Western state regulators tackle day-ahead markets with game simulations and e-learning

Frank Wolak, Mark Thurber, and Trevor Davis ran a two-day workshop for over 30 Western US electricity regulators in Portland, Oregon in August. 

Participants came to the workshop armed with knowledge from PESD's first e-learning course, on Fixed and Variable Costs, then they competed against each other as generators in market simulations that illustrated key principles of electricity markets with high wind and solar shares. 

The finale was a series of games illustrating how day-ahead markets can facilitate renewable energy integration. (Participants from the states of Washington and California somehow got their hands on highly accurate renewable energy forecasts that let them more accurately -- and profitably -- schedule their generation in the day-ahead market!)