Transactive Energy:

A Surreal Vision or a Necessary and Feasible

Solution to Grid Problems?

California Public Utilities Commission

Policy & Planning Division

Nilgun Atamturk
Principal Author
POLICY AND PLANNING
DIVISION

Marzia Zafar
Director
POLICY AND PLANNING
DIVISION

October 2014

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 Contents
I. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 3

II. Transactive Energy ................................................................................................................................ 4

A. What is Transactive Energy? ............................................................................................................. 4

B. How Does Transactive Energy Work? ............................................................................................... 7

C. What Differentiates Transactive Energy from Smart Grid? .............................................................. 9

D. Why Do We Need Transactive Energy? ..........................................................................................10

III. Concerns with Transactive Energy .................................................................................................. 11

A. Technology...................................................................................................................................... 11

B. Scale ................................................................................................................................................13

C. A New Distribution System ............................................................................................................ 14

D. Consumer Behavior.........................................................................................................................16

IV. Regulator’s Role ..............................................................................................................................18

A. What Should the Regulators Be Thinking About?........................................................................... 18

V. Conclusion........................................................................................................................................... 20

VI. APPENDIX ........................................................................................................................................ 22

A. Players in the Field ..........................................................................................................................22

B. Pilot Projects in US and Europe ...................................................................................................... 23

DISCLAIMER
This White Paper was prepared by California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) staff. It does not necessarily represent the
views of the CPUC, its Commissioners, or the State of California. The CPUC, the State of California, its employees,
contractors, and subcontractors make no warrant, express or implied, and assume no legal liability for the information in this
White Paper. This White Paper has not been approved or disapproved by the CPUC, nor has the CPUC passed upon the
accuracy or adequacy of the information in this White Paper.
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 I. Introduction
Transactive energy (TE) is a relatively new concept, on its way to becoming ubiquitous in industry blogs,
and is associated with notions such as the “internet of things,” “eBay of electricity,” and “democratization
of electricity.” Some define it as “an internet-enabled free market, where customer devices and grid
systems can barter over the proper way to solve their mutual problems, and settle on the proper price for
their services, in close to real time.” 1 It is described as a cool and trendy approach and some pundits
perceive it as a concept that “may help all of us avoid a very dark future.” 2 Some call it a revolution and
others call it an evolution. It is also advertised as a sustainable business and regulatory model for
electricity. Some experts perceive it as just a Smart Grid (SG) application while others argue that the grid
is not smart unless it is transactive.3

What is TE then? Is it a new hype in the electricity world, or is it a potential solution for the problems the
power grid is facing today? In this paper we will provide a brief introduction to the concept and present
some of the angles that policymakers should be thinking about while learning and considering this new
concept. Our goal is neither to advocate nor dismiss transactive energy as a potential solution to grid
issues, but rather to inform in non-technical terms and point out some questions from a regulator’s point
of view.

In the next section we will explain what transactive energy is; how it works; whether, and if so, how it is
different from smart grid, and why some experts think we need TE. In Section 3, we will give an
overview of some of the key components, such as technology, scalability, and consumer behavior. We
will discuss the regulator’s role with respect to this new paradigm in Section 4 and will close with
concluding remarks in Section 5. A list of the major players and the pilot projects conducted in the TE
world can be found in Appendices A and B.

1
St. John, J., 2013. “A How-to-Guide for Transactive Energy,” GreenTech Media.
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/a-how-to-guide-for-transactive-energy
Accessed on September 3, 2014.
2
ibid.
3
Kiesling, L., 2009. Smart Policies for a Smart Grid: Enabling a Consumer-Oriented Transactive Network,
Presentation.
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/hepg/Papers/2009/Lynne_Kiesling_March09.pdf

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II. Transactive Energy
A. What is Transactive Energy?
The GridWise Architecture Council’s Framework defines TE as follows:

“A set of economic and control mechanisms that allows the dynamic balance of supply and
demand across the entire electrical infrastructure using value as a key operational parameter.”4

Another source, 5th edition of the Smart Grid Dictionary, provides the following definition:

”A software-defined grid managed via market-based incentives to ensure grid reliability and
resiliency. This is done with software applications that use economic signals and operational
information to coordinate and manage devices’ production and/or consumption of electricity in
the grid. Transactive energy describes the convergence of technologies, policies, and financial
drivers in an active prosumer [Rickerson et. al. (2014) define prosumers as consumers who also
produce their own power from a range of different onsite generators (e.g. diesel generators,
combined heat-and-power systems, wind turbines, and solar photovoltaic (PV) systems ]5 market-
where prosumers are buildings, EVs, microgrids, VPPs or other assets.”6

Accordingly, TE is a vision of an intelligent device-enabled-grid where each device can utilize economic
signals in order to optimize allocation of resources subject to the constraints of the grid. It can be applied
within a localized area, e.g., microgrid, or be utilized to manage the whole power system. One example of
an application of a transactive energy technique is the double auction market used to control responsive
demand side assets in the GridWise Olympic Peninsula Project. Another example would be

4
GridWise Architecture Council, GridWise TE Framework (Draft), October 2013. Expanded and revised version
planned for release in October 2014.
http://www.gridwiseac.org/pdfs/te_framework_report_pnnl-22946.pdf
Accessed September 18, 2014.
5
To read more about the prosumers, please see, for example, Rickerson, Wilson, Toby Couture, Galen L. Barbose,
David Jacobs, Giles Parkinson, Emily Chessin, Andy Belden, Holly Wilson, and Henry Barrett. Residential
Prosumers: Drivers and Policy Options (Re-Prosumers). International Energy Agency (IEA)- Renewable Energy
Technology Deployment, 2014.
http://iea-retd.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/RE-PROSUMERS_IEA-RETD_2014.pdf
Accessed September 24, 2014.
6
Hertzog, C., 2013. Transactive Energy, Smart Grid Library.
http://www.smartgridlibrary.com/2013/09/16/transactive-energy-american-perspectives-on-grid-transformations/
Accessed on September 8, 2014.
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implementation of “prices-to-devices,” where appliances respond to a real-time price signals.7A visual
description of the contemplated TE system is as follows:

