Survey says: Add more data to default ISO Express dashboard

Enhancements go live July 5!

Over the past year, the ISO’s web team conducted a survey asking market participants how they use ISO Express, the ISO’s online dashboard of real-time markets and power system data. The results are in, and beginning July 5, ISO Express users will see a number of enhancements to the main/default ISO Express dashboard and to some of the individual data portlets.

Updated default dashboard view and enhanced graphs

• Green box: The System Load Graph portlet is promoted to the top spot on the dashboard and modified to include the actual and forecasted load, as well as the cleared demand for today.
• Orange box: Reserve Prices is added to the default view and displays the five-minute locational marginal prices (LMPs) for 10-minute spinning reserve (TMSR) for the Connecticut zone.
• Yellow box: The Binding Constraints portlet is now open by default so any constraints are immediately visible.
• Blue box: A new portlet, the Fuel Mix Graph, is added to display fuel use in megawatts. For details, see Mixing things up: ISO-NE offers additional way to view real-time fuel mix with new graph in ISO Express.
• Red box: Three of these four portlets are added to the default view that previously could be viewed only with a custom dashboard:
  • External Interfaces displays the actual flow for  the  Cross Sound Cable interface.
  • Five-Minute Real-Time LMP List displays the locational marginal prices (LMPs) and components of the LMPs for each zone and interface.
  • Morning Report is the most popular non-LMP-related report on the site.
  • Three-Day System Demand Forecast provides a view of the expected amount of electricity in the New England Balancing Authority Area (BAA).
• The Quick Links portlet is removed. The links previously within this portlet are available under the System Planning tab or Markets and Operations tab available at the top of every page.
• The Load Forecast Graph is removed. Tomorrow’s load forecast is available from the System Load Graph, as described above. Click on the date and select “Include next day” and click “Apply.”

Download a pdf of the dashboard screen shot above to view more detail.

About the Survey

ISO Express was introduced by ISO New England almost five years ago. In 2015, the ISO Web Team conducted a survey and interviews focusing primarily on how registered ISO Express users utilize the customizable dashboards. The following takeaways informed the recent upgrades with more changes to come in the future:

• More people use the default dashboard than a customized dashboard. Of those who do customize their dashboard, most don’t modify any of the portlet settings.
• Users want to see as much data as possible, with most users viewing ISO Express on a desktop monitor, as opposed to a smaller screen.
• The three most popular portlets are the Five-Minute Real-Time LMP Graph, Load Forecast Graph, and the LMP Map. Those same three portlets were also ranked as most valuable, along with the Hourly LMP Graph and System Load Graph
• Being able to view the Reserves Prices Graph in combination with the Five-Minute Real-Time LMP Graph provides some insight into when price spikes are attributable to binding constraints or to violating reserves.

In addition to our default dashboard, site users can sign up to create personalized dashboards that display the information most relevant to their interaction with ISO New England. Learn more: Customizable Features: My Dashboard, Adding/Removing Content or Pages, Using Content Tools.

 Feedback

Tell us what you think of these changes, or if you have ideas of how the ISO website or ISO Express could better serve your needs. Please email the Web Team.