Autonomous trading in modern electricity markets

The smart grid is envisioned to be a main enabler of sustainable, clean, efficient, reliable, and secure energy supply (U.S. Department of Energy, 2003). One of the milestones in the smart grid vision will be programs for customer participation in electricity markets through demand-side management and distributed generation; electricity markets will incentivize customers to adapt their demand to supply conditions, which will help to utilize intermittent energy resources such as from solar and wind, and to reduce peak-demand.