Source: Melton, R. PNNL, 2004. Transactive Energy, Presentation, slide 2.

http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2014/06/f17/EACJune2014-Melton-TransactiveEnergy.pdf

As illustrated in the picture above, customers of all sizes get connected and can buy and/or sell, if they
choose to do so, in a network environment, rather than on a hierarchical grid. Free communication of
information between parties allows them to enter into exchanges. “In a transactive energy network, price
signals embedded throughout the energy system enable a kind of electronic commerce for energy. The
universal language of price bridges all kinds of devices and institutional boundaries, making possible
distributed decision-making that optimizes use of resources.”8

Taking it one step further, some TE visionaries simplify the picture even further by operationalizing it
through the use of a market exchange platform, where all parties are networked through it. This
operationalization reflects four ideas of the TE world:

1. There are two products: energy and transport services;

7
The GridWise Architecture Council, 2012, Transactive Energy Workshop Proceedings, p.6, PNNL-SA-90082.
8
Mazzi, P., The Smart Energy Network, Climate Solutions.
http://climatesolutions.org/sites/default/files/uploads/smart-energy-network.pdf
Accessed on September 8, 2014.
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 2. Forward transactions are used to manage risk and coordinate investment decisions;
3. Spot transactions are used to coordinate operating decisions; and,
4. All parties act autonomously.9

The TE framework, which is the main guiding document for TE, also identifies the following attributes of
TE10:

Architecture All transactive energy tools and methodologies are described as constituents or
subsystems of system architecture.

Extent An implementation of transactive energy technology will typically apply within

some geographic, organizational, political, or other measure of extent.

Transacting TE involves transacting parties, mostly automated systems.

Parties

Temporal Transactive elements interact across multiple time scales, ranging from sub-second
Variability to five minutes or to some longer periodicity.

Interoperability Transactions are enabled through the exchange of information between transacting
parties. There are two elements to consider here: technical interoperability and
cognitive (semantic) interoperability. The systems must be able to connect and
exchange information (emphasizing format and syntax), and they have to
understand the exchanges in the context that was intended in order to support
workflows and constraints.

Value Discovery A value discovery mechanism is a means of establishing the economic or

Mechanism engineering value (such as profit or performance) that is associated with a
transaction.

Assignment of For sub-elements of a transactive energy mechanism, a means may be needed for
Value assigning value to those objectives that cannot be addressed through a discovery
mechanism or for values that do not have a common dimension that can be used for
valuation.

Alignment of The continuous alignment of multiple objectives to achieve optimum results as the
Objectives system operates.

Assuring Stability The stability of grid control and economic mechanisms is required and must be
assured. Considerations of control system stability must be included in the
formulation of transactive energy techniques and should be demonstrable.

Transaction The transaction is the central mechanism by which transactive energy systems
achieve their objectives; by linking multiple individual operations into a single,
indivisible transaction, which optimizes the objectives and ensures that all

9
Barrager, S. E. Cazalet, 2014. Transactive Energy: A Sustainable Business and Regulatory Model for Electricity,
Baker Street Publishing, E-book.
10
GWAC – GridWise Architecture Council. 2013, October. GridWise Transactive Energy Framework. Draft
version. p.10-11.
http://www.gridwiseac.org/pdfs/te_framework_report_pnnl-22946.pdf.
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 operations in the transaction are completed without error.

As obvious from the abstract nature of the definition and attributes of TE presented in the TE Framework,
the TE framework is not suggested as an architecture or the standards for TE, but rather “a frame of
reference that allows for a set of supporting tools that can be used for promoting discussion, comparing
different approaches, identifying research and development needs.” 11

TE framework and definitions used emphasize value and value creation. Therefore, it is a legitimate
question to ask what “value” means in the TE context. Basically “it equates to a price -- whether it’s the
market price of generating, transporting and consuming power across the system, or the price of
maintaining, protecting and optimizing the power lines and transformers, demand response and energy
storage assets, and other equipment that aids in that task.”12 It could also mean a market player’s or non-
player’s willingness to pay for comfort and convenience.

B. How Does Transactive Energy Work?

It is often argued that the TE model is not new and has been successfully implemented in other areas such
as wholesale electricity markets and events, e.g., baseball, ticket purchases.13 The main idea of a TE
construct is to integrate retail and wholesale markets and market signals into a single platform by utilizing
forward and spot transactions, thereby guiding investment and operating decisions.

In a TE construct, there will be three groups of players: Energy services (customers, producers,
prosumers, storage, owners), transport services (transmission and distribution owners), and intermediaries
(exchanges, market makers,14 system operators), as opposed to the traditional categorization of customer
types: residential, commercial, and industrial. In this TE vision, all parties will have sophisticated energy
management systems and/or third party assistance that will help them optimize their energy use and
production based on value and grid constraints. If they do not want to participate in market exchanges,
they can acquire fixed-price subscriptions on a forward-looking basis. As in any market, transactions will

11
Melton, R. PNNL. 2013. Transactive Energy Framework, Presentation.
http://www.narucmeetings.org/Presentations/Ron%20Melton%20DG.pdf
12
St. John, J., 2013. “A How-to-Guide for Transactive Energy,” GreenTech Media.
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/a-how-to-guide-for-transactive-energy
Accessed on September 3, 2014.
13
Barrager, S. E. Cazalet, 2014. Transactive Energy: A Sustainable Business and Regulatory Model for Electricity,
Baker Street Publishing, E-book.
14
Market makers provides liquidity by posting small forward buy-and-sell tenders with a small price spread (ibid.,
p. 57)
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not be risk-free. Those players who would like to transact need to make sure that they have enough
energy to supply in order to fulfill their contracts, i.e., they may need to purchase financial instruments to
decrease their risk exposure, for example.

