Putting a building on the grid

Give us an address, and we look up three different kinds of information about the grid underneath it.

The output

What we work out about a site

Value streams — what a DER can earn
  • Energy arbitrageStore power when it is cheap, give it back when it is expensive.
  • Congestion reliefEase a pinch point on the network, in the hours it is actually pinched.
  • Marginal lossDeliver power near where it is used, so less of it is lost on the way.
  • Avoided emissionsThe CO2e never emitted, because something dirtier stayed off.
  • CapacityPaid to be there at the peak, so the grid can build less firm generation.
  • Ancillary servicesPaid to help hold the grid steady second to second.
  • T&D deferralPut off a wire, transformer or substation upgrade the utility would pay for.
  • Tariff savingsMoney off the customer's own bill, under their own rate plan.
Scores — what the site is like
  • Load scoreHow hard the local load peaks, and how much building stock sits nearby.
  • Congestion scoreHow much the local price swings when the network is constrained.
  • DER needWhich kind of flexibility the area is short of.
The idea

Three kinds of information

Point

Nodal pricing

What is power worth right here, hour by hour?

Region

Regional value

What does this region pay for grid services?

Area

Local load

What do the loads around here look like?

Three separate look-ups. Any one can come back empty while the other two answer.

One of three · a point

Nodal pricing

An addressthenThe nearest priced pointFound by following the power lines.gives usHour-by-hour pricesEnergy, congestion and losses.What it gives us
  • Energy arbitrage
  • Congestion relief
  • Marginal loss
  • Avoided emissions
One worked example
AMES DISTRIBUTION — no pricesWHISMAN_1_N001 — pricedthe addressBold: the two spans the search walked, 2,192 mDashed: 1,454 m direct, which is not what it is priced on500 m
  • North Shoreline, California — the nearest node is AMES DISTRIBUTION, 215 m away, and it holds no prices
  • So the search walks the conductors: two spans, 156 m then 2,037 m, both at 115 kV
  • It ends at WHISMAN_1_N001, 2,192 m by cable — the straight line is 1,454 m
  • That node sits in the 91st percentile for congestion

The nearest priced point is the nearest one by cable, not the closest one on a map.

Two of three · a region

Regional value

An addressthenThe region it sits insideThe utility or market area around it.gives usThe published priceWhat that region pays for each service.What it gives us
  • Capacity
  • Ancillary services
  • T&D deferral
  • Tariff savings
One worked example
bay_areathe addressOuter bands: the ISO system, then the CAISO tariff zoneInnermost outline: bay_area, 7,945 km² — the grain capacity is priced at
  • Mountain View, California — five territories cover it, and they overlap
  • Capacity alone is carried by four of them, at four different grains
  • The finest of those is local_area, so that is the one it is priced at

These prices cover a whole area, so what matters is which area you are in.

Three of three · an area

Local load

An addressthenThe nearest substationAnd the buildings around it.gives usWhat the area needsHow the local load peaks.What it gives us
  • How much the area peaks
  • How much building stock is nearby
  • Which kind of DER would help
One worked example
WHISMAN, 115 kVthe addressThe dashed ring is the 12 km the building count is taken from5 km
  • Mountain View, California — the nearest substation is WHISMAN, 1,282 m away
  • 135,279 buildings sit within 12 km of it
  • Its load scores 82.6, the 73rd percentile
  • So the DER that suits it is non-HVAC flexibility, chosen from congestion

This one always answers. Every address has a nearest substation.

Examples

Three addresses

The same three look-ups, at three addresses. What comes back differs by market, not by effort.

All three answer
  • Mountain View, California — CAISO, priced at a node 1,282 m away, 91st percentile for congestion
  • WHISMAN substation, 115 kV · 135,279 buildings within 12 km
Priced, but for a whole zone
  • Discovery Green, Texas — ERCOT, priced at the HB_HOUSTON trading hub, not at a node
  • 54th percentile for congestion · POLK substation, 138 kV, 217 m away
No market, and still an answer
  • Atlanta, Georgia — inside Southern Company, so there is no market price to read
  • The load look-up still answers: 164,402 buildings, 40th percentile, load shifting the DER that suits it
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