Integrated Retail and Wholesale (IRW) Power System Operations
with Smart Grid Functionality: Project Homepage

Last Updated: 23 April 2012 Site maintained by: Leigh Tesfatsion Professor of Economics, Mathematics,    & Electrical and Computer Engineering Economics Department/375 Heady Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 50011-1070 http://www.econ.iastate.edu/tesfatsi/

Table of Contents:

• Regular Meeting Time/Place for IRW Project Group
• General IRW Project Information
• Supporting Projects
• IRW Project-Related Working Papers and Publications
• IRW Project-Related Presentations to External Groups
• Software
• Background Materials
• Online Resource Materials
• Miscellaneous

Regular Weekly Meeting Time/Place for Full IRW Project Group:

2012 Spring Semester Meetings:   Wednesdays 4:10-5:10pm, 2222 Coover

General IRW Project Information

IRW Project Description:

The primary goal of this project is the development and implementation of an agent-based test bed for the study of integrated retail and wholesale (IRW) electric power markets operating over transmission and distribution grids with smart-grid functionality. The IRW test bed links together two existing test beds: (i) the AMES Wholesale Power Market Test Bed, developed by a group of researchers at Iowa State University; and (ii) GridLAB-D, an electric energy distribution platform developed by the U.S. Department of Energy at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

The IRW test bed is currently being used to conduct systematic computational experiments focusing on the IRW power system effects and policy implications of three key smart-grid developments: (1) increased penetration of dynamic-price contracts for retail electric energy customers permitting them to adjust their demands to actual energy costs; (2) increased penetration of variable generation (e.g., wind and solar power); and (3) increased penetration of plug-in electric vehicles (PEV).

IRW Project Overview (pdf,968KB).

Agent-Based Modeling of Electric Power Markets: (pdf,2.5MB), DARPA/ISAT Workshop, Boston, MA, July 2010.

Current IRW Project Participants:

Dionysios Aliprantis (Litton Industries Assistant Professor of ECpE, ISU, 1124 Coover, Office Tel: 515-294-7387)

Chengrui Cai (RA, ECpE PhD program, ISU, 1207 Coover)

Dave Chassin (Staff Scientist, PNNL, Office Tel: 509-375-4369)

Deung-Yong Heo (Sandia Project RA, Econ PhD Program, ISU)

Pedram Jahangiri (EPRC RA, ECpE PhD program, ISU, Coover)

Hongyan Li (Consulting Engineer, ABB Inc., Raleigh, NC; ISU ECpE PhD 2009)

Wanning Li (EPRC RA, ECpE PhD program, ISU, Coover)

Leigh Tesfatsion (Professor of Econ, Math, and ECpE, ISU, 375 Heady)

Auswin George Thomas (EPRC RA, ECpE MS Program, ISU)

Di Wu, (Power Engineer, PNNL, ISU Econ PhD 2012)

Huan Zhao (Market Analyst, ISO-NE, ISU Econ PhD 2011)

Supporting Projects

ARPA-E/DOE Project (Stochastic SCUC/SCED Formulation):

Sponsor: ARPA-E/Department of Energy

Title: "Improved Power System Operations Using Advanced Stochastic Optimization"

Co-Principal Investigators: Dionysios Aliprantis and Leigh Tesfatsion

Date of Award: Funding Start Date - February 24, 2012

Duration of Award: Two Years (Phase One)

Sandia Project (Ancillary Services):

Sponsor: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL)

Title: "Market Design for Energy, Ancillary and Reliability Services in Wholesale Electric Power Markets"

Principal Investigator: Leigh Tesfatsion

Date of Award: Funding Start Date - July 2011

Duration of Award: Annual Contract

EPRC Project (Integrated Retail/Wholesale Power Systems):

Sponsor: Electric Power Research Center (EPRC)

Title: "Integrated Retail and Wholesale Power System Operation with Smart-Grid Functionality"

Principal Investigators: Dionysios Aliprantis and Leigh Tesfatsion

Date of Award: Funding Start Date - August 2010

Duration of Award: Three years

PNNL Project (Integrated Retail/Wholesale Power Markets):

Sponsor: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory/Battelle

Title: "A Test Bed for the Integrated Experimental Study of Retail and Wholesale Power Market Designs"

Principal Investigator: Leigh Tesfatsion

Date of Award: Funding Start Date - June 2009

Duration of Award: Three years

EPRC Project (Risk Management in Electric Power Systems):

Sponsor: Electric Power Research Center (EPRC)

Title: "Financial and Operational Risk Management in Restructured Wholesale Power Markets"

