• Leigh Tesfatsion, PI (Professor of Economics, Mathematics, and ECpE, Heady 375)
  tesfatsi AT iastate.edu
• Herman C. Quirmbach, Co-PI (Associate Professor of Economics & Iowa State Senator, Heady 81)
  hcqbach AT isunet.net
• Hongyan Li, Research Assistant (Ph.D. Candidate, ECpE, 1131 Coover-Desk 6, 294-2525)
  lihy AT iastate.edu

• Chen-Ching Liu (Professor and Deputy Principal, College of Engineering, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences, National University of Ireland, Dublin)
  liu AT ucd.ie
• Haifeng Liu (CAISO; ECpE Ph.D. 2007; Econ M.S. 2008)
  hfliu AT iastate.edu
• Harold Salazar (ECpE Ph.D. 2007, Econ M.S. 2008)
  hsi AT iastate.edu
• Abhishek Somani (NSF RA - Ph.D. Candidate Econ, ISU)
  somaniabhishek AT yahoo.com
• Junjie Sun (Financial Economist, OCC, U.S. Treasury; Ph.D. Econ 2006, ISU)
  jjsun AT iastate.edu (temporary)
• Huan Zhao (PNNL RA, Econ PhD Candidate, ISU)
  huanxjtu AT gmail.com
• Qun Zhou (EPRC RA - Forecasting Project, ISU ECpE Ph.D. Candidate, Coover 3108)
  zhouqun8508 AT gmail.com

• Jason Crowley, S06 Freshman Honors Mentor Program (Mentor L. Tesfatsion)
  
• John Lambert, S06 Freshman Honors Mentor Program (Mentor L. Tesfatsion)
  
• Wenzhou Shang (Ph.D. Economics 2006)
  

Current Project Support

EPRC Project 1 (MISO Market Performance):

Sponsor: Electric Power Research Center (EPRC)

Title: "Testing the Efficiency and Reliability Impacts of MISO's Midwest Market Initiative"

Principle Investigators: Leigh Tesfatsion (Lead PI) and Herman C. Quirmbach

Date of Award: Funding Start Date - August 2006

Duration of Award: Three years (conditional on end-of-year progress reviews)

Related EPRC Project 2 (ISO/GenCo Forecasting):

Sponsor: Electric Power Research Center (EPRC)

Title: "Forecasting Grid Congestion and Prices for Transmission Grid Operation and Investment"

Principle Investigators: Chen-Ching Liu and Leigh Tesfatsion

Date of Award: Funding Start Date - August 2007

Duration of Award: Three years (conditional on end-of-year progress reviews)

Related EPRC Project 3 (ISO Risk Management):

Sponsor: Electric Power Research Center (EPRC)

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

Principle Investigator: Leigh Tesfatsion

Date of Award: Funding Start Date - August 2009

Duration of Award: Three years (conditional on end-of-year progress reviews)

Related PNNL Project (Wholesale/Retail Power Market Integration):

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 (conditional on end-of-year progress reviews)

Project Reports

• EPRC MISO Project: 2009 Final Report (pdf,458K), Last Updated: 6 April 2009.

• EPRC MISO Project: 2009 Final Report - PPT Slide Presentation (pdf,1.9M), Last Updated: May 2009.

• EPRC MISO Project: 2009 Final Report - Poster Presentation (pdf,616K), Last Updated: May 2009.

Project Research Publications and Working Papers

• Hongyan Li and Leigh Tesfatsion, "ISO Net Surplus Extraction in Restructured Wholesale Power Markets" (download site), ISU Economics Working Paper No. 09015, August 2009.

  Abstract: This study uses dynamic 5-bus and 30-bus test cases to explore the social efficiency implications of the net surplus (congestion rents) collected and redistributed by ISOs in restructured wholesale power markets with grid congestion managed by locational marginal pricing (LMP). Demand price sensitivity and generator learning capabilities are taken as treatment factors. A key finding is that ISO net surplus substantially increases as the price-sensitivity of demand is reduced and the learning capabilities of generators are increased, conditions resulting in greater economic capacity withholding and a possible wastage of resources. A practical implication is that a more transparent public oversight of all net surplus extractions and uses in wholesale power markets operating under LMP would be publicly prudent because these extractions are not structurally well-aligned with social efficiency objectives.