Sounds simple or utterly complex? An illustrative example would be helpful to understand how a TE
network would actually operate. The basic process appears to be straightforward: Producers signal to the
consumers that they have energy to sell by offering sell tenders and consumers decide whether to
purchase a portion of it at the suggested price, wait for another offer, or not use energy. “For example, a
sell tender might be ‘I offer to sell 10 MW of electricity at my plant in Modesto, California between 9 and
10 a.m. on Monday, January 2016. My sell price is $75 per MWH.’….If a consumer agrees to buy 2
MWh of the 10 MWh tender, then there is a transaction recorded between the buyer and the seller.” 15

Source: Barrager, S. E. Cazalet, 2014. Transactive Energy: A Sustainable Business and Regulatory Model
for Electricity, p. 15.

15
Barrager, S. E. Cazalet, 2014. Transactive Energy: A Sustainable Business and Regulatory Model for Electricity,
Baker Street Publishing, E-book, p.14-15.

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 C. What Differentiates Transactive Energy from Smart Grid?
It is pretty straightforward to see the differences between a traditional grid and a smart grid. For example,
a brief comparison between existing grid and smart grid can be made as follows16:

Existing Grid Smart Grid

Electromechanical Digital

One-way communication Two-way communication

Centralized generation Distributed generation

Few sensors Sensors throughout

Manual monitoring Self-monitoring

Manual restoration Self-healing

Failures and blackouts Adaptive and islanding

Limited control Pervasive control

Few customer choices Many customer choices

What differentiates TE from Smart Grid (SG) then? That is not so obvious and it depends on how big
one’s TE vision is. Even though some define SG as transactive in itself, there are additional
characteristics that make SG transactive:

1. Allowing for the faster transmission of information, including prices, across the grid, through
communication component of the smart grid;
2. Empowering consumers by enabling consumers’ active participation;
3. Accommodating all new generation devices needed for a functional decentralized supply model;
and,
4. Accommodating two-way power flows.

More importantly, it is the use of forward and spot transactions at the retail level and the vision that
residential customers will have energy management systems and/or third party assistance and will utilize
them to create value to the fullest extent is what seems to differentiate TE from SG.

16
Fang, X., S. Misra, G. Xue, D. Yang, 2012. Smart Grid - The New and Improved Power Grid: A Survey, IEEE
Communications Surveys & Tutorials, Vol. 14, No. 4.

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 D. Why Do We Need Transactive Energy?

There is an ongoing discussion across the country on the changes occurring in the power system today.17
TE advocates typically cite the changing nature of the power grid, increasing penetration of distributed
resources, variability of power generation, and penetration of intelligent devices as factors that create new
challenges and opportunities for the existing grid. As a customer-oriented solution, TE is perceived as a
tool that responds to the need to manage such a complex system.

It is indisputable that the nature of the power grid is ever-changing. Even though we are not facing
imminent blackouts due to the factors contributing to this change, the expected increasing complexity of
the grid, furtherance of environmental goals which implies deeper penetration of renewable resources,
EVs, etc., is motivating stakeholders to be more proactive and to create solutions to potential problems.
For example, due to variability and unpredictability of some renewable resources, greater flexibility and
more reliable customer resources are being sought. Due to the nature and the amount of new demands on
the grid, it is argued that it is almost impossible for utilities and independent system operators (ISOs) to
manage the increasingly complex system as it is operated and constructed today, as these new systems are
mostly controlled by consumers and can be challenging to monitor and manage in real time. It is
expected that “with the right design in place, distributed systems, organized in a hierarchy of control
layers but all sharing commonly understood sets of data, could create what the framework describes as ‘a
loosely coupled set of controls with just enough information exchange to allow for stability and global
optimization through local action.’”18 That is with the right design of engineering and economics, a
transactive energy network aims to create a perfect market where fully informed actors will make fully
rational decisions, benefitting themselves as well as the grid. The figure below illustrates how TE can
accommodate more flexibility and reliability by allowing exchanges up to the real time, as opposed to
traditional demand response resources.19

17
For example, see “Grid 2020 – Towards a Policy of Renewable and Distributed Energy Resources” , Resnick
Institute, California Institute of Technology”, 2012 and Jeffrey Taft and Paul De Martini, 2012, Ultra-Large Scale
Power System Control Architecture A Strategic Framework for Integrating Advanced Grid Functionality.
18
St. John, J., 2013. “A How-to-Guide for Transactive Energy”
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/a-how-to-guide-for-transactive-energy
Accessed on September 3, 2014.
19
Melton, R. PNNL, 2013. Transactive Energy Framework, presentation, slide 6.
http://www.narucmeetings.org/Presentations/Ron%20Melton%20DG.pdf
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The expectations are high for the new TE grid. Some of the benefits contemplated include: making
optimal use of distributed energy resources (DER), thereby meeting both business and operational
objectives, improving the reliability and efficiency of the electric system, reducing requirements for
spinning reserves to balance renewable intermittency, empowering consumers, creating jobs, promoting
innovation, and, perhaps more importantly, creating a fair and transparent environment while allowing all
parties to transact in the same platform. In return, competition, transparency and standardization of
transactions will increase efficiency of the market as well as the power distribution network.

III. Concerns with Transactive Energy

The TE vision is complex. It is multifaceted and requires many components to come together and work
seamlessly. Below, we will briefly discuss the role of the technology, scalability, grid management, and
consumer behavior in the TE vision and list some of the issues that stakeholders should be considering.

