Aggregating Data

Aggregation involves summing real or assigned (profiled or deemed) interval data to a user-defined aggregation level for further processing. Aggregation may occur at a variety of levels for a variety of reasons, including reporting requirements and applying losses and other factors at an aggregated level up to the market participation level. Aggregation is typically used to build ground-up estimates of load for energy market participants for forecasting, scheduling, and settlement.

Aggregation is performed using the Dynamic Aggregation feature of the Oracle Utilities Meter Solution.

Aggregation Levels

Because aggregation involves summing up interval data to a specified level for processing, it’s important to understand what is meant by the term “aggregation level” Put simply, an aggregation level is any point along the distribution chain to which entities below that point are summed. For instance, if you were going to sum up all the accounts that are related to a specific bus, that bus would be an aggregation level. Similarly, if you were going to aggregate all the energy used by all the accounts for a given Energy Service Provider (ESP), that ESP would be an aggregation level. In general, aggregation is usually performed at a level below you on the distribution chain from generators to end users.

The entities and/or market participants that serve as aggregation levels are specific to the particular area and market in which your utility is operating, but can include the following:

Energy Service Providers (ESP)

Energy Service Providers (ESPs) sell power to customers. They may generate it and/or buy it from other sources. ESPs are also referred to as Retail Energy Providers (REPs) or simply suppliers.

Distribution Companies (DisCo)

A distribution company is responsible for the delivery of power to all customers in its service territory (Jurisdiction), regardless of who the customers have selected as their suppliers. The DisCo owns and operates the distribution lines that bring electricity into homes and businesses, and is responsible for metering, billing, and service calls. However, a DisCo may or may not be affiliated with a customer’s power supplier. Distribution companies are also referred to as Operating Companies, Utility Distribution Companies (UDCs), or Local Distribution Companies (LDCs).

Schedule/Service Coordinators (SC)

Schedule Coordinators (or Service Coordinators) are responsible for creating schedules of energy usage that represent the estimated usage for a future time period (most often one day) for a given segment of the market. Schedules are most often based on results generated during the load profiling process, but can also be based on historical usage information and other data.

Independent System Operators (ISO)

An Independent System Operator (ISO) is a non-profit corporation that manages the regional power grid to coordinate the generation and transmission of energy. Its goal is to guarantee a safe and reliable power supply, and to ensure that all suppliers get nondiscriminatory access to the transmission system (while the ISO controls the power grid, commercial entities still own it). In the U.S.market, ISOs are regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

The various aggregation levels used in settlement processing are defined by Aggregation Groups, Measuring Component Sets, and Aggregation Measuring Components.

Aggregation Dimensions

In addition to aggregating data by aggregation levels, it is useful to be able to aggregate by other factors, such as customer class, voltage class, or loss class. These and other factors are referred as dimensions and are referenced on measuring component sets. Some common aggregation dimensions are described below. Note that these are provided as examples of common aggregation dimensions only.

Specific markets may require aggregation dimensions other than those listed here.

Customer Class

A customer class represents a ‘type’ of customer or account. Three common customer classes include residential, commercial, and industrial, but others are also prevalent. In addition, there may be multiple types of residential, commercial, or industrial classes, representing distinct types of accounts within each of those broad categories. For instance, residential customers might be divided into apartments, condominiums, and houses.

Voltage Class

A voltage class represents a group of customers or accounts based on the type of voltage used by the end users in that group. Voltage classes differ by market and region, but some common voltage classes include Transmission, Primary, and Secondary. Aggregating by voltage class is often performed for reporting purposes, to track usage of a given voltage type within the system.

Loss Class

A loss class represents a group of customers or accounts based on the type of loss (transmission loss, distribution loss, etc.) associated with those accounts. Loss is often related to voltage levels, and so correlations between loss classes and voltage classes are common. Aggregation by loss class is used when calculating losses in the overall settlement process, and allows different loss calculation algorithms to be used with different loss classes, as appropriate.

Rate Class

A rate class represents a group of customers or accounts based on pricing. Rate classes can be based on a number of characteristics, including usage, territory, or even voltage type.

These and other dimensions are typically defined as attributes or characteristics of usage subscriptions, service points, devices, or measuring components.