Since the initial release of MATPOWER in 1997, many people have made significant contributions to the tool we know as MATPOWER today. I, Ray Zimmerman, would like to thank each and every one of you who have contributed code, ideas, documentation, bug fixes, donations, and more.
While MATPOWER is far from being my creation alone, over the years I have served as the primary developer and maintainer for MATPOWER and its related packages, MP-Test, MIPS, MP-Opt-Model, MOST, and MATPOWER Extras. This activity was supported primarily through research grants to Cornell University, where I worked as a Senior Research Associate.
In 2022, I took a half-time position at Power Analytics Software, Inc (PAS) as their lead optimization engineer and reduced my Cornell appointment to half-time. Then, in mid-2024, I retired from Cornell University and transitioned to a full-time position with PAS.
So, what does this mean for the future of MATPOWER?
First of all, it does not mean that work on MATPOWER is stopping. Following the near complete redesign and rewrite represented by the release of MATPOWER 8, with vastly expanded capabilities, this would be a particularly unfortunate time to allow the MATPOWER project to stagnate. And, I have no intention of doing that.
Initially, I was hoping the National Science Foundation would continue to fund, through grants to Cornell, significant enhancements to MATPOWER in the areas of three-phase unbalanced modeling for distribution systems and hybrid AC/DC grid modeling, among other things. Unfortunately, that door is now closed requiring us to find other ways forward. I currently have some support from The MathWorks through their MATLAB Community Toolbox program to work on additional three-phase modeling features.
However, the long-term growth and vitality of the MATPOWER project and community will require some changes to the status quo in light of the decreased number of hours I can personally dedicate to it at the moment.
To that end, I would like to propose an immediate goal to …
Expand the team
Over the next couple of months, I would like to expand the MATPOWER project team to a broader base of developers and maintainers, adding one or more additional project owners.
If you think you may be interested in playing a role in the ongoing development of the MATPOWER project, or know someone who may be, please reach out to me at info@matpower.org. I am hoping to set up a call soon with interested parties to discuss vision, goals, roles, etc. This will be about exploring our options, with no commitment implied by showing up.
I am also looking at a possible second goal to …
Launch a commercial venture
I see this as a supplement, not an alternative, to the expansion of the team for the open-source project. Currently, this is just an idea, in the exploratory phase, to create a commercial venture to offer MATPOWER-related software and services for a fee. It could also potentially serve as a sponsor of, and long-term home for, the open-source project. If you have ideas or an interest in helping pursue this option, please also contact me at info@matpower.org.