The role of Common Information Model (CIM) in the Electric Utility industry, especially in Smart Grid, is now becoming critical. In a recent letter to FERC, NIST has identified CIM as one of the "five foundational families of standards" that are "fundamental to Smart Grid interoperability". CIM applications range from CIM-based model exchange to CIMbased information management, in the areas of EMS, DMS, MMS and Substation Automation. This paper provides technical guidance and recommendations for designing and developing architecturally-sound CIM applications, based on authors' experience in large energy market design projects. It consists of a collection of patterns. Each pattern addresses a specific design problem in CIM application development, discusses considerations surrounding the problem, and presents a solution that balances various drivers or forces. The objective is to provide the user with a proven starting point from which robust and extensible CIM applications can be developed.
In June 2012, ERCOT has launched a study tool to provide customers look-ahead real-time wholesale market prices for the next hour. Even though these forward-looking prices are indicative and non-binding, large electricity consumers can use this information to make operational decisions based on anticipated electricity price changes. These prices are calculated by a Look-Ahead Security Constrained Economic Dispatch (LA-SCED) optimization taking into account short-term load forecast, short-term wind power forecast, generator ramping capabilities and future commitment status changes. This paper shares some interesting results of this look-ahead study. The study shows that because of forecast errors and unforeseen events, look-ahead optimization could sometime create misleading price signals to consumers. With more than 10,000 MW wind generation capacity installed in ERCOT, this study result could suggest potential challenges that other ISOs/RTOs may face in the near future.
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