Turbulent North American Power Market Boosts Value of DAYZER Platform

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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--As the North American Electric Power Industry gears up for what is expected to be a hotter-than-normal summer in certain regions, participants can more effectively navigate changes in those markets by using DAYZER, a market simulation software platform that supports better-quality, more efficient and more profitable decision-making by power traders, asset owners and providers of capital to the industry.

DAYZER, developed by Cambridge Energy Solutions (CES-US) (Cambridge, Massachusetts), has been in the market for over two decades. The platform is informed with power plant outage data supplied by IIR Energy. The platform is used by hundreds of traders and other participants in the North American power market.

The platform, combining CES' analytics expertise and IIR Energy's outage data, has helped market participants more profitably analyze North American electricity markets on a locational basis, forecast and value transmission congestion and better understand the fundamental drivers of short- and long-term power prices.

For example, a trader of financial transmission rights (FTRs) in the Northeastern U.S., said, "DAYZER allowed us to get ahead of the market, accurately bid into the auctions and realize over $5 million of profit."

Said another DAYZER user: "I have used several production cost models in the last decade and I can say DAYZER offers the best prototype environment to simulate the ISO energy market operations."

Last November, CES-US merged with PowerGEM, LLC (Clifton Park, New Jersey), a leading provider of power grid and energy market simulation software and services. The transaction will provide clients with leading-edge power grid and energy market simulation software and services. Following that transaction, Assef Zobian, who had led CES-US, became PowerGEM chief development officer as well as general manager of CES-US.

Zobian commented, "Having a robust software platform that incorporates market-moving information, such as weather forecast, fuel prices, operating reserves requirements, transmission and power plant outage information, gives users unparalleled insights into congestion pricing, generation price curves and FTRs."

He continued: "Power traders (both financial and physical), analysts, providers of capital, power plant developers and owners, load-serving entities and other market participants need cutting edge situational intelligence tools such as DAYZER to get ahead and stay ahead of competitors as markets evolve."

"Data informs the platform, and IIR Energy's data is without peer," he added.

Over 100 companies and more than five hundred users are leveraging DAYZER to operate more nimbly in various wholesale markets in the fast-changing North American power market, Zobian said, adding that the platform "allows users to more effectively model transmission congestion, leading to better decision-making, greater efficiencies and higher profits."

Data on power plant outages is especially critical today given declining reserve margins in several wholesale markets, remarked Zobian. The platform has evolved with wholesale markets, undergoing over 150 distinct builds since being introduced in 2003.

Zobian pointed to battery energy storage systems (BESS) as a particular competitive edge offered by DAYZER. "This is the platform that best captures and models storage market dynamics. Trying to participate in an organized power market without understanding the state of BESS projects in that market is like crossing the street after looking only one way--you could get run over."

Batteries are helping California manage the effects of the "duck curve," where the abundance of solar generation in the fall and spring months often cause low or negative power prices during the middle of the day, when the sun is shining and demand is low. Batteries can help by absorbing the excess power during the day and then discharging in the late afternoon and early evening hours, as demand surges and solar generation goes to zero.

"Across North America, the drivers of change are everywhere," commented Paul Copello, president of IIR Energy, which has provided its data on asset outages to DAYZER for over a decade. For example:

• The largest proposed data centers with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities require hundreds of megawatts of firm, uninterrupted power.
• Corporate commitments to clean energy are boosting demand for non-emitting generation capacity.
• BESS projects are growing larger and more numerous.
• Dispatchable generation, fueled by natural gas or coal, continues to be retired, though some announced retirement dates have been pushed back to help meet surging electric demand growth.
• Developers have announced plans to significantly add to the nation's electric transmission infrastructure.

For more information on DAYZER, or to schedule a free online demonstration, send an email to customer_support@ces-us.com or contact CES directly at 617-429-1596.

About Cambridge Energy Solutions
Cambridge Energy Solutions (CES-US) is a software company with a mission to develop software tools for participants in deregulated electric power markets. CES-US provides information and tools to assist market participants in analyzing the electricity markets on a locational basis, forecast and value transmission congestion, and to understand the fundamental drivers of short- and long-term prices.

About IIR Energy
A unit of Industrial Info Resources, IIR Energy provides real-time, supply-side global market intelligence for the commodity-trading community, including physical and financial traders, investors, analysts and asset owners. Energy asset infrastructure and production intelligence is now more important than ever for predictive modeling. Having a resource you can rely on for quality market intelligence through primary research is key to profitable trading. IIR Energy is the source for traders when it comes to real-time knowledge of offline events for power generation stations, oil and gas pipelines, terminals and production facilities, as well as petrochemical and petroleum refineries.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).