Principal Investigator: Leigh Tesfatsion

Date of Award: Funding Start Date - August 2009

Duration of Award: Three years

NSF Project (National Energy and Transportation Infrastructures):

Sponsor: National Science Foundation

Title: "21st Century National Energy and Transportation Infrastructures: Balancing Sustainability, Costs, and Resiliency (NETSCORE-21)"

Co-Principal Investigator: Dionysios Aliprantis

Date of Award: Funding Start Date - August 1, 2008

Duration of Award: Four years

IRW Project-Related Working Papers and Publications

Working Papers:

A.G. Thomas, P. Jahangiri, D. Wu, C. Cai, H. Zhao, D. Aliprantis, and L. Tesfatsion, "Intelligent Residential Air-Conditioning System with Smart-Grid Functionality", Working Paper, 10 November 2011, under journal submission.

Publications:

Pedram Jahangiri, Di Wu, Wanning Li, Dionysios C. Aliprantis, and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Development of an Agent-Based Distribution Test Feeder with Smart-Grid Functionality" (preprint pdf,386KB), Proceedings of the IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting, San Diego, CA, July 22-26, 2012, to appear.

Auswin George Thomas, Chengrui Cai, Dionysios C. Aliprantis, and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Effects of Price-Responsive Residential Demand on Retail and Wholesale Power Market Operations" (preprint pdf,218KB), Proceedings of the IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting, San Diego, CA, July 22-26, 2012, to appear.

Di Wu, Dionysios C. Aliprantis, and Lei Ying, "On the Choice between Uncontrolled and Controlled Charging by Owners of PHEVs" (pdf,118KB), IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, to appear. Abstract in IEEEXplore..

Di Wu, Dionysios C. Aliprantis, and Lei Ying, "Load Scheduling and Dispatch for Aggregators of Plug-in Electric Vehicles" (pdf,470KB), IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, Special Issue on Transportation Electrification and Vehicle-to-Grid Applications, to appear.

Hongyan Li and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Co-Learning Patterns as Emergent Market Phenomena: An Electricity Market Illustration" (WP pdf, 1.5MB), Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, to appear.

Nanpeng Yu, Leigh Tesfatsion, and Chen-Ching Liu, "Financial Bilateral Contract Negotiation in Wholesale Power Markets using Nash Bargaining Theory" (WP pdf, 772KB), IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, Vol. 27, Issue 1, February 2012, 251-267.

Qun Zhou, Leigh Tesfatsion, and Chen-Ching Liu, "Short-Term Congestion Forecasting in Wholesale Power Markets" (WP pdf, 295KB), IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, Vol. 26, Issue 4, 2011, 2185-2196.

Di Wu, Dionysios C. Aliprantis, and Konstantina Gkritza, "Electric Energy and Power Consumption by Light-Duty Plug-in Electric Vehicles" (pdf,560KB) IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, Volume 26, No. 2, 2011, 738-746. Abstract in IEEEXplore.

Hongyan Li and Leigh Tesfatsion, "ISO Collection and Allocation in Wholesale Power Markets Under Locational Marginal Pricing" (WP Preprint, pdf, 816KB), IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, Vol. 26, No. 2, 2011, 627-641.

Chengrui Cai, Pedram Jahangiri, Auswin George Thomas, Huan Zhao, Dionysios C. Aliprantis, and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Agent-Based Simulation of Distribution Systems with High Penetration of Photovoltaic Generation" (WP pdf, 30KB), Proceedings of the IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting, Detroit, MI, July 2011 (electronic).

Huan Zhao, Auswin George Thomas, Pedram Jahangiri, Chengrui Cai, Leigh Tesfatsion, and Dionysios C. Aliprantis, "Two-Settlement Electric Power Markets with Dynamic-Price Customers" (WP pdf, 64KB), Proceedings of the IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting, Detroit, MI, July 2011 (electronic).

Hongyan Li, Junjie Sun, and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Testing Institutional Arrangements via Agent-Based Modeling: A U.S. Electricity Market Application" (WP pdf, 2.2MB), pp. 135-158 in H. Dawid and W. Semmler (Eds.), Computational Methods in Economic Dynamics, Dynamic Modeling and Econometrics in Economics and Finance 13, Springer, 2011.

Dionysios Aliprantis, Scott Penick, Leigh Tesfatsion, and Huan Zhao, "Integrated Retail and Wholesale Power System Operation with Smart-Grid Functionality" (WP pdf, 518KB), Proceedings of the IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, July 2010 (electronic).

