Rational Buyer and Genetic Algorithms for the Management of Ancillary Service Markets

The rational buyer method is a computation method adopted by the California independent system operator to minimize the total procurement cost of the reserve power purchased by means of auctions. The method here proposed applies a genetic algorithm to the traditional rational buyer method and allows the independent system operator to minimize the total procurement cost and also to reduce the computation time. The new method turns out to be very useful, especially when auctions follow one another at a fast pace with a high number of bidders