As utility giants Edison International and PG&E Corp. struggled mightily to meet the huge energy demands of California citizens during the Winter of 2001, power company executives across the country sought an efficient, reliable means to forecast energy production and consumption. In their search for answers, many turned to Boulder, Colo.-based Resource Data International, Inc. (RDI), a leading provider of the most comprehensive global energy industry information, including news, data and unbiased analysis.

RDI's product line includes publications, database information systems, conferences, and consulting services, all designed to help senior managers in energy-related fields make informed decisions and keep pace with industry trends. In addition, the company provides expert analysis of retail markets, power generation and distribution, oil and gas, coal and mining, and environmental issues.

Long recognized as one of the industry's top forecasters of coal and electricity prices, RDI's forecasts are only as good as the underlying data used to generate them. With the company's BaseCase product, RDI clients have access to the very same data for use in their own analyses and forecasts.

BaseCase is a database information system that provides a complete set of data inputs necessary to drive electricity market models. By concentrating on supply and demand, all of the diverse pieces needed to drive complex simulation models have been brought together in BaseCase. RDI clients use BaseCase for electricity and capacity price forecasting, benchmarking, energy market and production simulation models, risk assessment, asset valuations, and more.

Originally designed as a database to feed inputs for simulation models, BaseCase has grown to include a broad range of analytical tools that are invaluable both for benchmarking and for more detailed modeling and analyses.

One such analytical tool is BaseCase Imager, a powerful new online device that provides a faster, simpler way to examine quantitative data relationships in the energy industry -- all via the World Wide Web. As power markets grow increasingly complex, quick and intuitive access to information can sharpen a company's competitive edge, and often the best way to rapidly comprehend the significance of this data is through visualization -- the use of graphs, charts and maps. The heart of BaseCase Imager lies in the detailed data sets that comprise BaseCase -- the same data that drives the most advanced power market models in the country. The Imager combines information on the operating characteristics and costs of individual generating units with hourly data on power generation, system load, and cost of power to create vivid, full-color graphics.

As the name implies BaseCase Imager is a tool for visually inspecting data, therefore, the power and flexibility of the product's visualization engine is hugely important. After a thorough review of several commercially available data visualization products, and even giving consideration to developing a visualization engine from scratch, RDI selected JWAVE from Boulder, Colo.-based Visual Numerics, Inc.

JWAVE is Web-based software that lets users quickly access and understand what their data means, from anywhere, at anytime. With JWAVE, users can rapidly analyze, visualize and share critical information immediately with everyone in the organization, regardless of the computing platform. Based on a multitiered architecture, JWAVE lets users easily create applications that embrace open standards and will grow as their organization grows. Included is a sophisticated set of analysis and visualization functions that run on the server, avoiding network bottlenecks and costly downloads of information. JWAVE allows organizations to standardize and distribute information on a single platform, the Web.

"JWAVE allows RDI to create a consistent graphical user interface for BaseCase Imager and display graphical results over the Internet," said Barbra Marranzino, BaseCase director at RDI. "Our clients use a variety of computer platforms and often have limited resources with which to handle the immense volume of data included in BaseCase Imager. JWAVE creates an environment where they can select the data that fits their needs and display that information in a fast, efficient form."

BaseCase Imager uses industry-standard hourly data sets to illuminate the dynamic nature of power markets in the United States. It lets RDI clients find the specific company, plant, or region they want to study. Once they have found the entity they want, the client can then graph all of the data related to that entity. When the plots are displayed, users can specify the type of data they want to examine, the time period, or even the color scheme. There are ten different graphs from which to choose, each allowing the user to change the variables and time periods. Soon users will also be able to click on the graph itself and get the tabular data behind the graph.

By utilizing JWAVE as the data visualization engine, BaseCase Imager provides users with flexible plotting routines and standard tools for representing industry data (coincident stacks, load duration curves, etc.), in addition to time-series charts and scatterplots for several industry-standard data sets.

"Our philosphy of 'success through partnership' is based on the belief that no matter how innovative our technology is, we're successful only if our customers realize measureable productivity and functionality gains by using our products," said Margaret Journey, the JWAVE product manager at Visual Numerics. "In that regard, we think our partnership with RDI has been very successful because their use of JWAVE solidifies BaseCase Imager's visualization capabilities and increases its flexibility for end-users."

Marranzino also cited JWAVE's database connectivity features as being very important. "Because of the size of the data sets in BaseCase Imager, and the need to deliver this information via the Internet, speed is a critical concern. By enabling direct database connectivity with the graphical interface, JWAVE has allowed BaseCase Imager to create a real-time display environment for users around the world with a great deal of flexibility."

When discussing RDI's specific reasons for selecting JWAVE, Marranzino said performance was the primary criteria. The creation of BaseCase Imager required a tool that would be fast and reliable. The decision to use JWAVE was made easier by the fact that RDI has successfully used its sister product, PV-WAVE, in the past and has invested considerable resources in code development. In addition, RDI needed a tool that was web-based and scalable, offered high-end visualization and animation, world-class statistics, and numerical algorithms that could attach to many data sources.

Marranzino added that because of the size of the BaseCase database and variety of users for BaseCase Imager, a very flexible visualization package was needed. "The JWAVE engine works very well in this regard," she said. "The ability to create customized charts, graphs and plots dynamically through a web browser, rather than relying on canned images, is essential for our clients."

Of course, product support is a key concern when a decision is made to embed a third-party product into ones own product. In that regard, Marranzino said Visual Numerics passed with flying colors. "Their product support staff has been very good at accommodating our needs. We have called, frequently in desperation, trying to solve last-minute glitches and they have consistently been a highly responsive partner."