• Hongyan Li and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Development of Open Source Software for Power Market Research: The AMES Test Bed" (pdf preprint,628K), Journal of Energy Markets, Vol. 2, No. 2, Summer 2009, 111-128.

  Abstract: This study discusses potential benefits and drawbacks of developing open-source software for power market research, using the AMES Wholesale Power Market Test Bed for concrete illustration.

• Leigh Tesfatsion, "Auction Basics for Wholesale Power Markets: Objectives and Pricing Rules" (pdf,504K), IEEE Proceedings, Power and Energy Society General Meeting, Calgary, Alberta, CA, July 26-30, 2009.
  Abstract: Power systems have distinctive features that greatly complicate the development of auction designs. This study reviews the theory and practice of auction design as it relates specifically to U.S. restructured wholesale power markets, i.e., centrally-administered wholesale power markets with congestion managed by locational marginal prices. Basic auction concepts such as reservation value, net seller surplus, net buyer surplus, competitive market clearing, market efficiency, market pricing rules, supply offers, demand bids, strategic capacity withholding, and market power are explained and illustrated. Complicating factors specific to wholesale power markets are clarified, and recent advances in computational tools designed to address these complications are briefly noted.

  Hongyan Li and Leigh Tesfatsion, "The AMES Wholesale Power Market Test Bed: A Computational Laboratory for Research, Teaching, and Training" (pdf,930K), IEEE Proceedings, Power and Energy Society General Meeting, Calgary, Alberta, CA, July 26-30, 2009.

  Abstract: Wholesale power markets around the world are currently undergoing a controversial restructuring of their architecture and rules of operation. Some commentators have argued that restructuring has not produced the intended improvements in market efficiency while at the same time it has complicated efforts to ensure reliability and fairness of operations. This situation suggests the desirability of having publicly available test beds suitable for the objective study of this restructuring process. This study reports on the AMES Wholesale Power Market Test Bed. AMES is an open-source agent-based computational laboratory designed for the systematic study of restructured wholesale power markets operating over AC transmission grids subject to congestion. The AMES traders have learning capabilities permitting them to evolve their trading strategies over time. The potential usefulness of AMES for research, teaching, and training purposes is discussed and illustrated.

  Hongyan Li, Junjie Sun, and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Separation and Volatility of Locational Marginal Prices in Restructured Wholesale Power Markets" (download site), ISU Economics Working Paper #09009, June 2009.

  Abstract: This study uses the AMES test bed to investigate separation and volatility of locational marginal prices (LMPs) in an ISO-managed restructured wholesale power market operating over an AC transmission grid. Particular attention is focused on the dynamic and cross-sectional response of LMPs to systematic changes in demand-bid price sensitivities and supply-offer price cap levels under varied learning specifications for the generation companies. Also explored is the extent to which the supply offers of the marginal (price-determining) generation companies induce correlations among neighboring LMPs.

  Haifeng Liu, Leigh Tesfatsion, and A. A. Chowdhury, "Derivation of Locational Marginal Prices for Restructured Wholesale Power Markets", Journal of Energy Markets, Vol. 2, No. 1, Spring 2009, 3-27.

  Note: An abridged version of this paper was presented at the IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting, Calgary, CA, July 26-30, 2009.

  Abstract: Although Locational Marginal Pricing (LMP) plays an important role in many restructured wholesale power markets, the detailed derivation of LMPs as actually used in industry practice is not readily available. This lack of transparency greatly hinders the efforts of researchers to evaluate the performance of these markets. In this paper, different AC and DC optimal power flow (OPF) models are presented to help understand the derivation of LMPs. As a byproduct of this analysis, we are able to provide a rigorous explanation of the basic LMP and LMP-decomposition formulas (neglecting real power losses) presented without derivation in the business practice manuals of the U.S. Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO).

  Qun Zhou, Leigh Tesfatsion, and Chen-Ching Liu, "Scenario Generation for Price Forecasting in Restructured Wholesale Power Markets" (pdf,176K), IEEE Proceedings, Power Systems & Exposition Conference, Seattle, WA, March 15-18, 2009.

