Course description
Deregulation of the electricity marketplace continues to be a controversial topic. During this period of historic and rapid change, there is much to learn. Let this programme be your first step. This one-day event is a combination of presentation and trading simulations.
Includes Online Pre-study Module
This course is accompanied by a preparatory course available online. Delegates will receive a web voucher as part of their joining instructions upon confirmation of registration. By taking advantage of this "blended" learning approach, in-class time and learning are optimized.
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Suitability
Those just starting up or supporting a power trading desk will benefit immensely. We will cover what is of interest to electric utilities, power marketers, IPPs, financial institutions, brokers, and end-users. No previous trading experience is required!
Content
Definitions
- What is electricity?
- Definition
- How power differs from other commodities
- Measurements
- Load
- Definition
- Load shape & load profile
- Load factor
- Grid
- Regulation / Deregulation
- How and why the industry was regulated
- Why and how deregulation developed
- State of deregulation today
Marketplace
- Electricity as a commodity
- How it is delivered
- Implications of the lack of storage
- Qualities: firm, interruptible, peak, off peak
- Trading time blocks
- Next hour
- Next day
- Weekly block
- Balance of the month
- Monthly block
- Seasonal block
- Calendar block
- Unbundling Power
- Heat rate
- Implied heat rate
- Short term price drivers: weather, outages
Marketplace
- Participants
- Suppliers
- Investor owned Utilities
- Publicly owned Utilities and Nonprofits
- Power Marketers
- Independent Power Producers
- Retail Providers
- Schedulers
- Suppliers
- Consumers
- Large end users
- Small end users
- Consumption statistics
- Sales
- Prices / costs
Generation
- Basic concepts and terms
- Thermal efficiency
- Resources
- Review of the cost stack
- Overview of generation resources (water, wind, solar, and various fossil fuels)
- Overview of various generation technologies (including technology and cost to operate and build):
- Hydro
- Nuclear
- Coal
- Natural Gas
- Combined cycle
- Simple cycle
- Renewables
- Wind
- Solar
Transmission
- Components of the transmission system
- Control areas
- Control area operators
- Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs)
- Ancillary Services
- Smart Grid
Market Structure
- NERC regions
- Bilateral vs. pool
- Power pools – Independent System Operators (ISOs)
- ISO unit commitment
- Locational Marginal Pricing (LMP)
- Valuing congestion
- Congestion insurance (e.g., FTRs, CRRs)
Review of Regional Markets
- Characteristics
- Market structure
- Transmission characteristics
- Generation characteristics
- Evolving resource mixes
- Seasonal patterns
- ISO-NE
- NYISO
- PJM
- ERCOT
- CAISO
- SERC
Market Pricing and Risk Management
- Indexes
- Hedging
- Power Swaps
- Spark Spreads
Team-based Trading Simulations
- Next-hour spot market trading
- ISO bidding simulation
Some topics covered in this workshop are specific to either the American or Canadian market and will be adjusted as necessary.