Learn how transmission access, scheduling, organized markets, congestion, and grid operations work together.
LevelIntermediateGuided lessons15Estimated time3h 40mAssessment80% to pass
YOUR COURSE RECORDReady to begin0 of 15 lessons complete · 0 of 5 module checks passed
WHY THIS COURSE MATTERS
Understand the market without losing sight of the wires.
Wheeling, open access, organized markets, congestion, and locational prices all sit on top of a physical transmission system. This course helps candidates explain the commercial layer and the operating limits that support it.
→Explain wheeling as a commercial transaction supported by physical grid operations
→Distinguish energy, capacity, and ancillary-service market functions
→Connect congestion and locational pricing to transmission constraints
MODULE 01 · 0/3 LESSONS COMPLETE
Separate the transaction from the electrons
Build a physical and commercial model of power transfers before adding market terminology.
01
13 min · CORE LESSON + DEEP DIVES
Wheeling in plain language
Define wheeling as transmission service used to support another party's power transaction.
Wheeling broadly describes moving electric power through transmission facilities owned or controlled by an entity that is not the final buyer or seller in the underlying transaction. The transmission provider supplies service under an applicable tariff or agreement and is compensated according to those terms.
The word is useful, but modern market documents often use more specific service names such as point-to-point or network transmission service. A candidate should identify the tariff, market, path, reservation, schedule, or planning process involved rather than relying on wheeling as a complete technical description.
EXPAND EACH CONCEPT
+Service is governed by documents
The applicable tariff, service agreement, market rules, interconnection agreement, and operating procedures define rights and obligations. A simple definition does not replace them.
+Ownership and operation can differ
A transmission owner may own the facilities while an RTO or ISO operates or administers access over them. Verify the regional arrangement.
+Retail delivery is a different transaction
Wholesale transmission and power sales are distinct from the retail sale to an end-use customer, which is generally overseen by state or local authorities.
02
12 min · CORE LESSON + DEEP DIVES
The highway analogy and its limit
Use the toll-road comparison without implying that contracted electricity follows a private lane.
The highway analogy helps: a shipper can use transportation infrastructure it does not own and pay for access under established terms. Wheeling similarly allows a transaction to use another entity's transmission system rather than building a private line from generator to buyer.
The analogy stops at physical routing. In an AC network, power divides across available paths according to impedance and system conditions. Operators manage schedules, flows, losses, and limits across the whole network. They do not tag individual electrons and steer them down one commercial route.
EXPAND EACH CONCEPT
+Contract path is not actual path
A commercial schedule identifies source, sink, and service, while the physical flow follows the network. Parallel or loop flows may appear on facilities outside the simplified contract path.
+Losses must be supplied
Transmission losses mean more energy must enter the system than reaches the delivery point. Tariffs and market rules define how losses are calculated or settled.
+Reliability can override schedules
Operators may curtail, redispatch, or take other actions under approved rules when system limits or emergencies require it.
03
13 min · CORE LESSON + DEEP DIVES
Source, sink, and interchange
Use basic scheduling terms to describe a transfer without pretending the transaction owns a physical path.
A scheduled transfer identifies where energy is injected, where it is withdrawn, the quantity, time interval, responsible parties, and transmission arrangements. Balancing authorities account for interchange and actual system conditions while maintaining balance within their areas.
Schedules and metered flows will not match perfectly in every interval because demand, generation, losses, and system conditions change. Market and settlement systems reconcile deviations under regional rules. Operators remain focused on secure physical operation while commercial systems assign financial responsibility.
EXPAND EACH CONCEPT
+Source and sink are commercial anchors
They identify the scheduled receipt and delivery points or areas. They do not define every line that physically carries the power.
+Inadvertent interchange is controlled
Differences between scheduled and actual interchange are measured and managed through operating and settlement processes.
+Time interval matters
Hourly, sub-hourly, day-ahead, and real-time schedules can serve different purposes. Use the interval and market rules for the actual region.
MODULE KNOWLEDGE CHECK
Confirm what you learned.
3 questions
FINAL ASSESSMENT
Power Wheeling and Grid Markets check
10 questions cover all 5 modules. Score 80% or higher to pass. Review and retry as often as needed.
Questions
10
Passing score
8/10
Status
Not attempted
REFERENCE DESK
Course glossary
Use these terms to separate transmission service, physical flow, market operation, and financial settlement.
Ancillary services
Market products that support short-term grid reliability, such as reserves and frequency regulation.
Congestion
The economic effect of honoring a binding transmission or operating constraint in dispatch.
Day-ahead market
A market that schedules expected energy supply and demand for the next operating day.
FTR or CRR
A financial right associated with congestion-price differences under regional market rules.
Interchange
Scheduled or actual energy transferred between balancing areas.
LMP
Locational marginal price, the modeled marginal cost of serving an additional increment of load at a location.
OATT
Open Access Transmission Tariff containing rates, terms, and conditions for transmission service.
Real-time market
A market that adjusts dispatch and settlements for actual conditions close to operation.
RTO or ISO
An independent regional organization that operates transmission and organized wholesale markets under approved rules.
Settlement
The financial calculation that applies prices, schedules, meter data, deviations, and market rules.
Source and sink
The commercial receipt and delivery locations or areas for a scheduled transfer.
Wheeling
Use of another entity's transmission facilities to support a power transaction under applicable terms.
LEARNING AND SAFETY NOTE
This course provides general education and career context. It does not qualify or authorize anyone to operate the electric system, perform switching, connect test equipment, change protection settings, trade power, or make reliability decisions. Always follow current law, approved tariffs and standards, employer and client procedures, qualified-person requirements, operating authority, manufacturer instructions, and site-specific controls. Course completion does not provide NETA or NICET certification or continuing-education credit.
