
[Federal Register: May 14, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 93)]
[Notices]
[Page 27341-27343]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14my10-80]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[ Docket No. AD10-12-000]


Increasing Market and Planning Efficiency Through Improved
Software; Notice of Technical Conference To Discuss Increasing Market
and Planning Efficiency Through Improved Software

May 7, 2010.
    Take notice that Commission staff will convene technical
conferences on the following dates to discuss increasing market and
planning efficiency through improved software.

[[Page 27342]]

    The development of improved optimization solution algorithms and
hardware processing speed will allow more realistic power system market
models to be solved in a sufficiently short amount of time for such
models to be adopted into market operation software. Smarter software
is a valuable tool for improving the efficiency of electricity market
operations and system planning, and can be beneficial for increased
penetration of locationally-constrained variable resources (for
example, wind and solar), demand resources, flexible assets, and
storage technologies.
    Staff will hold conferences in June 2010 to discuss increasing
market and planning efficiency through improved software and hardware.
The conferences will bring together diverse experts from ISOs/RTOs, the
software industry, government, research centers and academia for the
purposes of stimulating discussion and sharing of information about the
technical aspects of these issues and identifying fruitful avenues for
research.
    The three conferences are organized as described below.

Enhanced Day-Ahead ISO and RTO Unit-Commitment Market Models

    Dates: June 2-3, 2010.
    Speaker Nomination Deadline: May 14, 2010.
    This conference will focus on improving the performance of the day-
ahead market and the integration of variable resources, demand
resources (DR, DG, and storage) and other technologies by developing
unit-commitment models that can accommodate more complex physical and
market constraints. Improvements in formulations and solution
techniques for unit-commitment will be presented and discussed. Better
modeling will be discussed for both new and existing assets.
Technology-specific modeling issues and bidding parameters will be
discussed for a wide range of resources including wind, solar, demand
resources (DR, DG, and storage), electric vehicles, dispatchable
transmission, and combined cycle generating stations. Additional topics
discussed at this conference will include co-optimization (with respect
to energy, reserves, ramp rates, and network topology), flexible
dispatch, settlement calculations, transmission switching, and
development of a unit-commitment test bed to benchmark the speed and
efficiency of solution techniques.

Enhanced Wide-Area Planning Models

    Dates: June 9-10, 2010.
    Speaker Nomination Deadline: May 17, 2010.
    This conference will focus on enabling a more efficient planning
and cost allocation process through the employment of better large-
scale transmission expansion and economic planning models. Integration
of more components of the planning process into a single modeling
framework should lead to an overall improvement in planning efficiency.
Better models are required to efficiently plan transmission investments
in an environment of competitive markets with locationally-constrained
variable resources. Discussions at the conference will include issues
surrounding the integration and modeling of variable energy resources
and demand resources (DR, DG, and storage) in planning software.
Additional issues to be discussed include planning under uncertainty,
optimal selection of transmission investments among alternatives,
modeling generation expansions in transmission planning models, market-
based investment models, and development of a planning model test bed
to benchmark models and techniques. Algorithmic approaches in economic
planning will also be presented and discussed.

Enhanced Real-Time Optimal Power Flow Market Models

    Dates: June 23-24, 2010.
    Speaker Nomination Deadline: May 24, 2010.
    This conference will focus on improving dispatch of generation
assets, integration of variable energy resources and demand resources
(DR, DG, and storage) and utilization of flexible transmission assets
through the development of a large-scale AC optimal power flow (AC OPF)
model with sufficient usability and speed to facilitate better unit-
commitment and real-time dispatch, including the optimal dispatch and
pricing of reactive power from generators, transmission assets and
load. Development of an AC power system test bed to benchmark the speed
of solution techniques will be discussed.
    The technical conferences will be held in the Commission Meeting
Room at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street,
NE., Washington, DC 20426. All interested persons are invited to
participate in the conference, on a space-available basis. However, the
presentations and discussions at these particular conferences are
intended to focus on the computational and modeling aspects of these
issues. We expect that participants with technical understanding of
operations research, power system engineering, mathematical modeling,
and/or computer science will probably benefit most from attendance.
    Participants wishing to present a paper or to speak must nominate
themselves by emailing Eric Krall and Tom Dautel (see contact
information below) the proposed speaker's name, organization, e-mail,
phone number, and address, along with a title and description of the
proposed presentation. Speaker nominations must be submitted by the
respective deadline listed above for each conference. Due to time
constraints, we may not be able to accommodate all those interested in
speaking.
    Further notices with a detailed agenda for each conference will be
issued shortly after each speaker nomination deadline. Following the
conferences, a comment date will be set for the filing of post-
conference comments.
    There is an ``eSubscription'' link on the Web site that enables
subscribers to receive e-mail notification when a document is added to
a subscribed docket(s). For assistance with any FERC Online service,
please e-mail FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, or call 866 208-3676 (toll
free). For TTY, call 202 502-8659.
    A free webcast of this event will be available through the FERC Web
site. Webcast viewers will not be able to participate during the
technical conference. Anyone with Internet access interested in viewing
the webcast of this conference can do so by navigating to Calendar of
Events at http://www.ferc.gov. The events will contain a link to the
webcast. The Capitol Connection provides technical support for the
webcasts and offers the option of listening to the conferences via
phone-bridge for a fee. If you have any questions, visit http://
www.CapitolConnection.org or call (703) 993-3100.
    FERC conferences are accessible under section 508 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973. For accessibility accommodations please
send an e-mail to accessibility@ferc.gov or call toll free (866) 208-
3372 (voice) or (202) 502-8659 (TTY), or send a fax to (202) 208-2106
with the required accommodations.
    For further information about these conferences, please contact:

Eric Krall (Technical Information), Office of Energy Policy and
Innovation, (202) 502-6214, Eric.Krall@ferc.gov.
Tom Dautel (Technical Information), Office of Energy Policy and

[[Page 27343]]

Innovation, (202) 502-6196, Thomas.Dautel@ferc.gov.

Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2010-11538 Filed 5-13-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P