A. Technology
Appliances are ubiquitous in our homes. The idea of having our appliances coordinate and respond to grid
demands is fascinating for consumers, utilities, and grid operators. It is estimated that 500 million major
appliances and pieces of equipment are tied to the Western U.S. grid. Household refrigerators, freezers,
water heaters and air conditioners draw 25% of U.S. power demand during summer daytime peaks, while
5% drives HVAC units. Whirlpool Advanced Electronic Applications Director Marco Monacchi
calculates that the average home can move 850 watts out of peak demand, through management of
appliances.20

What can smart appliances accomplish for the power grid and consumers? Smart refrigerators can make
sure their daily defrost cycle, around 7% of their energy use, does not occur during peaks. Smart clothes
dryers and dishwashers can delay their start time, which translates into shaved peak demands and
potential savings under time-of-use rates, if implemented. Consumers also care about the convenience and
ease of use of their appliances. It is reported that the nation's largest pilot for time-of-use pricing, operated
by Puget Sound Energy, was recently cancelled because many customers ended up paying more than
under the standard rates and left. The failure of this pilot program actually makes a case for the grid-
friendly technologies PNNL is developing, says Rob Pratt, a PNNL official. The Puget pilot relied on
customers keeping in mind which hours to turn on and off appliances, Pratt notes. "But unless there is a

20
Mazzi, P. The Smart Energy Network, Climate Solutions.

http://climatesolutions.org/sites/default/files/uploads/smart-energy-network.pdf
Accessed on September 8, 2014.
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technical way to lock in people's good intentions, you will lose their time and attention. Behavior change
is short term."21 Researchers are working to make it happen and focusing on appliance behavior. For
example, Sastry, Cox, and Considine (2012) model behavior of an energy consuming device, which takes
price information and then makes choices about time of dispatch.22

TE vision contemplates that communication devices be installed in all major energy-consuming

appliances. However, without having a responsive grid and demand for such features, it is possible that
appliance makers are reluctant to install such devices by default: without the devices, it does not seem
realistic to expect a full-fledged implementation.

Even though smart appliances options seem to be limited for now, they are expected to grow after 2015. 23
Besides, we can already program dishwashers, dryers, clothes washers, for delayed starts. However, in a
TE world, having programmable appliances is not sufficient; coordination needs to be provided by an
energy management system and/or provider. The energy manager will optimize the household energy use
and communicate with the grid to enter into transactions to maximize the household’s value, cost, or
comfort, within the constraints set by the customer or in response to the grid. Nevertheless, TE visionaries
argue that “the technology to make the TE model work is available today.”24

Issues to consider:

 What is the current state of automation regarding appliances and energy management devices?
Are such products ready for mass production, error-proof, and affordable?

 Do we need to have a significant portion of the population to have smart appliances and energy
management systems to start considering TE constructs? If we do, how will customers derive
value from this architecture and is it genuinely realistic to expect significant number of
consumers to be engaged, willing to invest in new technology at this point or near future?

 Where and how do third parties capable of managing customers’ usage and preferences fit in as
technology service providers?

21
Ibid.
22
Sastry, C. R., W. Cox, T. Considine, 2012. Benchmarks and Models- Price-Responsive Devices with Forward
Prices, Grid-Interop Forum.
23
Navigant, http://www.navigantresearch.com/research/smart-appliances
24
Barrager, S. E. Cazalet, 2014. Transactive Energy: A Sustainable Business and Regulatory Model for Electricity,
Baker Street Publishing, E-book, p.18.

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TE visionaries might say that since the TE world will include fixed price subscription tariffs as well as
variable prices, it is up to the consumer to select the level of automations s/he desires. However, the
desire and the ability to afford are different considerations and it might not be fair to ask consumers to
pay more than their fair share for new constructs when they are not able to participate in them.

B. Scale
One justification for TE is that the complex grid system we have today will be even more complex in the
future. Grid optimization will be difficult as there are more and more price nodes to take into account by
the ISOs. A distributed system platform and optimization at the distribution level in the TE world is
expected to make the grid optimization easier to solve. TE is expected to scale well from a residential
owner to microgrid owner, as “it can coordinate decisions across the full spectrum of size and technology.
It works equally well for central power-plant planning and for smart home appliance operation. It
supports competitive pricing and cost-of-service pricing.”25

It is clear that technology is advancing rapidly and is coming down in cost to the end-use customer,
however, before jumping in any new construct with feet, regulators and utilities should continue to
monitor, pilot, and evaluate performance of these technologies in order to better understand their potential
impacts on customers’ bills and utility operations. After all, the often cited GridWise Olympic Peninsula
Project included mere 112 households. California has 12.5 million households; understanding how these
technologies scale up is very important.26

“Networks of smart devices take complexity to ‘a scale where we cannot manage things centrally,’ notes
Ron Ambrosio of IBM Research. Smart software agents within each device must be able to assess
conditions of their operating environment and respond independently. Those assessments and responses
produce an environment with far more complex interactions than today’s power grid. On the traditional
grid, energy flows outward to customers, while information concentrates in command centers and money
flows from customers to billing departments. In the smart energy network, software agents conduct
transactions on their owners' behalf, and information, energy and money stream in all directions. But will
a system of millions of linked smart devices work without boggling on its own complexity? How will
traditional energy providers relate to all the new players?”27

25
Ibid. Introduction.
26
California Quick Facts
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06000.html
27
Mazza, P. The Smart Energy network: Electricity’s Third Great Revolution”
http://sites.energetics.com/MADRI/toolbox/pdfs/vision/smart_energy.pdf
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  What happens when the number of nodes under the distribution system gets large and makes the
system even more complex? While trying to avoid complexity at one level, are we opening the
doors for complexity at another level?

Maybe the solution is not to stack or disaggregate energy flow, but to define the problem right, enhance
computing capabilities and create the right optimization algorithms. At the very least, we need to have
more pilot projects to test the full capabilities of the TE solution at large scales.

C. A New Distribution System

Many experts believe that the changing nature of the electric grid and technology advances coupled with
economics will be able to accommodate and even necessitate a move from a highly centralized control
system to a more distributed control system.