  Abstract: In current restructured wholesale power markets, the short length of time series for prices makes it difficult to use empirical price data to test existing price forecasting tools and to develop new price forecasting tools. This study therefore proposes a two-stage approach for generating simulated price scenarios based on the available price data. The first stage consists of an Autoregressive Moving Average (ARMA) model for determining scenarios of cleared demands and scheduled generator outages (D&O), and a moment-matching method for reducing the number of D&O scenarios to a practical scale. In the second stage, polynomials are fitted between D&O and wholesale power prices in order to obtain price scenarios for a specified time frame. Time series data from the Midwest ISO (MISO) are used as a test system to validate the proposed approach. The simulation results indicate that the proposed approach is able to generate price scenarios for distinct seasons with empirically realistic characteristics.

  Hongyan Li and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Capacity Withholding in Restructured Wholesale Power Markets: An Agent-Based Test Bed Study" (pdf,2.3M), IEEE Proceedings, Power Systems & Exposition Conference, Seattle, WA, March 15-18, 2009.

  Abstract: This study uses a dynamic 5-bus test case implemented via the AMES Wholesale Power Market Test Bed to investigate strategic capacity withholding by generation companies (GenCos) in restructured wholesale power markets under systematically varied demand conditions. The strategic behaviors of the GenCos are simulated by means of a stochastic reinforcement learning algorithm motivated by human-subject laboratory experiments. The learning GenCos attempt to improve their earnings over time by strategic selection of their reported supply offers. This strategic selection can involve both physical capacity withholding (reporting of lower-than-true maximum operating capacity) and economic capacity withholding (reporting of higher-than-true marginal costs). We explore the ability of demand conditions to mitigate incentives for capacity withholding by letting demand bids vary from 100% fixed demand to 100% price-sensitive demand.

  Abhishek Somani and Leigh Tesfatsion, "An Agent-Based Test Bed Study of Wholesale Power Market Performance Measures" (pdf,2.8M), IEEE Computational Intelligence Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 4, November 2008, 56-72.

  Abstract: Wholesale power markets operating over transmission grids subject to congestion have distinctive features that complicate the detection of market power and operational inefficiency. This study uses a wholesale power market test bed with strategically learning traders to experimentally test the extent to which market performance measures commonly used for other industries are informative for the dynamic operation of restructured wholesale power markets. Examined measures include the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), the Lerner Index, the Residual Supply Index, the Relative Market Advantage Index, and the Operational Efficiency Index. It is also shown that the objective function commonly used to manage these markets deviates systematically from the standard economic measure of market efficiency when grid congestion is present.

  Hongyan Li, Junjie Sun, and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Dynamic LMP Response Under Alternative Price-Cap and Price-Sensitive Demand Scenarios" (pdf,465K), IEEE Proceedings, Power and Energy Society General Meeting, Pittsburgh, July 20-24, 2008.

  Abstract: This study investigates the complicated nonlinear effects of demand-bid price sensitivity and supply-offer price caps on Locational Marginal Prices (LMPs) for bulk electric power when profit-seeking generators can learn over time how to strategize their supply offers. Systematic computational experiments are conducted using AMES, an open-source agent-based test bed developed by the authors. AMES models a restructured wholesale power market operating through time over an AC transmission grid subject to line constraints, generation capacity constraints, and strategic trader behaviors.

  Nanpeng Yu, Chen-Ching Liu, and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Modeling of Suppliers’ Learning Behaviors in an Electricity Market Environment" (pdf,277K), International Journal of Engineering Intelligent Systems, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 115-121, 2007.

  Abstract: The Day-Ahead electricity market is modeled as a multi-agent system with interacting agents including supplier agents, Load Serving Entities and a Market Operator. Simulation of the market clearing results under the scenario in which agents have learning capabilities is compared with the scenario where agents report true marginal costs. It is shown that, with Q-Learning, electricity suppliers are making more profits compared to the scenario without learning due to strategic gaming. As a result, the LMP at each bus is substantially higher.

  Junjie Sun and Leigh Tesfatsion, "An Agent-Based Computational Laboratory for Wholesale Power Market Design" (pdf,724K), IEEE Proceedings, Power and Energy Society General Meeting, Tampa, Florida, June 2007.

  Abstract: This proceedings paper provides a brief summary of a forthcoming Computational Economics article (see below). It reports on the model development and open-source implementation (in Java) of an agent-based computational wholesale power market organized in accordance with core FERC-recommended design features and operating over a realistically rendered transmission grid subject to congestion effects.

