Stable extended-pricing to deal with multiple solutions in unit commitment power pool auctions

The existence of multiple optimal or near-optimal solutions is considered an unfavorable characteristic of unit-commitment (UC) models used to implement electricity auctions. Delicate conflicts of interest are considered to appear when particular optimization techniques select one or the other optimal (or near-optimal) solution to the UC auction. Using findings that describe the conditions for the existence of equilibrium in electricity power pool auctions and better optimization techniques to solve the UC problem, this paper proposes a stable extended pricing alternative that eliminates the conflicts of interest when multiple solutions under disequilibrium arise in the unit commitment auction. Illustrative results on a simplified UC auction model are presented as well as on actual UC auctions.