In search of a solution to grid problems, many states have started regulatory processes to find out what is
feasible and in the public interest. For example, New York is considering a range of policies to create the
grid of the future and ensure a more reliable and resilient power distribution system.28 “The Reforming
the Energy Vision (REV) proceeding calls for New York’s distribution utilities to become distributed
system platform providers (DSPPs) that enable system-wide efficiency and resiliency. The DSPPs will
upgrade the distribution network and then ‘create markets, tariffs and operational systems to enable
behind-the-meter resource providers to monetize products and services,’ according to the New York
Public Service Commission. They will essentially become the purchaser and aggregator for distributed
resources. It will take years to transform utilities into DSPPs. There are various working groups designed
to grapple with the difficult issues of building out the platforms themselves and integrating new energy
systems at the grid edge to be leveraged in real time.” 29 As the NY staff supports a new “distributed
system platform provider”, they are also considering ratemaking changes, rate design changes, flexible
regulatory approaches for utility investments, and standby tariffs to balance the needs and expectations of

Accessed at September 5, 2014

28
For information about the initiative and relevant documents, see
http://www3.dps.ny.gov/W/PSCWeb.nsf/All/26BE8A93967E604785257CC40066B91A?OpenDocument
29
Tweed, K., 2014. The Reformation Begins: New York Utility Proposes Community Solar, Microgrids-as-a-
Service, GreenTech Media.
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/new-york-utility-proposes-community-solar-microgrid-as-a-service
Accessed at September 5, 2014.
14 | P a g e
non-prosumers ratepayers with the benefits accumulated by prosumers. 30 Even though the introduction of
TE does not necessarily require a complete elimination of centralized operations, the expectation is to
have some degree of separation coupled with coordination between distribution and transmission
operators.

Of course, such a potential move brings additional concerns and questions: “Who will be accountable
when the grid runs into problems? Can we trust the grid to "run itself?" Will difficulties in integrating
many new energy technologies forestall or delay realization of their benefits? Will interactions and
transactions of smart devices produce instabilities? Can the system be worked by price gougers or
hijacked by terrorists?”31

A distribution system not only carries power between transmission substations and consumers, it also
transforms voltage for customer use, regulates voltage, detects faults and other unsafe situations and
restores service after the interruptions.32 If the distribution network becomes truly bi-directional,
congestion can potentially become an issue, and as a result, the network can be overloaded, unbalanced,
and cause instability. Understanding the future needs, benefits, and risks to a more distributed grid can
help regulators balance whether to maintain or make incremental changes to the centralized system, or
invest in a distributed system via utilization of a platform. Several questions to consider include:

 Would an exchange platform have enough information about the distribution grid to respond to
congestions, over or under supply, power quality, reliability, etc.? How will it manage these
problems?

 What should be the geographic scope of an exchange platform, e.g., locational, utility territory,
statewide, regional?

 Who would operate and oversee such a platform?

30
Rickerson, Wilson, Toby Couture, Galen L. Barbose, David Jacobs, Giles Parkinson, Emily Chessin, Andy
Belden, Holly Wilson, and Henry Barrett. Residential Prosumers: Drivers and Policy Options (Re-Prosumers).
International Energy Agency (IEA) - Renewable Energy Technology Deployment, 2014.
http://iea-retd.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/RE-PROSUMERS_IEA-RETD_2014.pdf
Accessed September 24, 2014.
31
Mazza, P. The Smart Energy Network: Electricity’s Third Great Revolution.”
http://sites.energetics.com/MADRI/toolbox/pdfs/vision/smart_energy.pdf
Accessed at September 5, 2014
32
MIT Energy Initiative. 2011. The Future of the Electric Grid, p.127.
http://mitei.mit.edu/publications/reports-studies/future-electric-grid

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  What are the potential safety and reliability issues in the TE construct?

 To which safety and reliability standards will the platform be subject? Do such standards already
exist or will they need to be developed, if so, by which entity?

 How will the TE platform support interoperability of grid operations, communications, and
customer-side technologies?

 How will the platform be governed?

 How will the platform support competition and prevent market manipulation?

 Who is accountable if one fails to fulfill its obligation to serve?

D. Consumer Behavior
The disconnect between wholesale markets and retail markets is common knowledge. Prices from
wholesale markets have not been reflected/created in retail prices and complaints about limited
opportunity for demand response resources continues due to political reasons (reluctance to pass price
fluctuations to consumer), lack of technology, economic disincentives to invest in smart technology,
among many others.

According to the TE advocates, “While the past 20 years have seen the rapid development of wholesale
electricity markets, sophisticated wholesale pricing has largely failed to be replicated in state retail
markets. While wholesale market pricing has increasingly reflected real-time costs, retail markets
continue to be characterized by the prevalence of blended, average-cost rates, which offered limited
opportunity for effective demand-side response.”33

To ensure effective demand response, a customer’s energy management system is crucial in the TE world.
This system “will frequently evaluate its energy use based on weather forecasts, predicted heating and
cooling needs, other factors, and the price of current forward tenders. It will accept tenders that will
optimize the operation of the customer’s devices to the benefit of the customer.” 34 In this way, it is
technically possible for a consumer, or its authorized third party energy manager, to enter into hundreds
of transactions, buy or sell, to meet its periodic electricity needs. However, as Hertzog puts it: “One
puzzle is how to tally, audit, summarize, and present the energy exchanges for participating consumers.

33
Brown, A., R. Salter, 2011. Can Smart Grid Technology Fix the Disconnect Between Wholesale and Retail
Pricing? The Electricity Journal, Vol. 24, Issue 1. p.7-13.
34
Barrager, S. E. Cazalet, 2014. Transactive Energy: A Sustainable Business and Regulatory Model for Electricity,
Baker Street Publishing, E-book, p.31.
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With the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle in mind, will our future energy bills be multiple pages
that reflect daily purchases and sales of electricity at variable prices? Will consumers accept and trust
additional bill complexity with buy/sell transactions, or do we need to rethink bill presentment? Just as
importantly, what market rules will deliver the trust that is keenly important to the success of peer-based
energy grids?”35

It does seem a bit unrealistic to expect most consumers to actively engage in energy transactions on the
exchange platform and effectively keep track of their records with the expectations of monetary benefits
or for other altruistic reasons. Even if the automated systems may take care of the bulk of the necessary
operations, consumers would still need to shop for the right systems for their households, be able to afford
it, educate themselves about the market operations, and be able to evaluate the results. In a state where
expenditures for electricity are less than 4% in summer months, 36 it will take some serious education and
really engaged customers to make TE work. It will require not just the grid to evolve, but also the
consumers as well.