  Junjie Sun and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Dynamic Testing of Wholesale Power Market Designs: An Open-Source Agent-Based Framework", Computational Economics, Volume 30, Number 3, 2007, pp. 291-327. This article is an abridged version of ISU Economics Working Paper No. 06025 (pdf,2.2MB), revised July 2007.

  Abstract: In April 2003 the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission proposed a complicated market design - the Wholesale Power Market Platform (WPMP) - for common adoption by all U.S. wholesale power markets. Versions of the WPMP have been implemented in New England, New York, the mid-Atlantic states, the Midwest, and the Southwest, and adopted for implementation in California. Strong opposition to the WPMP persists among some industry stakeholders, however, due largely to a perceived lack of adequate performance testing. This study reports on the model development and open-source implementation (in Java) of a computational wholesale power market organized in accordance with core WPMP features and operating over a realistically rendered transmission grid subject to congestion effects. The traders within this market model are strategic profit-seeking agents whose learning behaviors are based on data from human-subject experiments. Our key experimental focus is the complex interplay among structural conditions, market protocols, and learning behaviors in relation to short-term and longer-term market performance. Findings for a dynamic 5-node transmission grid test case are presented for concrete illustration.

  Junjie Sun and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Open-Source Software for Power Industry Research, Teaching, and Training: A DC-OPF Illustration" (pdf,115K), IEEE Proceedings, Power and Energy Society General Meeting, Tampa, Florida, June 2007.

  Abstract: This proceedings paper provides a brief summary of ISU Economics Working Paper No. 06014 (see below). It reports on the development and implementation of a stand-alone open-source Java solver for DC optimal power flow (DC-OPF) problems suitable for research, teaching, and training purposes. The DC-OPF solver is shown to match or exceed the accuracy of BPMPD (a proprietary third-party QP solver highly recommended by MatPower) when tested on a public repository of small to medium-sized QP problems. The capabilities of the DC-OPF solver are illustrated for a 5-node DC-OPF test case commonly used for training purposes.

  Junjie Sun and Leigh Tesfatsion, DC Optimal Power Flow Formulation and Testing Using QuadProgJ (pdf,526K), ISU Economics Working Paper No. 06014, Department of Economics, Iowa State University, revised July 2007.

  Abstract: Under a set of simplifying assumptions, a nonlinear AC Optimal Power Flow (OPF) problem can be approximated by a linearized DC OPF problem to solve for power quantities and locational marginal prices in restructured electric wholesale power markets. We first establish that a commonly used DC OPF approximation in per unit form can be represented as a strictly convex quadratic programming (SCQP) problem subject to mixed equality and inequality constraints, given a physically meaningful Lagrangian augmentation. We then show how this SCQP problem can be solved using QuadProgJ, a Java SCQP solver newly developed by the authors that implements the well-known dual active-set SCQP algorithm by Goldfarb and Idnani (1983). QuadProgJ appears to be the first open-source SCQP solver developed completely in Java. QuadProgJ is specifically designed for the fast and efficient desktop solution of SCQP problems for research and training purposes with a maximum count of about 1500 decision variables plus constraints. Several numerical examples are provided to illustrate the accuracy of QuadProgJ, including 3-node and 5-node DC OPF case studies taken from power systems texts and ISO-NE/PJM training manuals.

  Steven Widergren, Junjie Sun, and Leigh Tesfatsion, Market Design Test Environments (pdf preprint,136K), IEEE Proceedings, Power and Energy Society General Meeting, Montreal, June 2006.

  Abstract: Power industry restructuring continues to evolve at multiple levels of system operations. At the bulk electricity level, several organizations charged with regional system operation are implementing versions of a Wholesale Power Market Platform (WPMP) in response to U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission initiatives. Recently the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and several regional initiatives have been pressing the integration of demand response as a resource for system operations. These policy and regulatory pressures are driving the exploration of new market designs at the wholesale and retail levels. The complex interplay among structural conditions, market protocols, and learning behaviors in relation to short-term and longer-term market performance demand a flexible computational environment where designs can be tested and sensitivities to power system and market rule changes can be explored. This paper discusses the use of agent-based computational methods for the study of electricity markets at the wholesale and retail levels, and explores distinctions in problem formulation between these levels.

