Preliminary Real-Time Locational Marginal Price (RT LMP) for each contract hour, calculated as the average of the twelve 5-minute preliminary real-time LMPs within the hour. ElectronX uses the hourly preliminary RT LMP directly as the Settlement Price. ISO-NE prices (and HE contracts) are in ET.
Bounded Futures & Binary Options
If the hourly preliminary RT LMP is within the contract's price bounds, it is the Settlement Price; if outside, the applicable boundary applies. For Binary Options, the hourly preliminary RT LMP is the Floating Price, compared to the Strike Price (the prior day's day-ahead LMP for that location and hour).
Finality
The first Hourly Preliminary RT LMP published by ISO-NE is considered final and is not subject to further adjustment.
For all ISOs: Unpublished prices
In the event of a missing settlement input price, the Final Settlement Price is determined according to EXI Rulebook section 6.3(d).
What happens to your account at settlement
When a contract settles, the following occurs automatically:
- The Settlement Price is established.
- P&L is calculated.
- Settlement fees are consumed from Committed Collateral.
- Excess collateral plus any profit, or minus any loss, is returned to your Available to Trade balance.
- Your Settled Positions table updates to reflect the closed position.
- Today's Realized P&L updates.
For positions you have already offset (closed before expiry), P&L is calculated and excess collateral plus any profit, or minus any loss, is returned to your Available to Trade balance. Settlement fees are returned to your Available to Trade balance.
The Settlement Tracker
The Settlement Tracker in the trading widget lets you monitor contract settlement in real time. It displays:
- Day-ahead price and a live countdown timer for the current spot-hour contracts.
- ISO data updated every 5 and 15 minutes (based on the respective ISO), so you can watch the average build toward final settlement.
- A "Recently Expired Contracts" section showing final settlement prices, percentage deviation from day-ahead, and any expired open interest.
The Settlement Tracker is particularly useful for confirming how a position will settle as the hour progresses, and for reviewing recent settlement outcomes relative to day-ahead forecasts.
Contract listing schedule
Contracts list on a rolling 5-day window. As each hour expires, a new contract 5 days forward is automatically added. This means 120 contracts are always available per instrument: 24 hours per day across 5 calendar days.
Key differences by ISO
| ERCOT | PJM | |
|---|---|---|
| Settlement timing | Same day, shortly after expiry | T+1 business day, 11 AM-12 PM ET |
| Settlement data | Avg of four 15-min SPPs | Verified hourly LMP |
| Collateral release | Within minutes of the top of the hour | T+1 after verified prices published |
| Weekend handling | Settles every hour | Collateral held; settles next business day |
| MISO | CAISO | |
|---|---|---|
| Settlement timing | T+1, by 8:00 AM EST (published daily incl. weekends) | Same day, shortly after expiry |
| Settlement data | Preliminary Ex-Post hourly LMP | Avg of four 15-min FMM LMPs |
| Collateral release | T+1 after Preliminary Ex-Post LMP published | Within minutes of the top of the hour |
| Weekend handling | Settles every day | Settles every hour |
| SPP | NYISO | |
|---|---|---|
| Settlement timing | Same day, shortly after expiry | Same day, shortly after expiry |
| Settlement data | Avg of twelve 5-min RT LMPs | Hourly RT time-weighted LMP |
| Collateral release | Within minutes of the top of the hour | Within minutes of the top of the hour |
| Weekend handling | Settles every hour | Settles every hour |
| ISO-NE | |
|---|---|
| Settlement timing | Same day, shortly after expiry |
| Settlement data | Hourly preliminary RT LMP |
| Collateral release | Within minutes of the top of the hour |
| Weekend handling | Settles every hour |
For questions about settlement or your account balance, contact support@electronx.com or +1 (312) 256-2978 during market hours (Monday–Friday, 7:00 AM–8:00 PM CT).