Price Software and Consulting LLC

Price Software and Consulting LLC

The market dispatches every five minutes. The database has to keep up.

We tune and design databases for the software that runs on US wholesale electricity markets. Our background is in database optimization for the software vendors that serve those markets, and CAISO is the market we know best.

Write to us

A stylised duck curve over one day A smooth line showing a stylised net-load shape: it eases down to a midday dip, under a shaded band and sun arc that show solar output peaking, then climbs steeply into the evening. Below it, fine ticks mark five-minute intervals across the day. The shape is illustrative and has no numbers. stylised net load, one day midday solar evening ramp five-minute intervals, left to right
A stylised duck curve. Midday net load dips as solar output peaks, then ramps steeply into the evening. The shape is illustrative, not data.

What we do

Database performance and data engineering for wholesale-power-market software. Four kinds of work, mostly.

Query and index tuning

Interval and settlement tables get big, and they get read in awkward ways. We find the queries that hurt and fix them at the plan, the index or the schema.

Schema and partitioning design

Time-series market data wants a layout built around time, node and version. We design the tables, partitions and retention so reads and loads stay predictable.

Load and restatement pipelines

Ingest, re-settlement and reconciliation. We build and repair the pipelines that take data in, take corrections in, and show that the totals agree.

Performance reviews

Before a market change or a version change, we check how your database will cope and list what to fix first.

We also build desktop and web tools and automation, and we publish our own software. See Products below.

The markets

Seven independent system operators and regional transmission organizations run the wholesale power markets of the United States: CAISO, ERCOT, SPP, MISO, PJM, NYISO and ISO-NE. Their rules differ, and so does their data. CAISO is the market we know best.

The seven US ISOs and RTOs as a schematic Seven labelled tiles of varied sizes arranged roughly west to east: CAISO on the far left, marked with a ring as home ground; SPP and ERCOT next; MISO in the centre; NYISO and PJM; and ISO-NE on the right. A thin axis runs from W to E beneath. A schematic, not a map. CAISOhomegroundSPPERCOTMISONYISOPJMISO-NE W E
The seven US ISOs and RTOs, arranged roughly west to east. A schematic, not a map. CAISO is the one we know best.

CAISO runs on three clocks at once. A day-ahead market clears in hourly intervals, 24 a day. A real-time fifteen-minute market makes 96 intervals a day. Real-time dispatch runs every five minutes, 288 intervals a day.

One day divided into 24, 96 and 288 intervals Three bars, each representing one day. The first is cut into 24 hourly segments for the day-ahead market, the second into 96 fifteen-minute segments, and the third into 288 five-minute segments for real-time dispatch. Day-ahead, hourly: 24Fifteen-minute market: 96Five-minute dispatch: 288 start of day end of day
One day, cut three ways: CAISO's hourly day-ahead market, its fifteen-minute market and its five-minute real-time dispatch.

Why market data is hard on a database

Volume multiplies

A price is published for every pricing node, every interval, and each of its components: energy, congestion and losses. Those multiply, and the table grows faster than anyone plans for.

Data arrives more than once

Settlement data is restated as meter data and corrections arrive. The same interval can be written, corrected and recalculated, and every query has to know which version it wants.

The market clock sets the deadline

Markets run on fixed schedules. A job that finishes late is not a slow job. It is a missed one.

How one locational marginal price multiplies into many rows One price is split into three parts: energy, congestion and losses. It is then multiplied, shown as a row of squares for every pricing node, a grid for every interval, and a stack of three sheets for every restatement, labelled first, corrected and recalculated. One cell is highlighted in each to follow the same value. A diagram of multiplication, with no numbers. One price (LMP), three parts Energy Congestion Losses × every pricing node × every interval × every restatement first corrected recalculated
One price has three parts. Multiply it by every node, every interval and every restatement, and the rows pile up fast.

How we work

A slow database has a reason, and guessing at it costs time. So we keep the method plain, and we show our work at each step.

  1. Stopwatch icon for step 1

    Step 1

    Measure

    Record what the database does under real load, before we touch anything.

  2. Magnifying glass icon for step 2

    Step 2

    Find the real bottleneck

    The slow query is often a symptom. We look for the cause: plans, locks, I/O, design.

  3. Switch icon for step 3

    Step 3

    Change one thing

    One change at a time, so we know which change did the work.

  4. Check mark icon for step 4

    Step 4

    Prove it

    Measure again, the same way, and show the before and after.

Four steps, in this order, every time.

Products

We also publish software of our own. It applies the same instincts to a very different market: an auction house.

ForeverWowCraft

ForeverWowCraft works out the cheapest route to maximum profession skill in World of Warcraft: Forever. It uses the game client's own recipe data and a snapshot of your realm's auction house, and tells you which recipes to craft, in what order, what to buy and what to sell. It comes as a website at foreverwowcraft.com and a small in-game addon.

Price Software and Consulting LLC publishes ForeverWowCraft and its desktop helper application for Windows and Mac.

ForeverWowCraft is not affiliated with or endorsed by Blizzard Entertainment. World of Warcraft is a trademark of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.

Contact

For consulting enquiries or questions about our software, write to hello@pricesoftwareandconsulting.com.

Price Software and Consulting LLC
5441 S Macadam Ave
Portland, OR 97239

Price Software and Consulting LLC is an Oregon limited liability company, registered in November 2026 and based in Portland, Oregon.