TE vision is based on the notion that “individual customers understand their needs best.” 37 Therefore,
“there is no need for subsidies to encourage rational behavior in the TE model. People acting in their own
interest do what is best for the system.”38Again, such thinking will bring out a lot of questions and
concerns:

 Is TE empowering consumers or complicating most consumers’ lives?

 What type of pricing schemes and services can be available under the TE paradigm?

 What are the utility investment costs necessary to enable such an architecture? What are the
expected savings and distribution of savings among ratepayers?

 Can consumers really trust the public (and the technology) to do the right thing for themselves
and the system in such a complex construct?

 How does one get the public educated, engaged, and make sure that they are ready for a
transition? Which organizations should lead such an effort?

35
Hertzog, C., 2012. An Electricity EBay Takes Shape in Europe, Smart Grid Library.
http://www.smartgridlibrary.com/tag/peer-based-energy-grids/
36
United States Household Electricity Expenditures as a Percentage of Income:
http://energy.ky.gov/Programs/Data%20Analysis%20%20Electricity%20Model/US_Elec_Income_Maps.pdf
37
Barrager, S. E. Cazalet, 2014. Transactive Energy: A Sustainable Business and Regulatory Model for Electricity,
Baker Street Publishing, E-book, p.17.
38
Ibid. p.97
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  What is the appropriate role for the regulator in this scheme? What regulatory protections should
be put in place?

 If there are nonutility service providers, who should oversee their behavior to prevent abuse and
manipulation?

IV. Regulator’s Role

A. What Should the Regulators Be Thinking About?
As the energy world is warming up to the idea of TE, it is important for regulators to pay attention and be
informed. They need to define which problems they are trying to solve, consider a variety of options, and
then determine whether to include the TE vision in the basket of solutions to the grid problems. After all,
regulators’ goal is not to stifle innovation, but to take advantage of the necessary, feasible, and desirable,
i.e. in the public interest, solutions in order to foster innovation.

Regulators are already considering a variety of solutions to the existing grid problems. New York and
California have launched new proceedings involving distributed generation planning. There are many
aspects of the TE vision that are already being observed or utilized in the current retail and wholesale
markets. For example, there are changes being implemented at the CAISO level that provides more access
to distributed energy resources. We have been observing more cross-market coordination, interregional
planning, and studies looking into pressing problems. 39

Not many sources consider the problems TE might impose on various parties. Sloan (2013) states the
following:

“Transactive energy capabilities create problems for the utility as well as regulators and
policymakers. For utilities, at a minimum, it represents a potential loss of energy consumption
pattern predictability and an additional uncertainty in corporate strategies and regulatory
relations. For the regulatory and policymaker communities, it potentially represents the loss of
ratemaking control if customers can negotiate outside the public utility commission, and
challenges the definition of a regulated utility. Many policy questions must be addressed. Are
transactive energy transactions subject to regulation because of monetary exchanges? Is there an
impact on system reliability? Do such transactions shift costs between customer classes? Is
transactive energy the same regulatory construct as demand-side management? Alternatively, are
transactive transactions not subject to regulation because the public utility commission does not
control customer uses of electricity, the regulated utility may not be involved in the transaction,
and the transaction does not involve one customer delivering electrons to another, but the
opportunity for a customer to receive electrons from the utility at a more convenient time and
price? Furthermore, are there consumer protection issues regulators and policymakers must
address such as utility protection and contract enforcement protection issues in transactive energy

39
See, for example, Olivine, Inc. 2014. Distributed Energy Resource Integration, commissioned by CAISO.
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 sales? If regulation is necessary to effectively manage customer energy managers', aggregators',
and brokers' actions, is this a responsibility of the PUC, attorney general, secretary of commerce,
or private attorneys?40

The TE framework recognizes the importance of agreement in order to move forward: “The intent of a
transactive energy framework is to provide the context for identifying and debating transactive issues to
advance actions that make integration and monetization of distributed energy resources within the
complex power system easier. The framework recognizes that these objectives can only be achieved when
agreement is reached across many layers of concern. These layers span the details of the processes and
technology involved to link systems together, to the understanding of the information exchanged, to the
objectives of customers, businesses, organizations and economic and regulatory policy.” Therefore, the
regulators need to be involved and pose the right questions to the active parties in this framework. All
stakeholders, including the visionaries of the TE, will have a lot to learn from each other.

Let us consider the timeframe, for example. The Transactive Energy roadmap introduced by the Gridwise
Architecture Council in 2012 plans for four phases: i. (2011-2015) - developing the vision, standards and
pilot programs, expansion, ii. (2013-2020) - deploying TE where value is high and supported, iii. (2015-
2030) deploying on a larger scale integrating with existing operations, iv. (2020-2050) full deployment.41
This timeline appears to be quite unrealistic, given the level of necessary changes, including distribution
grid infrastructure investments, customer education and engagement efforts, legislative actions needed for
regulatory changes, establishment of market rules, not to mention the issues that have not been addressed
by the TE framework yet that are on regulators’ plate: economic justice, obligation to serve, consumer
protection, reliability, contract enforcement, etc.

Last, but not least, there is the issue of cost. Even though we have not seen any figures in the existing
publications, a possible transition to the TE construct would be costly and the benefits will be hard to
quantify. Who will pay for the new systems and who will benefit from them? An objective cost and
benefit analysis will be one of the many issues to be addressed by the regulators and stakeholders.

40
Sloan, T., 2013, “Policy for Transactive Energy: A Game Changer,” EnergyBiz Magazine September/October
2013.
http://www.energybiz.com/magazine/article/325131/policy-transactive-energy?quicktabs_11=1&quicktabs_6=0

Accessed on September 4, 2014.

