As the transition to renewable energy sources progresses, the integration of such sources makes electricity production increasingly fluctuate. To contribute to power grid stability, electric utilities must balance volatile supply by shifting demand. This measure of demand response depends on flexibility, which arises as the integration of information systems in the power grid grows. The option to shift electric loads to times of lower demand or higher supply bears an economic value. Following a design science research approach, we illustrate how to quantify this value to support decisions on short-term consumer compensation. We adapt real options theory to the design-a strategy that IS researchers have used widely to determine value under uncertainty. As a prerequisite, we develop a stochastic process, which realistically replicates intraday electricity spot price development. With this process, we design an artifact suitable for valuation, which we illustrate in a plug-in electric vehicle scenario. Following the artifact's evaluation based on historical spot price data from the electricity exchange EPEX SPOT, we found that real options analysis works well for quantifying the value of information systems enabled flexibility in electricity consumption.

The rapid standardization and specialization of cloud computing services have led to the development of cloud spot markets on which cloud service providers and customers can trade in near real-time. Frequent changes in demand and supply give rise to spot prices that vary throughout the day. Cloud customers often have temporal flexibility to execute their jobs before a specific deadline. In this paper, the authors apply real options analysis (ROA), which is an established valuation method designed to capture the flexibility of action under uncertainty. They adapt and compare multiple discrete-time approaches that enable cloud customers to quantify and exploit the monetary value of their short-term temporal flexibility. The paper contributes to the field by guaranteeing cloud job execution of variable-time requests in a single cloud spot market, whereas existing multi-market strategies may not fulfill requests when outbid. In a broad simulation of scenarios for the use of Amazon EC2 spot instances, the developed approaches exploit the existing savings potential up to 40 percent-a considerable extent. Moreover, the results demonstrate that ROA, which explicitly considers time-of-day-specific spot price patterns, outperforms traditional option pricing models and expectation optimization.

Microgrids are decentralized distribution networks that integrate distributed energy resources and balance energy generation and loads locally. The introduction of microgrids can help overcome the challenges of global energy systems. Despite this potential, the information systems domain has seen limited research on microgrids. This paper synthesizes research on elements of microgrids for electric energy. Interviewed experts maintain that technological microgrid solutions have been solidly developed; nevertheless, the lack of economic and business consideration is stalling their deployment. The authors argue that business and information systems engineering research can provide integrated perspectives that connect technology and markets. Consequently, the authors derive a framework from an extensive interdisciplinary literature review that structures the academic state of the art on microgrid design and could guide associated information systems research. The framework comprises four layers: energy technology and infrastructure, information and communication infrastructure, application systems, and governance. The authors evaluate the framework in interviews with 15 experts from industry and three from academia. Their feedback allows to iteratively refine the framework and point out research directions on microgrids in business and information systems engineering. Keywords Microgrid Á Renewable energy sources Á Framework Á Literature review Á Research agenda Á Green IS Á Energy informatics 1 Motivation and Research Questions In a global Delphi study on future trends in energy systems, 64% of 350 experts from around the world argued that ''by 2040 the energy supply system will be structured in a cellular way: interconnected cells and 'islands' of the size of a city or medium-sized region will generate their energy from solar power, wind power, storage units and a minor share of conventional reserves'' (BDEW et al. 2016). In this future energy system, microgrids will play an important role. A microgrid is a small, decentralized distribution network comprising electricity generation, loads, and storage devices. It presents itself to the main power grid as a single controllable load that can also operate in islanded (self-sufficient) mode (Liang and Zhuang 2014). According to Hossain et al. (2014), microgrids are ''one of the most practical solutions for green and reliable power.'' Microgrids' ability to mitigate energy systems' challenges, such as integrating renewable energies (Hatziargyriou et al. 2007), simplifying demand side management

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