Decision support tools for market participants

The deregulation of electric power industry, among other things, has created new requirements for participants in various electric energy markets and regions. In addition to the traditional power system monitoring, control, dispatch, analysis, optimization, and planning tools, the market participant requires tools to manage physical and financial assets, manage risk, participate in various markets, and decision support tools to provide the edge in a very competitive environment. The power system engineer, operator, and, in general, the market participant is being faced with requirements for which he does not have adequate training and proper background. In this paper, an attempt is made to provide an outline of the new requirements and to provide a footprint of some of the tools that are required to participate in the deregulated electric energy markets.