How to Automate Data Collection from RTOs Like PJM, MISO, and ERCOT

If you work in energy trading, you know the pain: logging into 3 portals every morning, downloading CSVs, copy-pasting into Excel, praying the formatting didn't change. There's a better way.

The Manual Process

1. Log into PJM eDART → download outage data
2. Log into LMP portal → pull prices
3. Log into settlement system → download reconciliation
4. Open Excel → copy-paste → build morning report
5. Fix VLOOKUP errors from last week's row insertion
6. Email by 8:30 AM

Takes 2-3 hours. Error-prone. Stale by delivery. If the analyst is sick, nobody gets a report.

Automating the Pipeline

PJM eDART Data

Python scraper authenticates, navigates the portal, downloads on schedule. Handles sessions, pagination, format changes. Data goes directly to database — no Excel.

LMP Price Feeds

Most RTOs provide LMP via APIs or CSVs updated every 5 minutes. Scheduled polling, parsing, and database upsert. WebSocket streaming for sub-second latency.

Settlement Data

Large CSVs/XML downloaded nightly, parsed, matched against positions, discrepancies flagged — before your team arrives.

Architecture

• Database: PostgreSQL or SQL Server
• Scheduler: Cron jobs or Airflow
• Monitoring: Health checks + Slack/email alerts
• Dashboard: PWA querying database in real-time