Overview

The Engineering, Economic, and Environmental Electricity Simulation Tool (E4ST) is policy analysis and planning software built to simulate in detail how the power sector will operate and evolve in response to environmental and non-environmental policies and regulations, renewable and non-renewable generation investments, transmission investments, input prices, pricing structures, demand changes, and so on. The user specifies the policies, investments, and other inputs of each simulation. E4ST predicts operation, generator investment and retirement, prices, consumer effects, producer profits, emissions, emission health effects, and the other elements of societal net benefits (social surplus), among other outcomes. It is therefore well suited for uniquely comprehensive benefit-cost analysis, as well as for projecting various other outcomes.

E4ST predicts hourly system operation along with generator construction and retirement. It can be used with a model of any power system from anywhere in the world. Its developers have developed detailed E4ST-compatible models of the four major US, Canadian, and Mexican grids, for simulations using E4ST. E4ST has been used for projects for the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the US Department of Energy, the US Department of the Interior, the New York Independent System Operator, and the City of New York, as well as for peer-reviewed studies published in research journals.

E4ST is available openly, without charge. It consists of a several Julia packages available for installation that can be used with suitable data from any part of the world. E4ST can be applied to detailed system models. Algorithms are included that simulate the economic operation of the power grid, in response to the model-user’s specification of the inputs. The model is structured to allow easy addition of user created features which allow the user to model custom policies, technologies, and characteristics of the grid. The core package, E4ST.jl, includes a three-bus model used for testing. For a more detailed description of E4ST, see the DESCRIPTION page. For more detailed information on using E4ST.jl, please reference the package documentation.

Prior to 2023, E4ST was written in MATLAB, using MATPOWER to simulate optimal power flow. For information on the previous version of E4ST, see the MATLAB E4ST page.

For additional information on the work done by Resources for the Future using E4ST, refer to the RFF website.