Tackling ISOs and FTRs
From a development roadmap point of view, Molecule's decision to connect with ISOs and value FTRs was a bit of an outlier. We tend to have a solid understanding of what our customers want, and we use this insight to build features with wild-eyed speed and focused precision. ISO connectivity and valuing FTRs came about in a different fashion, however.
As Sameer, our CEO, and I sat in a room (OR at the table with eight execs representing one of the largest European utilities), the conversation unfolded in an unpredictable way. Deal capture and risk is our bread and butter, so we demonstrated how Molecule automates as much as possible. We believed we had nailed everything around what they could possibly need from a risk management platform, and we felt we had won the room. Our low implementation costs and fast onboarding was the icing on the cake. It was a great meeting.
Then someone asked about ISOs and FTRs. At the time, we did not have this feature. The challenge was laid out. Could we add that into our implementation process for a deal to happen? As Sameer considered the industry's need for features around congestion, I held my breath. As you can surely guess, the answer came swiftly: yes.
Our in-house Development Team started banging out code before the ink could dry on the deal. Starting with SPP and PJM, we dived deep into valuing FTRs.
During the implementation process, Molecule aimed to provide support for FTRs, Virtuals, & day ahead power. The challenge landed on the lap of our SVP of Engineering, Paul Kaisharis. Speaking with Paul, he was quick to discuss the challenges around delivering our new solution: "understanding the domain terms and normalizing those terms as well as the implementation across the various ISOs." He was equally quick to discuss what he was most proud of: "creating a standard implementation that allows us to add support for a new ISO in just a few days."
Kyle McRoberts, a key member of our Customer Success team, chimed in as well, "I’d say the most challenging and rewarding part of the FTR implementation was simply the volume. Right now we have close to 7,000 paths available in Molecule, each with a peak and off peak product. The other challenge is that we simply don’t know when new paths are needed until the auction results are posted. We’ve got a process in place now to create new paths when needed (for example, over 500 today) mostly without the customer knowing they needed to be created."
Joe, our VP of Customer Success, was another integral piece in the FTR puzzle. He said, "the challenge: the large number of moving parts involved in this implementation and putting them all together working with multiple vendors as well as divisions within the client organization. What we are most proud of: implementing FTRs with a large number of paths with multiple ISOs for a big multinational company in a short period of time."
We are by no means a custom shop. Molecule builds modern deal capture and risk for everyone. Every customer benefits from our two-week release cycle with free updates and support. Paying for 'future code' is absurd to us. We love our customers. And we listen to them. We take their suggestions and look at the industry with the future of commodity trading in mind. Then we build kickass tech.
What's next? Physical scheduling. Stay tuned.
Updated January 24th, 2023
