Behind the scenes of CAISO's AI-driven outage management trial

The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) is currently testing a new AI-based platform called Genie, developed by energy services provider Open Access Technology International (OATI), to streamline the outage validation process and reduce power outages.

Genie, designed specifically for CAISO, is a modular, agent-based system made up of a suite of AI agents, each responsible for a different aspect of outage processing. The platform is expected to handle data from 230,000 sensors and predict grid issues 30 minutes in advance.

As of July, CAISO's grid operators are testing each of the four agents individually. Report-generating agents in Genie combine inputs from various parts of the organization to create nightly summaries for operators in transmission, reliability, and generation departments. Similarity search agents compare new outage requests to historical records based on equipment, location, and procedural details to anticipate reliability risks.

The agent focused on keyword extraction can interpret outage requests and flag potential discrepancies using CAISO's operational keywords. Meanwhile, the platform's real-time recommendations help system operators vet and process outage requests more efficiently.

OATI's data scientists and engineers tailored Genie's underlying models using CAISO data, historical outages, internal dictionaries, and operating procedures. They also created synthetic test cases to validate and ground the models.

The pilot of Genie started with several months of listening sessions with over 200 CAISO grid operators and meetings with over 200 CAISO staff across the organization. CAISO, which processes hundreds of outages daily, will become the first state to actively manage power outages with AI through Genie.

California will benefit from Genie's ability to predict grid issues in advance, potentially reducing the need for widespread power outages. The platform runs entirely within OATI data centers, ensuring no data leaves the network.

A senior advisor at CAISO expressed cautious optimism about the potential application of Genie, but emphasized a need to avoid overhype. They are looking forward to integrating the platform into CAISO's outage management application by December.

Notably, CAISO already uses a suite of OATI applications, making Genie easier to integrate into existing operations without disruption. By improving the outage management process, Genie promises to enhance system reliability, market operations, and customer service.