Open-Source Software Releases

AMES Wholesale Power Market Test Bed (Java): A Free Open-Source Computational Laboratory for the Agent-Based Modeling of Electricity Systems

The AMES Wholesale Power Market Test Bed (Java), developed by Hongyan Li (ISU), Junjie Sun (OCC, U.S. Treasury), and Leigh Tesfatsion (ISU), is an extensible and modular agent-based computational laboratory for the systematic experimental study of restructured wholesale power markets. AMES models strategic traders with learning capabilities interacting within an ISO-managed wholesale power market operating over an AC transmission grid subject to congestion effects. Congestion on the grid is managed by means of locational marginal prices derived from bid/offer-based optimal power flow solutions. AMES is a free open-source tool suitable for research, teaching, and training applications. 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.

DCOPFJ (Java): A Free Open-Source Solver for DC Optimal Power Flow Problems

The DCOPFJ Package (Java), developed by Junjie Sun (OCC, U.S. Treasury) and Leigh Tesfatsion (ISU), is a free open-source stand-alone solver for small to medium-sized DC optimal power flow problems having a strictly convex quadratic programming (SCQP) formulation. The DCOPFJ package incorporates an SCQP solver (QuadProgJ) wrapped in an outer SI-to-PU data processing shell. QuadProgJ implements the well-known dual active-set SCQP algorithm developed by Goldfarb and Idnani (1983). QuadProgJ has been shown to match or exceed the accuracy of the proprietary C-language QP solver BPMPD (highly recommended by MATPOWER) when tested on a public repository of small to medium-sized SCQP problems. The DCOPFJ package has been successfully run on DC-OPF test cases commonly used for training purposes.

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

• Leigh Tesfatsion, "Auction Basics for Wholesale Power Markets: Objectives and Pricing Rules", IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting, Calgary, CA, July 26-30, 2009.

• Hongyan Li and Leigh Tesfatsion, "The AMES Wholesale Power Market Test Bed: A Computational Laboratory for Research, Teaching, and Training", IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting, Calgary, CA, July 26-30, 2009.

• Hongyan Li and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Development of Open Source Software for Power Market Research: An Illustrative Case Study", IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting, Calgary, CA, July 26-30, 2009.

• Haifeng Liu, Leigh Tesfatsion, and A. A. Chowdhury, "Locational Marginal Pricing Basics for Restructured Wholesale Power Markets", IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting, Calgary, CA, July 26-30, 2009.

• Leigh Tesfatsion, "Stress Testing Institutional Arrangements via Agent-Based Modeling: Illustrative Results for U.S. Power Markets", ICES/Department of Economics, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, April 3, 2009.

• Qun Zhou, Leigh Tesfatsion, and Chen-Ching Liu, "Scenario Generation for Price Forecasting in Restructured Wholesale Power Markets", IEEE Power Systems Conference & Exposition, Seattle, WA, March 15-18, 2009.

• Hongyan Li and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Capacity Withholding in Restructured Wholesale Power Markets: An Agent-Based Test Bed Study", IEEE Power Systems Conference & Exposition, Seattle, WA, March 15-18, 2009.

• Hongyan Li, Junjie Sun, and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Dynamic LMP Response Under Alternative Price-Cap and Price-Sensitive Demand Scenarios", Institute for Operations Research and Management Science (INFORMS), Washington DC, October 12-15, 2008.

• Hongyan Li, Junjie Sun, and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Dynamic LMP Response Under Alternative Price-Cap and Price-Sensitive Demand Scenarios", IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting, David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, PA, July 21-24, 2008.

• Nanpeng Yu and Chen-Ching Liu, "Multi-Agent Systems and Electricity Markets: State-of-the-Art", IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, July 20-24, 2008.

• Hongyan Li, Junjie Sun, and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Dynamic Price Response Under Alternative Price-Cap and Price-Sensitive Demand Scenarios", Summer Meeting of the North American Econometric Society, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, June 19-22, 2008.

• Hongyan Li, Junjie Sun, and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Dynamic LMP Response Under Alternative Price-Cap and Price-Sensitive Demand Scenarios", International Industrial Organization Conference, Washington, D.C., May 16-18, 2008.