Dionysios Aliprantis, Leigh Tesfatsion, and Huan Zhao, "An Agent-Based Test Bed for the Integrated Study of Retail and Wholesale Power System Operations" (WP pdf, 397KB), AAMAS Proceedings, Ninth International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, Toronto, Canada, May 2010.

IRW Project-Related Presentations to External Groups (Ordered by Scheduled Date of Presentation)

Pedram Jahangiri, Di Wu, Wanning Li, Dionysios C. Aliprantis, and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Development of an Agent-Based Distribution Test Feeder with Smart-Grid Functionality", IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting, San Diego, CA, July 22-26, 2012.

Auswin George Thomas, Chengrui Cai, Dionysios C. Aliprantis, and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Effects of Price-Responsive Residential Demand on Retail and Wholesale Power Market Operations" IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting, San Diego, CA, July 22-26, 2012.

Abhishek Somani, Huan Zhao, Leigh Tesfatsion, and Nivad Navid, "Wind Power Trading by Firms with Mixed Generation Portfolios", invited talk for the Institute for Operations Research and Management Science (INFORMS) meeting, Charlotte, North Carolina, November 2011.

Chengrui Cai, Pedram Jahangiri, Auswin Thomas, Huan Zhao, Dionysios Aliprantis, Leigh Tesfatsion, "Agent-Based Simulation of Distribution Systems with High Penetration of Photovoltaic Generation", IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting, Detroit, MI, July 24-30, 2011.

Huan Zhao, Auswin Thomas, Pedram Jahangiri, Chengrui Cai, Leigh Tesfatsion, Dionysios Aliprantis, "Two-Settlement Electric Power Markets with Dynamic-Price Customers", IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting, Detroit, MI, July 24-30, 2011

Chengrui Cai and Leigh Tesfatsion, IRW Project Progress Report, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington, July 18, 2011.

Abhishek Somani, Huan Zhao, Leigh Tesfatsion, and Nivad Navid, "Wind Power Trading by Firms with Mixed Generation Portfolios", invited talk for the 17th International Conference on Computing in Economics and Finance (CEF'11), San Francisco, June 29-July 1, 2011.

Leigh Tesfatsion, "Integrated Retail and Wholesale Power System Operations with Smart-Grid Functionality", NSF Workshop: Engineering and Social Response to the Energy-Climate Nexus, Arlington, VA, June 23-24, 2011.

Leigh Tesfatsion, "ISO Net Surplus Collection and Allocation in Restructured North American Wholesale Power Markets", ASSA/American Economic Association Meetings, January 7-9, Denver, CO, 2011.

Huan Zhao "Strategic Buying Behavior of Retail Suppliers in Wholesale Power Markets: Experimental Findings Using an Agent-Based Test Bed", invited talk for the Institute for Operations Research and Management Science (INFORMS) meeting, October 2010.

Dionysios Aliprantis and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Project Overview: Integrated Retail/Wholesale Power System Operation with Smart-Grid Functionality", MidAmerican Energy, Des Moines, IA, Tuesday, August 10, 2010.

Huan Zhao, "Integrated Retail and Wholesale Power System Operation with Smart-Grid Functionality" IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, July 25-29, 2010.

Leigh Tesfatsion, "Agent-Based Modeling of Electric Power Markets", DARPA/ISAT Workshop on Societal Resilience, MIT RLE Conference Center, Cambridge, MA, July 12-13, 2010

Leigh Tesfatsion, "An Agent-Based Test Bed for the Integrated Study of Retail and Wholesale Power System Operations", Agent Technologies for Energy Systems (ATES) Workshop, Ninth International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, Toronto, Canada, May 2010.

Software

AMES Wholesale Power Market Test Bed (Java)

The AMES Wholesale Power Market Test Bed, developed entirely in Java by Hongyan Li, Junjie Sun, and Leigh Tesfatsion, is an extensible and modular agent-based computational laboratory for studying the dynamic efficiency and reliability of wholesale power markets restructured in accordance with guidelines issued by the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. AMES models strategically-learning traders interacting over time in an ISO-managed wholesale power market operating over a transmission grid subject to congestion effects. Congestion on the grid is managed by means of locational marginal prices derived from optimal power flow solutions.

AMES is a free open source tool suitable for research, teaching, and training applications. It is designed for the intensive experimental study of small to medium-sized systems. A graphical user interface permits the creation, modification, analysis and storage of scenarios, parameter initialization and editing, specification of behavioral rules (e.g. learning methods) for market participants, and output reports through table and chart displays. AMES is an acronym for Agent-based Modeling of Electricity Systems.

