OSS Implementation in Utility Applications

Open source software has risen to great prominence recently. It has become an attractive alternative to software developers in different fields, including electric energy professionals. Software released under an open source license is freely distributed with its source code, enabling users to use, copy, distribute, examine, modify and improve it to meet their needs - without having to pay royalties to previous developers. In this presentation, we will discuss general background of open source software development and the current open source software revolution. Two real-world web-based implementations using open source software components are presented: (i) the firm transmission right auction system used by California ISO before its new nodal market is established, and (ii) the database application used by utilities to track the performance and accounting of their energy efficiency programs.