• Leigh Tesfatsion, "Agent-Based Test Beds for Critical Infrastructure Research, Teaching, and Training", Department of Energy - National Renewable Energy Laboratory (DOE-NREL), Washington, D.C., February 22, 2008.

• Lynne Kiesling and Leigh Tesfatsion, "A Test Bed for the Integrated Experimental Study of Retail and Wholesale Power Market Designs: Seaming GridLab-D with AMES", Tele-Seminar and Webcast, sponsored by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), February 15, 2008.

• Leigh Tesfatsion, "Agent-Based Test Beds for Power Industry Research, Teaching, and Training", Tele-Seminar and Webcast, sponsored by the Power Systems Energy Research Center (PSERC), Cornell University, February 5, 2008.

• Leigh Tesfatsion, "Agent-Based Test Beds for Critical Infrastructure Research, Teaching, and Training", Plenary Address, AGENT 2007, Northwestern University, November 17, 2007.

• Nanpeng Yu, "Modeling of Suppliers' Learning Behaviors in an Electricity Market Environment", 14th International Conference on Intelligent Systems Applications to Power Systems (ISAP 2007), Kaohsiung, Taiwan, November 5, 2007.

• Junjie Sun and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Open-Source Software for Power Industry Research, Teaching, and Training: A DC-OPF Illustration", IEEE Power Engineering Society General Meeting, Tampa, Florida, June 25-28, 2007.

• Hongyan Li, "Graphic User Interface (GUI) for the AMES Software Package: Test-Bed for the Study of Restructured Power Markets", Poster Session, IEEE Power Engineering Systems General Meeting, Tampa, Florida, June 25-28, 2007.

• Hongyan Li, Junjie Sun, and Leigh Tesfatsion, "An Agent-Based Computational Laboratory for Wholesale Power Market Design", IEEE Power Engineering Society General Meeting, Tampa, Florida, June 25-28, 2007.

• Junjie Sun and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Dynamic Testing of Wholesale Power Market Designs: An Agent-Based Computational Approach", North American Meetings of the Econometric Society, Duke University, Durham, NC, June 21-24, 2007.

• Junjie Sun and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Dynamic Testing of Wholesale Power Market Designs: An Agent-Based Computational Approach", 13th International Conference on Computing in Economics and Finance, Society for Computational Economics, Montreal, Canada, June 14-16, 2007.

• Hongyan Li, "MISO Market Performance: An Open-Source Computational Test-Bed", Forty-Fourth Annual Meeting of the Electric Power Research Center, Power Affiliate Research Program, Schemann Building, Iowa State University, May 9, 2007.

• Junjie Sun and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Dynamic Testing of Wholesale Power Market Designs: An Agent-Based Computational Approach", 5th Annual International Industrial Organization Conference (IIOC), Savannah, Georgia, April 14-15, 2007.

• Leigh Tesfatsion, "Agent-Based Computational Economics: A Constructive Approach to Economic Theory" Allied Social Science Associations (ASSA) Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, January 5-7, 2007.

• Leigh Tesfatsion and Junjie Sun, "Agent-Based Test Beds for Market Design", Allied Social Science Association (ASSA) Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, January 5-7, 2007.

• Junjie Sun and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Dynamic Testing of Wholesale Power Market Designs: An Agent-Based Computational Approach", INFORMS annual meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, November 5-8, 2006.

• Junjie Sun, "Dynamic Testing of Wholesale Power Market Designs: An Open-Source Agent-Based Framework", presented (poster session) at the Institute of Computational Economics (ICE) Summer School, University of Chicago and Argonne National Lab, July 17-22, 2006.
  Note: This presentation was selected by the ICE'06 Directors as one of three equally-ranked "winners" among all poster presentations.

  Leigh Tesfatsion, "Dynamic Testing of Wholesale Power Market Designs: An Open-Source Agent-Based Framework" presented at the VII Trento Summer School: Intensive Course on Agent-Based Computational Economics, Sardagna-Trento, Italy, July 17, 2006.

  Leigh Tesfatsion, "Agent-Based Computational Economics: A Constructive Approach to Economic Theory" (pdf,532K), Plenary Address, Computing in Economics and Finance (CEF'2006), sponsored by the Society for Computational Economics, Limassol, Cyprus, June 23, 2006.

