A study on balancing energy bid price overlap in ERCOT market

Abstract

Bid price overlap refers to the phenomenon that down bids are higher than up bids in a market. The ERCOT market is a bilateral market and only about five percent of energy required by the system is purchased through the ERCOT balancing energy market. The ERCOT market deploys both balancing energy up and balancing energy down services, and overlapped balancing bids exist in the market. This study provides a thorough investigation into various types of balancing bid overlap and reveals the crux of the problem. It offers solid conclusions for ERCOT power market administrators to guide market behavior by looking through the superficial phenomena and focusing on the real problem underneath. This study may be the first documentation and analysis on bid price overlap and thus provides interesting conclusions to market players in various fields.