The PowrCast Open Platform Energy Planning System

 The obstacles to an open planning system are the availability of power system and energy data that is in the public domain and the availability of a quality system planning model that is not restricted by expensive and exclusive license agreements. PowrCast navigates these obstacles by adapting the published EPA energy data base to the well known PowrSym energy planning model and offering studies as a service utilizing “cloud computing” computation and data storage systems. PowrCast enables collaborative studies by diverse parties using a common platform to compare alternatives with objective functions of cost, emissions, and reliability using public domain data and a state of the art power system model.

 The PowrCast data base is derived from EPA’s Power Sector Modeling Platform v.5.13 which is described in detail at: http://www.epa.gov/powersectormodeling/BaseCasev513.html#documentation

 PowrCast has adapted the EPA data for each of the 64 EPA defined regions as shown below to the PowrSym system planning model. PowrCast has the ability to divide and/or aggregate the regions so as to model individual states or regional groupings. More details and a sample study are available upon request.