41
GridWise Architecture Council, GridWise TE Framework (Draft), October 2013. Expanded and revised version
planned for release in October 2014.
http://www.gridwiseac.org/pdfs/te_framework_report_pnnl-22946.pdf
19 | P a g e
  Is TE a realistic vision for the state? What is it that we cannot accomplish with the current
policy tools and advances in demand response that will make it worthwhile to invest in large
amounts of financial and human resources in a TE construct? How does a state even consider
the investment in TE compared to other policies?

 The transition to a TE future is estimated to cost trillions of dollars’ worth of investment,

where the greatest cost is that of capital. Yet since utilities’ credit ratings have dropped from
AAA in the past to BB today,42 who will pay for the investments necessary to transition into
TE or a similar construct?

 How can we evaluate the tradeoffs between different constructs such as centralized planning
versus distributed planning?

V. Conclusion
Our current environmental and energy policies have placed California in the first rank in Distributed
Generation, as shown in the most recent DNV Kema report results. 43 At this point we find it unconvincing
that utilities are going to be unnecessary in the near future, if we do not adopt a framework similar to TE.
This does not mean that we stop critical analysis of our grid and its problems. There are substantial
challenges facing utilities today and we should continue considering possible responses.

We agree that an internet-based economy opens up the doors to many applications that we have not even
imagined before and it is possible to expect similar innovations for the electricity services. Currently,
integration of distributed energy resources and creation of a platform for peer-to-peer energy sharing is
described as the AirBnB for the grid.44 One wonders if such a notion is a bit trivializing the nature of
electricity as an essential good and whether it is fair to compare electricity production and consumption to
making choices between taking a taxi, using your car, or taking a TNC company. The scale of investment,
spillover effects of such investments, and impact of failures are massive in the power world.

We should move forward cautiously with more research and possibly pilot projects in order to better
understand the problems and possible solutions. As Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration pilot
program participant, Bonneville Power Administration states; “[TE] is a very intriguing concept. There is

42
GridWise Architecture Council. 2013. First International Transactive Energy Conference and Workshop
Proceedings, p.29
http://www.gridwiseac.org/pdfs/gwac_tec_052313/tec_2013_proceedings_pnnl_sa_96361.pdf
43
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/a-snapshot-of-new-yorks-distributed-energy-landscape
44
Crosby, M., 2014. An Airbnb or Uber for the Electricity Grid?, Rocky Mountain Institute.
http://blog.rmi.org/blog_2014_09_02_an_airbnb_or_uber_for_the_electricity_grid
20 | P a g e
a lot of work to be done still to prove out the value proposition and the day-to-day mechanics of how it
will actually function.”45

There may also be many opportunities in bringing flexibility, reliability, and storage services from the
retail side of the system into the wholesale side of the system to support reliability, renewables integration
and load following, not to mention the opportunities for new job creation in high technology, data
analytics, and other services. However, as Hertzog (2013) states: “Transactive Energy is a complex
answer to a complicated problem.” In addition, “…an anecdotal survey of other experts in the energy
market on the prospects for TE reveal that while the concept has helped focus attention on the need to
upgrade the power transmission grid for variable power sources and transaction systems for all electrical
resources, TE is far from being ready for implementation on an operational basis.”46Therefore, we should
aim to identify the problems correctly, compare potential solutions, and pick the option(s) that will best
allow us to fulfill our mission, which is to ensure that consumers have safe, reliable utility service at
reasonable rates, protect against fraud, and promote the health of California’s economy.

45
Rosenberg, M., 2014. New Technologies, New Markets: BPAs Northwest Realm, Energybiz.
http://www.energybiz.com/article/14/09/new-technologies-new-markets
Accessed on September 26, 2014.

46
Derek, H. 2014. “Transactive energy ops not ready for peak load,” Intelligent Utility Magazine, Sep/Oct 2014.
http://www.intelligentutility.com/magazine/article/374235/transactive-energy-ops-not-ready-peak-load
Accessed on October 8, 2014.

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VI. APPENDIX
A. Players in the Field
TE concepts and standards have been mainly discussed and developed through the following
organizations: GridWise Architecture Council (GWAC), Transactive Energy Association (TEA), the
Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP), and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

GridWise Architecture Council: The GridWise Architecture Council was formed in 2004 by the
Department of Energy and with support from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. As a volunteer
council, the GWAC includes experts and leaders with knowledge in areas of power, information
technology, telecommunications, financial systems and other fields. They work under the GridWise
vision, which is “the transformation of the nation's energy system into a rich, collaborative network filled
with decision-making inform TE concepts and standards have been mainly discussed and developed
through the following organizations: GridWise Architecture Council (GWAC), Transactive Energy
Association (TEA), the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP), and Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory (PNNL).47

GridWise Architecture Council: The GridWise Architecture Council was formed in 2004 by the
Department of Energy and with support from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. As a volunteer
council, the GWAC includes experts and leaders with knowledge in areas of power, information
technology, telecommunications, financial systems and other fields. They work under the GridWise
vision, which is “the transformation of the nation's energy system into a rich, collaborative network filled
with decision-making information exchange and market-based opportunities.”48

In October 2013 GWAC issued a draft of the TE Framework document with the intent of “not to prescribe
a specific transactive energy solution… [but] to provide a common point of reference and encourage
broad discussion of the concepts and approaches possible for designing and implementing transactive
energy systems or applications.” 49

The Council has also organized workshops in 2011, 2012, and 2013, which was the first international
workshop on the topic, with the goal of framing the concept and refining and disseminating TE

47
A host of private companies are working to develop new software/hardware interface capabilities. See p.10 of
Mazzi for specific examples.
48
For more information, see http://www.gridwiseac.org/
49
Available at http://www.gridwiseac.org/about/transactive_energy.aspx
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techniques, as well as educating the industry, among others. 50 The next workshop will be held in
December in 2014.

