DEFINING INTRAHOUR AND INTERHOUR LOAD SWINGS

Electricity consumption varies with time. These temporal variations in clude moment-to-moment fluctuations plus hour-to-hour changes associat ed with diurnal, weekly, and seasonal patterns. The problem naturally splits into two time frames: (1) fast fluctuations, on the order of se conds to minutes, and (2) slower fluctuations, on the order of an hour or longer. Fast fluctuations in aggregate load result primarily from the random movements of individual loads. Slower fluctuations result f rom common external causes, such as time of day, day of the week, and weather. This study empirically examines intra- and interhour load fol lowing. It develops methods to separate intra- and interhour load fluc tuations, identifies the key features of each, and shows how they diff er from each other.