Our operational cost simulator, which we believe to be the only simulator
designed specifically to estimate operational costs over a one-year
horizon with fuel and emission constraints, has been used by OG&E to
study:
- ways of coping with the Clean Air Act Amendments
- the effect of increased storage capability
- the effect of "mothballing" one plant
- the effect of lowering the operating limit of one plant
- the effect of eliminating the constraints on the natural gas
pipeline
that supplies fuel to most of the generating units within the system
Fred N. Lee, OG&E Professor, has developed a method of unit commitment
called "sequential bidding" that has not only received attention in
academic circles but also has been sought by commercial suppliers of
energy management systems. This unit commitment method is an
important component of the operational planning model that we have
developed.
The electrical power research group at the University of
Oklahoma is being recognized as the leader in the field of operational
planning for electrical utilities. In March 1995, the Electrical
Power Research Institute (EPRI) presented the "EPRI Award of Excellence"
to the electrical power research group in recognition of its
accomplishments.
Research in electrical power production simulation
at the University of Oklahoma has received funding since 1985. These
long term funding commitments have provided graduate student support, for
the development of a production simulation program and contributed greatly
to the success of the University of Oklahoma power program. The
reputation of the University of Oklahoma power program has become
internationally recognized. This recognition has come largely as a
result of many IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers)
papers authored by the students and faculty in the program. Current
publications are listed under "Faculty Publications". We have
graduated a number of quality M.S. and Ph.D. students. In addition,
the University of Oklahoma's power program has received support from other
utility companies, EPRI, and the National Science Foundation.
