EPNES: Robustness, Efficiency, and Security of Electric Power Grid in a Market Environment

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In conjunction with Southern California Edison and Northeast Utilities, the goal of the research is to develop theory, models, and methods for reliable, affordable, and secure power. Two tasks will be performed:Robustness of Complex Systems. Like many critical infrastructures, a power grid can experience cascading collapse where a seemingly small event cascades into a massive inability of the system to carry out its function. Our first task is to develop simulation-based methods for reducing vulnerability to collapse.Economic and Gaming Considerations. Two fundamental market issues are considered. The first is the auctions used by Independent System Operators. We believe that current auctions are improperly designed resulting in higher than necessary costs to customers. A correct formulation and a novel methodology are proposed. The second issue is from the perspective of power providers, and focuses on methods that optimize day-ahead decisions while considering real-time markets and managing risks. Our results will be validated against benchmark problems, the New England and California Power Markets. The intellectual merit lies in our recognition of the complexity, and tries to address the problems from a different perspective. The key idea for the first task is to use a model that not necessarily providing the exact performance value, but providing the correct performance order. This is based on the well-known fact that order is much easier to determine that value, and consequently a model only needs to capture the essential features that dominate the collapse behavior. Similarly, the second task would require solving mixed-integer problems with a non-separable structure. Rather than insisting on optimal solutions, our key idea is to obtain near-optimal solutions with quantifiable quality in a computationally efficient manner based on a novel "surrogate optimization framework." The electric power infrastructure typifies the characteristics shared by virtually all critical networked infrastructures (transportation, finance, banking, emergency services, government, communications, media, manufacturing, social, etc.), therefore the proposed research will have broader impacts on other infrastructures. In addition, through courses, seminars, conferences, and summer programs for high school students and teachers, we shall reach out to students and professionals at various levels.