Input Table Schemas

PowerGenome reads source data from files (CSV or Parquet) or a database. The DataManager maps each settings key to a standardized internal table name. This page describes the required columns and data types for each table.

Finding your data files

Set data_location in your settings YAML to the folder containing these files. See Configure Data Tables for the full configuration syntax, including column projection and row filtering.

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Table reference

Settings key	Internal name	Typical file
generation_table	generation	generators.csv
plant_region_table	plant_region	plant_region_map.csv
resource_cost_table	resource_cost	technology_costs.csv
resource_heat_rate_table	resource_heat_rate	technology_heat_rates.csv
operational_constraints_table	operational_constraints	operational_constraints.csv
transmission_constraints_table	transmission_constraints	transmission.csv
transmission_cost_table	transmission_cost	network_costs.csv
fuel_price_table	fuel_price	fuel_prices.csv
dollar_year_table	dollar_year	cpi_data.csv
regional_cost_factor_table	regional_cost_factor	regional_cost_multipliers.csv
demand_table	demand	load_curves.csv
distributed_capacity_table	distributed_capacity	distributed_capacity.csv
distributed_profiles_table	distributed_profiles	distributed_profiles.csv

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Existing generators (generation)

Contains one row per generator unit. Matched to model regions via the plant_region table.

Column	Type	Required	Notes
technology	string	Yes	EIA technology name (e.g. Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine)
plant_id	integer	Yes	EIA plant ID
generator_id	string	Yes	EIA generator ID
capacity_mw	float	Yes	Nameplate capacity in MW
capacity_mwh	float	No	Storage energy capacity in MWh; leave blank for non-storage
operating_year	integer	Yes	Year plant came online; used to calculate age
retirement_year	integer	No	Scheduled retirement year; takes precedence over age-based retirement
historical_capacity_factor	float	No	Used to impute missing heat-rate data
heat_rate_mmbtu_mwh	float	No	Average heat rate; required for thermal generators
vom_per_mwh	float	No	Variable O&M cost ($/MWh)
fom_per_mwyr	float	No	Fixed O&M cost ($/MW-year)
energy_source_code	string	Yes	EIA fuel code (e.g. NG, BIT, SUN)
minimum_load_mw	float	No	Minimum stable load in MW

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Plant–region map (plant_region)

Maps EIA plant IDs to model regions. Only plants listed here will be included in the model.

Column	Type	Required	Notes
plant_id	integer	Yes	EIA plant ID; must match generation table
region	string	Yes	Model region name

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New-build technology costs (resource_cost)

Long-format table of cost and financial parameters for new-build resources. Each parameter is its own row.

Column	Type	Required	Notes
technology	string	Yes	ATB technology name
tech_detail	string	Yes	ATB detail variant (e.g. Moderate, Conservative)
cost_case	string	Yes	ATB cost case (e.g. R&D, Market)
financial_case	string	Yes	Financial assumption set (e.g. R&D, Market)
parameter	string	Yes	Cost parameter name (e.g. CAPEX, Fixed_OM_Cost_per_kWyr)
parameter_value	float	Yes	Value for this parameter
units	string	No	Units string for reference
data_year	integer	Yes	ATB vintage year
basis_year	integer	Yes	Technology deployment year costs apply to
cap_recovery_years	integer	No	Assumed capital recovery period
dollar_year	integer	Yes	Dollar-year for cost figures

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Technology heat rates (resource_heat_rate)

Heat rate by technology used for new-build thermal resources.

Column	Type	Required	Notes
technology	string	Yes	ATB technology name
tech_detail	string	Yes	ATB detail variant
cost_case	string	Yes	ATB cost case
basis_year	integer	Yes	Deployment year
data_year	integer	Yes	ATB vintage year
heat_rate	float	Yes	Heat rate in MMBtu/MWh

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Operational constraints (operational_constraints)

Per-technology or per-resource overrides for GenX operational parameters. Values here are written directly to Generators_data.csv.