GridLAB-D: Electric Energy Distribution Platform (C++/C)

GridLAB-D is a power distribution simulation platform developed by the U.S. Department of Energy at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington.

PNNL maintains a GridLAB-D Site at SourceForge.

MatPower: Power System Simulation (MATLAB)

A group of researchers at Cornell University maintains MATPOWER: A MATLAB Power System Simulation Package. MATPOWER is a package of MATLAB M-files for solving power flow and optimal power flow problems. A detailed description of MATPOWER's OPF formulation can be obtained here: "MATPOWER's Extensible OPF Architecture" (pdf,228KB), by Ray D. Zimmerman, Carlos E. Murillo-Sánchez, and Robert J. Thomas.

PowerWorld Simulator (Interactive Online)

The PowerWorld Simulator, a licensed energy model developed by PowerWorld Inc., is an interactive package for the analysis of power systems. In addition to optimal AC and DC power flows, it provides detailed modeling of LTC (load tap changer) and phase-shifting transformers, switched shunts, generator reactive capability curves, generator cost curves, load schedules, transaction schedules, dc lines, multi-section lines, and remote bus voltage control. There is also an attempt to include economic data into the power flow solution to evaluate the economic importance of a system change. A demonstration model can be obtained at the PowerWorld site free of charge.

Background Materials

PROJECT MEETING PRESENTATIONS:

• Leigh Tesfatsion, "Agent-Based Modeling of Electric Power Markets" (pdf,2.5MB), July 2010.
  
  

• Chengrui Cai, "Distribution Power Flow in GridLAB-D" (pdf,159KB), 18 June 2010.
  
  

• Leigh Tesfatsion, "Determination of DC-OPF Dispatch and LMP Solutions in the AMES Wholesale Power Market Test Bed" (Slides,pdf,3MB), (Notes,pdf,207KB), 11 June 2010.
  
  

• Leigh Tesfatsion, "Introductory Notes on Agent-Based Modeling, Agent-Oriented Programming, and the AMES Wholesale Power Market Test Bed" (pdf,4.3MB), 28 May 2010.
  
  

• Chengrui Cai, "Report on GridLAB-D for Integrated Retail and Wholesale Power System Operation Project" (pdf,128KB), 21 May 2010.

• U.S. Department of Energy, Smart-Grid Research and Development: Multi-Year Program Plan (MYPP) 2010-2014 (pdf,1.1MB), Prepared by the Smart Grid Research and Development Program with the U.S. DOE subsequent to the Smart Grid R&D Roundtable Meeting on December 9-10, 2010.

• FERC, "Demand Response and Advanced Metering" (pdf,984KB), Staff Report, December 2008.

• Daniel Hammerstrom et al., "Pacific Northwest GridWise test bed demonstration projects—part I: Olympic Peninsula project" (pdf,2.9MB), U.S. Department of Energy at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Tech. Rep. PNNL-17167, Oct. 2007.

• Frank Huntowski, Neil Fisher, and Aaron Patterson, Embrace Electric Competition or it's Déjà Vu All Over Again (pdf,586KB), The Northbridge Group, October 2008.

  Abstract: The authors of this carefully documented report assess the historical antecedents and current state of restructuring of wholesale and retail electric power markets in the U.S. They also address substantive criticisms of this restructuring movement. They conclude that the case for restructuring is still compelling based both on economic principles and empirical evidence.

• FERC, "Final Report to Congress on Competition in the Wholesale and Retail Markets for Electric Energy" (pdf,1.6MB), U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Accessed: April 27, 2007. See, also, the comment on an earlier draft of this report released on 6/26/06 by Lynne Kiesling and Michael Giberson (Mercatus Center, George Mason University).

  Abstract: This report, required by Secton 1815 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, provides an overview and summarizes progress in the U.S. toward wholesale and retail competition over the past 25 years, the current state of wholesale and retail competition in the U.S., and the economic and political issues surrounding the transition to wholesale and retail competition.

• Timothy J. Brennan, Karen L. Palmer, and Salvador A. Martinez, Alternating Currents: Electricity Markets and Public Policy, Resources for the Future, Washington, D.C., 2002.

  Abstract (from the book jacket): "(This book) provides a timely (nontechnical) overview and analysis of the concerns facing industry regulators, legislators, and others as they consider whether, when, and how to open electricity markets. (The authors) offer background on the history of regulatory policy and the technology for producing and delivering electric power. They then provide insights into the policy degates and economic issues involved in eleven important topics, including industry structure, system integrity and reliability, the mitigation of market power, and environment protection."

