LCG Consulting

Celebrating 30 Years of Turning Challenges into Opportunities

Corporate Profile

LCG Consulting, based in Los Altos, California, is a widely recognized leader in electricity industry restructuring studies and a pioneer in modeling energy markets. Since its founding in 1978, LCG has played a leadership role in providing the utility industry with specialized software and consulting services in the areas of electric and gas deregulation. Our clients include a wide range of public and private electric utilities, independent system operators, electricity traders, power marketers, federal and state agencies, and a number of energy research institutes across the United States and abroad.

Our focus is on all aspects related to energy model development for electricity and gas markets, economic analysis of transmission and generation assets, tariff design and risk assessment.

Our popular web site EnergyOnline.com is a rich source of current information on worldwide electric utility restructuring.

The LCG Professional Team

The LCG team has more than 30 years of experience in the electric and gas utility industry and has conducted numerous studies on the impact of electricity industry restructuring in the United States and abroad, and has developed and supported models for all aspects of short- and long-term planning for these industries. LCG is one of the first companies to research the implications of competitive pricing and marketing and develop models to analyze competitive power markets.

Consulting Services

LCG’s professional staff, knowledgeable in utility restructuring and market designs, offer the following services to our clients:

• Economic resources of generation and transmission resources
• Transmission analysis, CRR valuation, tariff design
• Regional analysis of resources adequacy
• Forecasts of energy and ancillary service prices
• Valuation of resources over the short- and long-term planning horizons
• Transmission, generation and new entrant analysis
• Development of bidding strategies and portfolio optimization
• FTR and CRR pricing analysis
• Volatility and risk management analysis
• Wind, Solar, Storage and Renewable Integration
• Training, workshops and seminars on various relevant topics

Data and Models

• LCG’s UPLAN suite of models address the evolving theory and reality of competitive markets, covering every aspect of short-term operational and long-term planning for the electric and gas industries.
• UPLAN Network Power Model (UPLAN-NPM) is a fully integrated generation and transmission model using LMP-based Security Constrained Unit Commitment (SCUC) and Economic Dispatch (SCED).
• UPLAN Advanced Clearing Engine (UPLAN-ACE) is a state of the art system which replicates Day-Ahead Market (DAM) and Real-Time Market (RTM) operation of ISOs.
• UPLAN-G and UTRACK are LCG’s models for gas planning.
• LCG’s comprehensive database for Plants, Loads, Assets, Transmission and Operations, PLATO, consists of data for all NERC regions, covering all of North America.

Why We Succeed

We at LCG Consulting enable industry players to make optimal decisions in the complex and sometimes confusing energy marketplace. We offer an outstanding mix of professional consulting expertise, teamwork, and continuing software development. We work closely with market players and help our clients in the judicious management of resources in an uncertain and unstable world.

Our computer software and modeling approach have withstood the rigors of regulatory hearings and public scrutiny in the United States and abroad, as well as critical examination by our clients and parties interested in the competitive markets.

Selected Studies & Publications

• Hydro and Pumped Storage - DOE Award to Support Development of Advanced Water Power Technologies, DOE—EPRI Project, 2009 - 2012
• Wind Integration - DOE Project Promotes Collaborative Planning for Balancing Wind Variability across Regions, DOE-EPRI Project, 2010 - 2011
• Energy Storage - New Study Explores the Efficacy of Storage in Integrating Wind in Regional Electric Systems, EPRI, 2009 - 2011
• Analysis of Electricity System of RPS Requirement in Tennessee Valley Authority, 2010 - 2011
• ERCOT Nodal Market Simulation and Price Forecast (2011 & 2014), TradeWind Energy, LLC, 2010
• Analysis of Texas Competitive Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ) Transmission Scenario 2, Shell Wind Energy, 2008 - 2009
• Wind Asset Evaluation and Transmission Interconnection (ERCOT Market) and Transmission Study, Third Plant Wind Power, 2008 - 2009
• ERCOT CREZ Wind and Transmission Scenario Simulation (2015), BP Wind, 2010
• Dual-Market Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Proposed Transmission Southern Cross in ERCOT (2015), Pattern Energy, 2010 - 2011
• Production Cost Benefit Analysis of the Proposed Transmission Projects in WECC (2017), Pattern Energy, 2009
• Evaluation of the Economic Benefits of The Proposed Green Path North Interconnection in Southern California, Citizen Energy, 2007
• Study of The Economic Impact of PVD2 Transmission Line on Arizona Consumers, Arizona Corporation Commission, 2006
• Valuing Transmission Investment Valuations: The Big Picture and The Details Matter— and Benefits Might Exceed Expectations, The Electricity Journal, Aug./Sept. 2005
• Transmission Investment Valuations: Weighing Project Benefits, The Electricity Journal, March 2004
• Generation Reserves: The Grid Security Question, Public Utilities Fortnightly, January 2004
• Market-Based Valuation of New Coal-Fired Generation: Case Studies of Investment Risk and Profitability, EPRI Report 100448, March 2003
• Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) feasibility and Risk Assessment, Austin Energy, 2007
• Revenues from Ancillary Services and the Value of Operational Flexibility, EPRI Report 1004413, November 2002
• Forecasting electricity prices and revenues, and valuing the complete fleet of generating assets in the wholesale electricity market in the Russian Federation