Column	Type	Required	Notes
Resource	string	Yes	Resource name or technology name pattern; all matches any resource
region	string	Yes	Model region or all for all regions
Min_Power	float	No	Minimum power output fraction
Self_Disch	float	No	Storage self-discharge rate
Eff_Up	float	No	Charging efficiency
Eff_Down	float	No	Discharging efficiency
Min_Duration	float	No	Minimum storage duration (hours)
Max_Duration	float	No	Maximum storage duration (hours)
Ramp_Up_Percentage	float	No	Maximum ramp-up rate (fraction of capacity per hour)
Ramp_Dn_Percentage	float	No	Maximum ramp-down rate
Up_Time	integer	No	Minimum up-time (hours)
Down_Time	integer	No	Minimum down-time (hours)

Any column that matches a Generators_data.csv column name is forwarded to that output file.

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Transmission constraints (transmission_constraints)

Existing inter-regional transfer capacities. Used to build Network.csv.

Column	Type	Required	Notes
region_from	string	Yes	Source IPM or base region
region_to	string	Yes	Destination IPM or base region
firm_ttc_mw	float	Yes	Firm total transfer capacity in MW
notes	string	No	Optional description

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Transmission costs (transmission_cost)

Capital costs for new inter-regional transmission lines.

Column	Type	Required	Notes
start_region	string	Yes	Model region at one end of the line
dest_region	string	Yes	Model region at the other end
interconnect_cost_mw	float	Yes	Total build cost ($/MW)
interconnect_annuity_mw	float	Yes	Annualized build cost ($/MW-year)
line_loss_frac	float	Yes	Fractional line loss
start_id	integer	No	Source node ID
dest_id	integer	No	Destination node ID
dollar_year	integer	Yes	Dollar-year for cost figures
mw-km_per_mw	float	No	Route length in MW-km per MW of capacity
notes	string	No	Optional description

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Fuel prices (fuel_price)

Time series of fuel prices by fuel type and region.

Column	Type	Required	Notes
year	integer	Yes	Planning year
fuel	string	Yes	Fuel name; must match tech_fuel_map values in settings
region	string	Yes	Model region
price	float	Yes	Fuel price (typically $/MMBtu)
scenario	string	No	AEO scenario name; used with fuel_price_scenario setting
data_year	integer	No	AEO data vintage
dollar_year	integer	Yes	Dollar-year for price figures

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Dollar-year / CPI (dollar_year)

Conversion factors for adjusting costs between dollar years.

Column	Type	Required	Notes
year	integer	Yes	Calendar year
period	string	No	Period label (legacy column, may be omitted)
value	float	Yes	CPI index value

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Regional cost multipliers (regional_cost_factor)

Adjustments to capital costs by technology and region.

Column	Type	Required	Notes
technology	string	Yes	ATB technology name
region	string	Yes	Model region
value	float	Yes	Multiplier (1.0 = no adjustment)

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Demand / load profiles (demand)

Hourly load time series. One row per hour per region.

Column	Type	Required	Notes
time_index	integer	Yes	Hour index within the year (0–8759)
region	string	Yes	Model region
load_mw	float	Yes	Load in MW
year	integer	Yes	Planning year
weather_year	integer	No	Meteorological year for the profile

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Distributed capacity (distributed_capacity)

Installed distributed generation capacity by region and year.

Column	Type	Required	Notes
region	string	Yes	Model region
year	integer	Yes	Planning year
capacity_mw	float	Yes	Total installed DG capacity in MW

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Distributed generation profiles (distributed_profiles)

Normalized capacity factor profiles for distributed generation.

Column	Type	Required	Notes
time_index	integer	Yes	Hour index within the year (0–8759)
region	string	Yes	Model region
weather_year	integer	No	Meteorological year for the profile
value	float	Yes	Capacity factor (0–1)