Power generation companies operating in the US markets are increasingly burdened with complex technology infrastructures that have developed organically over time. Power markets are constantly evolving due to automation (including smart grid technology), increasing regulation, standardization, and commercial innovation. With this evolution, new technical capabilities have been continuously added to address emergent needs in the various markets and ISOs.
"Smart grid" generally refers to a class of technology people are using
to bring utility electricity delivery systems into the 21st century,
using computer-based remote control and automation.
— from the US Department of Energy website
Adding to the complexity for numerous companies, the market has also undergone several waves of mergers and acquisitions over the last decade, with companies trying to find market advantage by combining assets or divesting of those that are non-strategic to their businesses. (Learn more about changes in the US energy markets in The Need for ETRM Software in US Energy Markets.) In the process, duplicative trading and marketing systems have been acquired, and in many cases, have been maintained in parallel to each other. These systems are loosely interfaced, strained under the burden of too much data, and provide too little information.
For companies that have expanded organically into new markets or developed new systems instead of replacing existing systems, sidecar applications may have been added; in the process, their technical infrastructures have become a patchwork of technologies, platforms, and data stores. Adding to the mosaic of systems and data within these shops is the constant growth in external data – the price feeds, online exchanges, and market data information.
These organic technical beasts are increasingly a liability as the "ecosystem" of energy commodity trading, marketing, and retail services continues to grow more complex. With increasing grid automation, power trading companies are seeing increased data volume and velocity emanating from real-time hourly or sub-hourly markets and exchanges, smart grid devices, telemetry from generation and transmission assets, to name a few sources.
Adding to the flood of data are the trading tools themselves: position management data from real-time, day ahead, and transmission positions. With this patchwork of systems, dealing with the flood of data becomes increasingly difficult.
In addition, new trading regulations, such as Dodd-Frank in the US, require that all data relating to a trade, including the circumstances and not just the trade itself, is captured and is retrievable within days of a data request by regulators.
Having the ability to programmatically collect, store, and analyze this vast amount of data is key to successfully finding opportunity in an increasingly difficult market and in meeting regulatory requirements. By adopting a next-generation, multi-commodity, integrated energy trading and risk management (ETRM) software solution, traders will be positioned to quickly identify trends, define actionable strategies, and reduce risks of all types; all the while providing a platform for data archival and retrieval that will meet regulators' requirements.
It's time to get out of the spreadsheets and siloed systems. To remain competitive, power companies should invest in a next-gen ETRM software solution. A single, multi-commodity, integrated ETRM software solution that supports advanced analytics enables commodity companies to better consolidate internal data from multiple systems, identify market trends and opportunities, meet regulatory mandates, and better control the business. If multiple siloed systems are deployed to handle different commodities or different markets, moving that complex infrastructure to a single platform will help to streamline operations and, in the process, reduce the costs of managing a complex integration infrastructure.
With a modern ETRM software solution, such as Eka's InSight CM platform, all your trading and marketing activities can be addressed from a single platform and the solution can act as a data hub – capturing physical and financial transactions, scheduling data, hourly and sub-hourly market data, price information, credit, and much more.