At Pharos we believe there are some applications best served not in a formal server and database. Microsoft Excel is one of those tools that sits on just about every computer and provides a level of flexibility that many applications just cannot compete. Many companies take the philosophy that they are too much Excel dependent. We argue sometimes they are not enough.
Excel provides a very cost effective solution for having an easily customizable set of tools that can reside locally on your computer without a dependent connection to server or network. A major benefit is it allows one to easily operate in a disaster recovery mode and the applications are easy to customize without the need of an experienced programmer.. A perfect example is in performing the daily bidding of units into the energy markets. Most companies perform their bid construction in Excel. Some then input the results into a formal server based application to submit to the market. Others manually enter the information directly into the ISO portal. In our opinion the best solution is to have Excel make the submittal. It is cheaper and more reliable than a software system to handle it. Offers can be submitted from anywhere without the need for a direct connection to a server. There is no fear of loss of network connectivity and if bidding requirements have to be changed they can be done quickly and easily.
Another example is settlements reporting. They typically end in Excel why not have it also begin in Excel? Excel provides an open infrastructure that is not a black box and is easy to audit. The reports generated in Excel can be easily formatting to cover all charge codes that impact your portfolio. Our clients who have experience with some commercial server based settlement applications complain about their ability to be customized to meet their needs.
Here are a collection of some of the tools we have created in a few markets. These tools can easily be adapted to work with your existing tools and processes. Some require nothing but Excel and others require additional helper applications. The bottom line is Pharos can provide an entire suite of applications to easily and cost effectively manage your portfolio of power plants.
Bid/offer construction and submission tool Settlements reporting application that allocates socialized charges to units
Bid/offer construction and submission tool Settlements reporting application Powermeter upload
Bid/offer construction and submission tool Settlements reporting application
Settlements reporting application