  Abstract: This talk provides a brief overview the Agent-based Computational Economics (ACE) methodology. Concepts are concretely illustrated using recent work on the development of an ACE framework for exploring the performance of market designs for restructured wholesale power markets.

  Steven Widergren, Junjie Sun, and Leigh Tesfatsion, "Market Design Test Environments", presented (by Steven Widergren) at the IEEE Power Engineering Society General Meeting, Montreal, Canada, June 2006.

  Leigh Tesfatsion, "NSF Project & EPRC MISO Project: Brief Overview of Work to Date", Presented to a joint meeting of members from the Iowa Utilities Board and the ISU NSF/EPRC MISO projects, Heady 568B, 12-2:00pm, ISU, April 21, 2006.

  Leigh Tesfatsion, "Dynamic Testing of Wholesale Power Market Designs: An Agent-Based Computational Approach", International Industrial Organization Conference (IIOC), Northeastern University, Boston, MA, April 8, 2006.

Background Readings

• Evolution of MISO (pdf,328K), by John Catlin, Director of Client Relations, Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc., MAPP Fall Conference, August 28, 2002.

• MISO Market Upate: June 2006 (pdf,856K), Presentation by Sherman Elliott, Manager, State Regulatory Affairs, MISO, IUB/OMS Meeting, Des Moines, IA, June 2, 2006.

• FERC, "Final Report to Congress on Competition in the Wholesale and Retail Markets for Electric Energy (pdf,1.5M), 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 the 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 book) 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,209K), 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.

  Junjie Sun and Wenzhuo Shang, "Evaluating the Performance of Financial Transmission Rights Auctions: Evidence from the U.S. Midwest Energy Region" ( available here), Dissertation Chapter, November 2006.

  Abstract: This paper applies empirical methods to analyze performance of financial transmission rights (FTRs) auction markets in the Midwest energy region (MISO). The data we used are monthly FTR auction clearing prices and associated congestion revenues for the period April 2005 - March 2006. Based on the preliminary statistical analysis, we summarize and present the stylized facts about the MISO FTR auction market. Moreover, we fit the data with linear regressions and nonparametric kernel regressions, and carry out a bootstrap-based goodness-of-fit test on the linear versus kernel fits. The revenue sufficiency results suggest that the MISO FTR market is systematically losing money, which suggests that the market participants exhibit some degree of risk affection. More data are needed in order to obtain meaningful economic analysis such as estimating the impact of an agent's risk preference on his willingness to pay for the premium of FTR in this complex market. It would be especially helpful to acquire the actual bidding and asking prices of market participants in the MISO FTR auctions over time.

Key Online MISO Data Resources

• MISO Market Reports Site

• MISO Day-Ahead Reports

  • For a detailed explanation of the data provided in the following day-ahead reports, see the Day-Ahead Report Readers Guide.

  • MISO Day-Ahead Market Cleared Bids
    Data Description: Cleared bids data is posted in daily files. There are four types of cleared bids, represented by D, I, P or F. D stands for decrease, which are virtual bids. I stands for increase, which are treated as negative virtual bids. F stands for fixed, which are physical fixed price bids. P stands for price sensitive, which are physical bids with price curves.

    MISO Day-Ahead Market Cleared Offers

    Data Description: These files provide cleared hourly day-ahead offer data for the Midwest ISO energy market.

    MISO Expanded Day-Ahead Reports

    Data Description: These expanded day-ahead reports give daily cleared demand (in GW, classified as physical-fixed, physical-price sensitive, virtual), cleared supply (in GW, classified as physical, virtual), and offered generation resources (in GW, divided into self-scheduled, must run, economic, emergency).

    MISO Historical Day-Ahead Market LMPs

    Data Description: These daily files provide Day-Ahead Market LMPs for each hour of the day. Two components of LMP -- the Marginal Congestion Component (MCC) and the Marginal Loss Component (MLC) -- are also reported.

• MISO Day-Ahead Pricing Reports

  • For a detailed explanation of the data provided in the MISO Day-Ahead Pricing Reports, see the Day-Ahead Pricing Report Readers Guide.

  • MISO Day-Ahead Market Pricing Reports
    Data Description: These day-ahead pricing reports provide hourly-level summaries of the pricing results of the day-ahead market for the Midwest ISO system and associated hubs. The highest, lowest, and average LMP for the Midwest ISO system are all displayed.

