Decision support tools for trading in deregulated energy systems

Summary form only given. In a competitive environment, trading of electric energy is conducted through bilateral and spot markets. Players representing the supply side and demand side compete based on the market rules. The scope of traditional energy management systems do not incorporate trading functions in today's market environment. To meet the needs, the University of Washington has worked on a number of important decision support tools related to trading decision making in the market environment. Some decision making applications are: optimization techniques to determine the contract amount and price; risk assessment in the presence of uncertainties; pricing of flexible contracts; volatility of prices; and analysis of strategic behaviors in the transmission grids. This panel discussion provides an overview of the highlights. However, more emphasis is placed on the first two topics.