Energy Market Monitor

A technical conference convened by the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to review market monitoring policies, reported that although energy market monitors take different forms and perform differing functions, there is general agreement on the following energy market monitor functions:

·   Identifying ineffective market rules and tariff provisions and recommending proposed rule and tariff changes,

·   Reviewing and reporting on the performance of the wholesale markets, and

·   Identifying and notifying FERC staff of instances in which a market participant's behavior may require investigation.

Argonne National Laboratory designed the EMCAS software to meet the growing need for advanced modeling approaches that simulate how electricity markets evolve over time and how participants in these markets react to the changing physical, economic, financial, and regulatory environments in which they operate.

The short-term (hourly chronological) simulation mode of EMCAS is ideally suited for energy market monitoring and mitigation. The software is used to analyze which market participants are able to exert market power, under what conditions they can exert market power, and using what type of bidding strategies; as well as, for testing the effectiveness of alternative mitigation measures.

The long-term expansion mode of EMCAS is designed for generation investment planning within a market environment. The user can choose to execute an agent-based approach with individual company agents using profit maximization as their objective, or a dynamic programming approach based on system wide cost-minimization.