• MISO Real-Time Reports

  • For a detailed explanation of the data provided in the following reports, see the Expanded Real-Time Report Readers Guide.

  • MISO Expanded Real-Time Market Reports
    Data Description: These daily files compare economic maximum, load, net scheduled imports, outages, and offers of total economic maximum based on the Forward Reliability Assessment Commitment for the MISO Real-time Market.

    MISO Real-Time Market Cleared Offers

    Data Description: These files provide cleared 5-minute real-time offer data for the Midwest ISO energy market.

    MISO Historical Real-Time Market LMPs

    Data Description: These daily files provide Real-Time Market LMPs for each hour of the day. Two components of LMP -- the Marginal Congestion Component (MCC) and the Marginal Loss Component (MLC) -- are also reported.

• MISO Real-Time Pricing Reports

  • For a detailed explanation of the data provided in the following real-time pricing reports, see the Real-Time Pricing Report Readers Guide.

  • MISO Real-Time Market Pricing Reports
    Data Description: These real-time pricing reports provide hourly-level summaries of pricing results for the real-time market for the Midwest ISO system and its associated hubs.

• MISO Maintains a MISO Dynamic LMP Contour Map for real-time LMPs, updated every five minutes, accompanied by real-time and day-ahead LMP information in tabular form. The LMPs (real-time and day-ahead) are decomposed into loss (MLC), congestion (MCC), and energy (LMP - MLC - MCC) components. Congested areas of the MISO footprint are indicated by use of a differently colored "heat map." Note: Viewing the contour map at this site requires the free installation of Adobe's SVG Viewer; a link to this viewer is provided at the above site.

• For comparison purposes with the MISO (see site above), see the 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.

• For comparison purposes with the MISO (see site above), see the 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.

Other MISO Online Resource Materials

• MISO Home Page

• MISO Market Organization, developed by Jason Crowley and John Lambert. This website focuses on the clarification of company membership, participation, and location aspects important for understanding MISO's market operations and organizational structure.

• MISO Tutorials

• MISO maintains a continually updated site devoted to MISO Training Course Materials covering a wide range of topics related to MISO market operations.

• MISO Market Concepts Study Guide

• MISO Business Practices Manuals

• Business Practices Manual For the MISO Energy Market (html access to zip file), Midwest Market Initiative, Manual No. 002, continually updated.

• MISO Report 2006: Summary (pdf,1M), prepared by Qun Zhou, 10 October 2007.

Other Project-Related Websites and Readings

• NSF Energy Project Site

• General Resources on Electricity Restructuring

• Agent-Based Computational Electricity Research

• Final 2004 Electric Supply Integrated Resource Planning Study, Report SL-008272, Prepared by the Sargent & Lundy Consulting Group for the City of Ames, August 2004 (621.46 CIT 11/04)

• EIA Annual Energy Review (html).
  Abstract The EIA Annual Energy Review is the Energy Information Administration's primary report of historical annual energy statistics. For many series, data begins with the year 1949. Included are data on total energy production, consumption, and trade, as well as overviews of petroleum, natural gas, coal, electricity, nuclear energy, renewable energy, international energy, financial and environmental indicators, and data unit conversion tables.

Project-Related Computational Frameworks

• GE MAPS, a licensed energy model of the General Electric Company, is a detailed model that chronologically calculates hour-by-hour production costs while recognizing the constraints on the dispatch of generation imposed by the transmission system. GE MAPS uses a detailed electrical model of the entire transmission network, along with generation shift factors determined from a solved AC load flow, to calculate real power flows.

• The Integrated Planning Model (IPM), a proprietary energy model developed by ICF Consulting, is a dynamic linear programming model with a detailed representation of all electric generating facilities. The model is used to determine the least cost means of meeting electric generation of energy and of capacity requirements while complying with specified air pollutant regulations, fuel limitations, and operating constraints. It is designed for the simultaneous evaluation of transmission and power market decisions while also considering both long-term and short-term horizons.

• 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.

Miscellaneous

• Steven Jones, "Power Switch: Software Looks to be Better Test of Wholesale Power Markets", Around LAS, Iowa State University, October 15, 2007.
  Note: Media report on the development of the AMES Market Test Bed by research team Hongyan Li, Junjie Sun, and Leigh Tesfatsion.