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Energy Planning & Analytics Software: Strategist

Integrated Resource Planning and Optimization

Strategist has been the industry standard for integrated resource planning for more than 25 years

Strategist users, include municipalities, electric cooperatives, state commissions, consulting firms, and investor-owned utilities. Strategist is composed of multiple application modules incorporating all aspects of utility planning and operations. This includes forecasted load modeling, marketing and conservation programs, production cost calculations including the dispatch of energy resources, optimization of future decisions, non-production-related cost recovery (e.g. construction expenditures, AFUDC, and property taxes), full pro-forma financial statements, and rate design.

PROVIEW Module

The PROVIEW module utilizes a proprietary dynamic programming algorithm to optimally select and rank alternative resource plans based on 10 different objective functions (including minimizing utility cost and maximizing earnings per share). Resource alternatives are evaluated while also considering purchases from and sales to a spot energy market. PROVIEW can evaluate all types of supply and demand-side alternatives:

• Supply Side Alternatives – hydro, storage, and thermal units; multiple types of power purchase and sales contracts; and transmission interface enhancements. In addition, refurbishment, repowerment, mothballing, and/or retirement of both existing and newly added resources can be modeled. Distributed generation and renewal resources (wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, etc.) can also be represented.
• Demand-Side Resources – energy efficiency, load control, and demand-response resources can be represented. Examples include traditional demand-side resources, such as direct load control and efficient appliance rebates, as well as time-of-use rates and real-time pricing programs.

Differential Cost Effectiveness (DCE) Module

This Module calculates the benefit-cost (B/C) ratios for each supply and demand alternative against a base resource plan. The use of a base resource plan allows the DCE Module to identify the yearly marginal capacity and energy savings for each alternative. PROVIEW and the DCE Module use the same database to define the operational characteristics and costs of supply and demand alternatives, so that cost-effective options can be directly incorporated into a full optimization analysis in PROVIEW.

Load Forecast Adjustment (LFA) Module

Our Load Forecast Adjustment Module is a multi-purpose tool for modeling and modifying load forecasts and modeling Demand Side Management (DSM) programs. The LFA Module is used in conjunction with the Differential Cost Effectiveness (DCE) Module, PROVIEW, and other Strategist modules to evaluate DSM programs. Using the LFA, a strategic planner may address key issues related to future electricity demand and impacts attributed to each customer group. Results from this analysis are automatically transferred to other Strategist modules to determine production costs, system reliability, cost-eff ectiveness of DSM initiatives, financing, and revenue requirements, and a variety of other indicators affected by loads.

Capital Expenditure and Recovery (CER) Module

The Ventyx CER Module provides detailed capital project modeling that is critical to accurately evaluating the economics of resource alternatives that require capital outlay. The CER can be used to model the entire capital budget of a utility company, or just the incremental capital projects associated with resource alternatives under evaluation using PROVIEW. Results from the CER Module are automatically transferred to PROVIEW, and to the Financial Reporting and Analysis (FIR) Module.

Financial Reporting and Analysis (FIR) Module

The Financial Reporting and Analysis Module provides a method of evaluating financial and rate impacts of alternative construction programs, fuel cost scenarios, regulatory actions, and financial strategies. The FIR Module provides a sound structure for performing extensive analyses of the affects on a utility's financial condition of future inflation rates, interest rates, regulatory policies, and financial market conditions. The Class Revenue Module is a component of the FIR Module and provides for jurisdictional and customer class cost-of-service and rate projections consistent with the financial projection. The FIR Module is capable of efficiently producing planning studies in a short period of time, as well as providing the necessary detail to reflect the long-range financial structure of the company accurately.

Class Revenue Module (CRM)

Our CRM Module provides the capability to analyze long-range rate strategy and the implications of utility plans on customer classes. The CRM picks up where the jurisdictional logic in the FIR ends. All rate base and expense items that have been classified and allocated to the jurisdictions are subsequently allocated to the rate classes. Revenue requirements are then calculated to meet the target return-on-rate base. One or more rate classes may have user-input rates, allowing the rates for other rate classes to "float" in order to achieve a target return at the jurisdictional level. Additionally, the user has extensive flexibility in determining the actual structure of rates for each class, with varying proportions of expenses being recovered through the demand, energy, and customer charge portions of the total rate.