AEE CEP study plan
AEE CEP · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 7 hours per week
Energy Markets and Price Fundamentals (electricity, natural gas, fuels)
Map the full price-formation chain for one chosen power market (day-ahead, real-time, forward), labeling how fuel cost, unit commitment, losses, and congestion each feed locational marginal price.
Compute implied heat rates from quoted power and gas prices for four sample hours and identify which generating technology is on the margin in each.
Compare two gas trading hubs and explain in writing how basis differential and pipeline constraints transmit into power prices during a cold-snap scenario.
Build a merit-order stack from a supplied table of heat rates and fuel costs and rank ten units by dispatch cost.
Explain capacity, ancillary, and renewable-credit revenues and how each changes the effective cost of supply for a buyer.
Your checkpoint
A one-page spreadsheet plus 200-word write-up showing heat rate, price-component decomposition, and marginal unit for three hours, with every calculation traceable and internally consistent.
Energy Markets and Price Fundamentals (electricity, natural gas, fuels) & Contract Structures, Terms, and Negotiation
Convert a monthly load profile into a procurement volume plan that separates baseload, seasonal, and shaped/swing components.
Label and explain the commercial effect of eight core supply-agreement clauses, including volume firmness, swing tolerance, delivered-versus-generated, change-in-law, curtailment, and unit-of-measure.
Translate four pricing formulas (fixed, index, block-and-index, collar) into plain-English descriptions of who bears which risk.
Rank three contract structures against a stated budget-certainty requirement and a stated tolerance for downside price risk.
Your checkpoint
A 300-word decision memo recommending fixed, index, or block-and-index pricing for a 10 MW, three-year load, naming two risks the recommendation accepts and one it avoids.
Contract Structures, Terms, and Negotiation
Draft a negotiation term sheet listing six must-have positions and three tradeable concessions, ranked by business impact.
Differentiate credit-support instruments (parent guarantee, letter of credit, prepayment, security deposit) and apply the appropriate one to a described counterparty profile.
Rewrite five supplier-favored clauses (termination, force majeure, curtailment, measurement, indemnity) into balanced language and justify each edit.
Sequence a negotiation from term sheet to signature, specifying who approves pricing, credit, and legal exceptions.
Your checkpoint
A redlined term sheet covering eight clauses with a one-sentence rationale per change, plus a five-sentence walk-away position stating the price and terms at which you exit the deal.
Price Risk Management and Hedging Instruments & Contract Structures, Terms, and Negotiation
Calculate hedge ratios for a load with weather and production sensitivity, showing the volume left exposed after each layer.
Price a fixed-for-floating swap off a supplied forward curve and compute mark-to-market after a price move.
Simulate budget outcomes for unhedged, 50%-hedged, and 90%-hedged positions across three price scenarios and compare variance.
Explain when to use caps, floors, collars, and swing options, matching each instrument to a specific risk the buyer wants to keep versus transfer.
Your checkpoint
A scenario table showing cost, budget variance, and worst-case exposure for three hedging levels across three price paths, with a recommended hedge level and the reasoning stated in under 150 words.
Price Risk Management and Hedging Instruments & Procurement Strategy and Sourcing Methods
Design a layered hedging program that sets tranche sizes, trigger dates, and price thresholds for a multi-year load.
Distinguish speculative from hedging intent and describe the documentation needed to support hedge accounting treatment for a cash-flow hedge.
Score four sourcing routes (direct bilateral, broker or aggregator, reverse auction, retail supplier RFP) against term length, transparency, transaction cost, and credit exposure.
Draft approval thresholds and delegated authority limits for executing hedges.
Your checkpoint
A one-page hedging policy stating tranche schedule, instrument limits, approval thresholds, and reporting cadence, consistent with the week-4 scenario results.
Procurement Strategy and Sourcing Methods
Build a weighted RFP scoring matrix with at least six criteria and defined scoring anchors for each.
Draft the RFP sections covering volume and shape, term, pricing structure, credit requirements, and sustainability attributes.
Evaluate three competing bids against the matrix, calculate weighted scores, and select a winner with a documented rationale.
Sequence the sourcing timeline backward from a delivery start date, naming every gate from RFP issue to signature.
Your checkpoint
A completed RFP package outline plus a scoring matrix applied to three practice bids, producing a ranked result and a named preferred supplier.
Regulatory, Financial, and Sustainability Considerations in Energy Procurement
Map the regulatory touchpoints for a cross-border supply deal, identifying which market-conduct, trade-reporting, and licensing obligations attach to each step.
Assess a supplier's financial health from balance sheet and credit metrics and translate the result into a credit limit and collateral request.
Apply a carbon price and renewable-attribute strategy to a procurement case and quantify the delivered cost impact.
Identify the data and disclosure items needed for internal and external sustainability reporting on purchased energy.
Your checkpoint
A two-page compliance and sustainability checklist mapping ten obligations onto named deal stages, each with an owner and a verification step.
Energy Markets and Price Fundamentals (electricity, natural gas, fuels) & Procurement Strategy and Sourcing Methods & Contract Structures, Terms, and Negotiation & Price Risk Management and Hedging Instruments & Regulatory, Financial, and Sustainability Considerations in Energy Procurement
Complete two timed 60-question practice sets and log every miss by domain and error type.
Re-derive the core calculations from scratch: implied heat rate, hedge P&L, mark-to-market, and delivered-cost comparison.
Re-teach the three weakest objectives in writing, then re-attempt the missed questions without notes.
Rehearse the negotiation and RFP decision paths aloud to confirm the reasoning holds under time pressure.
Your checkpoint
An error log covering every missed question, each with a corrected explanation and the source objective, plus a second practice-set score of 80% or higher.
Milestones
Week 2: Can explain, without notes, how fuel cost and congestion reach a delivered power price, and can correctly classify clauses in a sample supply agreement as firm or non-firm.
Week 4: Can compute a hedge ratio, price a swap, and produce budget variance across three price scenarios within 20 minutes and with no calculation errors.
Week 6: Can run a sourcing decision end to end: build the scoring matrix, evaluate three bids, and defend the winner in a two-minute verbal summary.
Week 8: Scores 80% or higher on a timed second practice set with no domain below 70%, and the error log shows no repeated miss of the same error type.