• Jack Casazza and Frank Delea, Understanding Electric Power Systems: An Overview of the Technology and the Marketplace, IEEE Press, Wiley-Interscience, 2003.

  Abstract: "(This book) bridges the gaps between technology, government policy, economics and finance, business arrangements, and the Internet - helping the reader to understand the interrelationship of the many aspects of the provision of electric power supply. ... For engineers, policymakers, and students alike, (this booKB) provides a high-level overview of how electric power is generated, transmitted, and controlled in the United States."

• William W. Hogan, "Market Design and Electricity Restructuring" (pdf,209KB), Presentation to the Association of Power Exchanges (APEx), 2005 Annual Conference, Orlando, Florida, November 1, 2005.

  Abstract: The author reviews the tortured history of electricity restructuring in the U.S. and outlines the requirements for SMD ("Successful Market Design").

• Paul Joskow, "Markets for Power in the United States: An Interim Assessment" (pdf,5.4MB), The Energy Journal, Volume 27, Number 1, 2006, pp. 1-36.

  Abstract: "The transition to competitive wholesale and retail markets for electricity in the U.S. has been a difficult and contentious process. This paper examines the progress that has been made in the evolution of wholesale and retail electricity market institutions. Various indicia of the performance of these market institutions are presented and discussed. Significant progress has been made on the wholesale competition front but major challenges must still be contronted. The framework for supporting retail competition has been less successful, especially for small customers. Empirical evidence suggests that well-designed competitive market reforms have led to performance improvements in a number of dimensions and benefited customers through lower retail prices.

• Paul Twomey, Richard Green, Karsten Neuhoff, and David Newbery, A Review of the Monitoring of Market Power: The Possible Roles of TSOs in Monitoring for Market Power Issues in Congested Transmission Systems (WP pdf,664KB), (Slides pdf,897KB), Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Sloan School of Management, MIT, 05-002 WP, March 2005.

  Abstract: The paper surveys the literature and publicly available information on market power monitoring in electricity wholesale markets. After briefly reviewing definitions, strategies and methods of mitigating market power we examine the various methods of detecting market power that have been employed by academics and market monitors/regulators. These techniques include structural and behavioural indices and analysis as well as various simulation approaches. The applications of these tools range from spot market mitigation and congestion management through to long-term market design assessment and merger decisions. Various market-power monitoring units already track market behaviour and produce indices. Our survey shows that these units collect a large amount of data from various market participants and we identify the crucial role of the transmission system operators with their access to dispatch and system information. Easily accessible and comprehensive data supports effective market power monitoring and facilitates market design evaluation. The discretion required for effective market monitoring is facilitated by institutional independence.

Online Resource Materials

• General Resources on Electricity Restructuring

• Agent-Based Computational Electricity Market Research

• EE/Econ 458: Economic Systems for Electric Power Planning
  Note: This power economics course has been designed for long-distance access. All lecture notes and assigned readings are posted on-line.

• Open-Source Software for Electricity Market Research, Teaching, and Training

• MISO: Midwest ISO Homepage

• ISO-NE: ISO New England Homepage

• PJM Homepage

• NY-ISO: New York ISO Homepage

• CAISO: California ISO Homepage

• ERCOT: Electric Reliability Council of Texas Homepage

• SPP: Southwest Power Pool Homepage

• The MISO-PJM Joint and Common Market Site maintains a MISO/PJM Dynamic LMP Contour Map for real-time LMPs, updated every finve minutes.

• The New England Independent System Operator (ISO-NE) maintains ISO-NE Dynamic LMP Contour Maps for both day-ahead and real-time LMPs, refreshed every five minutes. Note: Viewing the contour maps at this site requires a Java-enabled browser.

• The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) maintains NYISO LMP Contour Maps for both day-ahead and real-time LMPs, refreshed every two minutes. Note: Viewing the contour maps at this site requires a Java-enabled browser.

Miscellaneous

• "Grant to Three ISU Researchers to Fund Electric Power Market Optimization Research" (html), Science Business, March 20, 2012.

  Announcement of $3.1M ARPA-E/DOE award to Iowa State University (ISU), Sandia National Labs, UC Davis, Alstom, and ISO New England, with $1.7M to Drs. Ryan, Aliprantis, and Tesfatsion at lead institution ISU.

• "Collaborative `Spark' Proves Productive for ISU Economists and Electrical Engineers" (html), Around LAS, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS), Iowa State university (ISU), October 17, 2011.

  IRW Project description originally appearing in the Economic Newsletter, Department of Economics, ISU, October 13.