Transactive Energy Association: TEA was launched in December 2012. As of January 2014, it has more
than 1000 members. Its mission covers “adoption of Transactive Energy standards, research and
development of technology to support Transactive Energy, research and development of markets and
business practices based on Transactive Energy, Transactive Energy education of electric energy
suppliers, customers and regulators in competitive and franchise markets.” 51

SGIP: SGIP was created as a public-private partnership in 2009 pursuant to the Energy Independence
and Security Act of 2007. It was initially funded and managed by NIST, but in 2013, it became a non-
profit organization. The goal of the organization is “to provide a framework for coordinating all Smart
Grid stakeholders in an effort to accelerate standards harmonization and advance the interoperability of
Smart Grid devices and systems,” and focuses on critical power industry issues most relevant to utilities,
regulators, equipment vendors and integrators.52

PNNL: Located in Richland, Washington, PNNL is one of the ten U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
national laboratories managed by DOE's Office of Science. “The Laboratory’s ambitious overview
includes developing basic architecture that enables smart energy devices to communicate, creating a
virtual grid in a supercomputer to model new energy networks, and mounting real-world physical tests to
see how energy devices work together. PNNL researchers aim to ground the emergence of the smart
energy network by creating a framework for all its aspects from fuels and power generation through
transmission and delivery to end-use. On a wall in a PNNL office is a motto paraphrasing a former
president: "Ask not what the grid can do for you…Ask what you can do for the grid (and get paid for
it!)."”53

B. Pilot Projects in US and Europe

GridWise Olympic Peninsula Project is one pilot project testing the idea of a transactive grid. Located in
Washington, it was part of the DOE sponsored Pacific Northwest GridWise Testbed Demonstration
Project. This project was managed by the PNNL from March 2006 to March 2007. 112 households

50
More information on these workshops and the proceedings of these workshops can be found at:
http://www.gridwiseac.org/historical/tew2012/tew2012.aspx
51
http://www.tea-web.org/
52
http://www.sgip.org/
53
Mazzi, P., The Smart Energy Network, Climate Solutions.
http://climatesolutions.org/sites/default/files/uploads/smart-energy-network.pdf
Accessed on September 8, 2014.
23 | P a g e
participated in the project. The goal of the pilot was to examine customers’ response to real time
electricity pricing, purchasing behavior in response to price changes, and how those decisions can be
automated and simplified for consumers through the use of market mechanisms. The automated
technology included smart appliances such as communicating thermostats, water heaters, and clothes
dryers. These appliances were programmed to respond to changes in price of electricity. Consumers also
had the ability to change their settings (and override them) to reflect their preferences. On average,
consumers saved approximately 10 percent on electricity bills. At the same time, peak demand was
reduced by 15 percent.54

The Pacific Northwest Demonstration Project is a DOE-funded project aiming to test transactive energy
concepts at a regional scale. It connects eleven utilities and 60,000 metered customers in a framework that
covers the states Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. In this project vendors are engaged
to build a system that can forecast real-time electric loads across “nodes,” or points on the system from
generation to end use. The project uses “transactive incentive signals” to represent real and projected
costs of electricity being delivered at each point in the system. It is expected that data gathered in this
project will accommodating wind resources, avoiding transmission congestion, and learning how energy
storage devices and smart appliances play roles in building reliability and resiliency at local and regional
levels.55

GridSMART Program: Another partnership between AEP Ohio’s DOE-funded GridSMART program and
Battelle, the institute that manages PNNL, tests transactive energy on a more local scale. The pilot aims to
study the price that customers are willing to pay for air conditioning and the utility cost to replace or
renovate distribution circuits subjected to excess demand for power. This is accomplished by taking
measurements of how close the pilot project’s distribution feeder line and transformer are to being
overloaded, and translating that into to five-minute variable prices being sent to smart thermostats in
several hundred homes served by that feeder, mimicking the intervals PJM uses to dispatch generation
resources.56

Since high demand conditions occur infrequently, “Battelle has developed algorithms that allow the smart
thermostats to predict a coming overload condition and precool their homes, then lay off when the peak

54
See also PNNL, 2007. Pacific Northwest GridWise™ Testbed Demonstration Projects, Part I. Olympic Peninsula
Project, PNNL-17167.
http://www.pnl.gov/main/publications/external/technical_reports/PNNL-17167.pdf
55
http://www.pnwsmartgrid.org/
56
St. John, J., 2013. “A How-to-Guide for Transactive Energy,” GreenTech Media.
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/a-how-to-guide-for-transactive-energy
Accessed on September 3, 2014.
24 | P a g e
hits, all in five-minute increments that should smooth out the overall effect on temperatures. Utilities
could deploy systems like this to avoid expensive grid upgrades merely to manage the brief moments
when demand exceeds capacity on those feeder lines, he noted. The avoided costs of that upgrade could,
in turn, play a role in offering participating customers incentives to participate -- a feedback loop that’s
made possible by translating utility costs into customer prices.” 57

Germany: ABB is working with European utility Vattenfall in Gotland, Germany, on a project targeting a
10% load shift at 2,000 homes and 30 commercial facilities. It will use an automated DR management
system to manage a consumer market platform with the full range of transactive energy services,
including wind, solar PV, energy storage, EV charging, and tiered pricing.

Netherlands: “The PowerMatchingCity” pilot in the city of Groningen in Holland tests a number of
innovations in policy, market models, and technology, while focusing on building a peer-based
transactive energy grid. The devices participating in this peer-based energy grid are: “1. Time-shifters –
appliances or equipment that can be operated on a discretionary basis to take advantage of lowest energy
prices. 2. Buffers – devices that can store thermal energy, such as ice-based chillers or hot water heaters
that bank energy. 3. Uncontrolled loads or producers, such as wind and solar generation. 4. Electrical
storage in the form of fixed batteries or electric vehicles (EVs).” 58 The projected benefits include giving
consumers maximum choice in device decisions; preventing vendor “lock-ins”; and creating an eBay-like
energy market. Expected benefits for utilities include reduced grid loads, reduced need for more
transmission line investments, and support for virtual power plants.

57
Ibid.
58
Hertzog, C., 2012. An Electricity eBay Framework Takes Shape in Europe, Smart Grid Library.
http://www.smartgridlibrary.com/2012/10/22/is-an-electricity-ebay-in-our-future/
Accessed on September 12, 2014.
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