PrintWelcome to EBF 483: Introduction to Electricity Markets
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Registered students - if this is your first visit to this course website, please take some time to become familiar with the assignments and course environment by going to the course Orientation.
This website provides the primary instructional materials for the course. The Resources menu links to important supporting materials, while the Lessons menu links to the course lessons. Canvas, Penn State's course management system, is used to support the delivery of this course, as well, as it provides the primary communications, calendaring, and submission tools for the course.
Students who register for this Penn State course gain access to assignments and instructor feedback, and earn academic credit. Learn more about our Renewable Energy and Sustainability Systems degree program and how to register.Quick Facts about EBF 483
- Instructor - Zhongyang He, Instructor, Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University.
- Overview - This course is designed to teach students about the structure of the electricity industry, the regulatory institutions that oversee the industry, and the new market institutions that have been put into place since electricity restructuring. Much of the focus will be on the U.S. electricity industry. Since Pennsylvania has been a national leader in electricity restructuring, we will place particular emphasis on events in the Mid-Atlantic region, but will also discuss other market structures in the U.S. and in other countries. Specific topics covered will include cost models for power generation, transmission and distribution; rate of return regulation for electric utilities; the process of electricity restructuring and creation of electricity markets; Locational Marginal Pricing of electric energy; financial risk management in electric power; and detecting and mitigating market power.
- Learning Environment - This website provides the primary instructional materials for the course. The Resources menu at left links to important supporting materials, while the Lessons menu links to the course lessons. Canvas, Penn State's course management system, is used to support the delivery of this course as well, as it provides the primary communications, calendaring, and submission tools for the course.
- Topics of Study - The content of this course is divided into 12 lessons. Each lesson will be completed in approximately 1 week.
- Lesson 1: Introduction to the Electric Power Grid
- Lesson 2: Basics of Electric Power Flow
- Lesson 3: Economics of Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution
- Lesson 4: Economic Dispatch of Power Plants
- Lesson 5: Regulation of Electric Utilities
- Lesson 6: Problems with Utility Regulation and Electricity Restructuring
- Lesson 7: California's Electricity Crisis
- Lesson 8: Day-ahead and Real-time Energy Markets
- Lesson 9: Capacity and Ancillary Services Markets
- Lesson 10: Financial Transmission Rights and Hedging
- Lesson 11: Market Power
- Lesson 12: Integrating Wind and Solar Power
- Lesson 12: Texas Power Crisis and Power Grid Reliability