DC Hub Intelligence

Energy Prices

get_energy_prices

Read-onlyIdempotent

Fetch live retail electricity, wholesale power, and natural gas prices for any of seven US ISOs to compare data center energy costs.

Instructions

Use this whenever the user asks about electricity or energy prices for data centers. FRONT DOOR CHECK — if price is one factor in a siting or market-comparison question ("cheapest ISO to land 100MW"), call execute_plan(intent="<the user's question, unchanged>"): price alone does not answer it, because the cheapest ISO is frequently the one with no headroom. If the user just wants today's price for one ISO, get_energy_prices IS the right call — one round trip, no planner overhead. Use when a user asks "what does power/gas COST in right now?" — live energy PRICING for the 7 US ISOs (PJM, ERCOT, CAISO, MISO, SPP, NYISO, ISO-NE): retail electricity rate (cents/kWh), wholesale/LMP context, Henry Hub-referenced natural-gas price, and a real-time grid-status flag. Example: "What is the retail power price and gas price in ERCOT today?" — get_energy_prices iso=ERCOT. Params: iso (one of the 7 US ISOs; required). Returns: {iso, retail_price_cents_kwh, wholesale_price_usd_mwh, natural_gas_usd_mmbtu, grid_status, as_of}. Quote with attribution to DC Hub (CC-BY-4.0). Do NOT use for fuel mix / demand / 24h curve (use get_grid_data), for power HEADROOM or time-to-power (use get_grid_intelligence), or for behind-the-meter gas-to-grid $/MWh economics (use get_gas_economics); this is the live retail+gas PRICE read for one ISO.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description
`iso`	No	ISO/RTO grid region (required for ISO pricing): ERCOT, PJM, MISO, CAISO, SPP, NYISO, ISONE
`state`	No	US state abbreviation for state-level pricing context, e.g. TX
`data_type`	No	Optional price type focus, e.g. retail, wholesale, gas

Output Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description
`as_of`	No	Pricing as-of timestamp
`gated`	No	true when parts of the payload were withheld by tier
`quota`	No	Caller quota state (remaining calls, tier) when available.
`scope`	No	What the figures cover (e.g. the ISO/state scope line)
`filter`	No	Echo of the applied filters
`_entity`	No	Payload class discriminator (e.g. facility\|market\|iso_grid\|queue_results\|deal\|report\|response) — branch on this before parsing the rest.
`success`	No	true when the pricing lookup succeeded
`citation`	No	Machine-readable citation: how to attribute DC Hub (dchub.cloud) for this payload. Normally an OBJECT {source, url, license, cite_as, retrieved_at}; a bare string is accepted and carries the attribution line itself.
`provenance`	No	Collection-level provenance block: {source, method, as_of, verification_counts, cite_url_template, license, cite_as}. Quote the verification level when citing.
`_front_door`	No	In-band front-door hint (first workflow-entry tool of a session): call plan_query(intent) first for the ordered multi-step plan.
`caller_tier`	No	Tier the response was served at
`grid_status`	No	Real-time grid status flag (when served)
`_return_loop`	No	Suggested next-session delta call (get_changes since=24h) so you pull only what changed.
`avg_rate_kwh`	No	Average rate, cents/kWh
`retail_rates`	No	Retail-rate aggregate block
`retail_rate_kwh`	No	Retail electricity rate, cents/kWh
`industrial_rate_kwh`	No	Industrial electricity rate, cents/kWh
`natural_gas_usd_mmbtu`	No	Henry Hub-referenced natural gas price, USD/MMBtu (when served)
`site_evaluation_handoff`	No	Pre-built follow-up calls (analyze_site / get_water_risk args) when the payload carries coordinates — an array of {tool, parameters, why} entries.
`wholesale_price_usd_mwh`	No	Wholesale / LMP context, USD/MWh (when served)

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Changed2 schema fields changedAug 30, 2026

removedInput schema / $schema

Removed value: -"http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#"

removedOutput schema / $schema

Removed value: -"http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#"

Changed5 schema fields changedv2.3.20Aug 14, 2026

removedOutput schema / properties / citation / additionalProperties
```
Removed value: -{}
```

addedOutput schema / properties / citation / anyOf

Added value: +[
+  {
+    "additionalProperties": {},
+    "properties": {},
+    "type": "object"
+  },
+  {
+    "type": "string"
+  }
+]

changedOutput schema / properties / citation / description

Previous value: -"Machine-readable citation: how to attribute DC Hub (dchub.cloud) for this payload."New value: +"Machine-readable citation: how to attribute DC Hub (dchub.cloud) for this payload. Normally an OBJECT {source, url, license, cite_as, retrieved_at}; a bare string is accepted and carries the attribution line itself."

removedOutput schema / properties / citation / properties
```
Removed value: -{}
```
removedOutput schema / properties / citation / type
```
Removed value: -"object"
```

Changed1 schema field changedv2.3.12Jul 28, 2026

changedOutput schema / (root)

Previous value: -nullNew value: +{
+  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#",
+  "additionalProperties": {},
+  "description": "Live energy pricing for one US ISO: retail cents/kWh + wholesale + natural gas context — alongside the DC Hub envelope keys.",
+  "properties": {
+    "_entity": {
+      "description": "Payload class discriminator (e.g. facility|market|iso_grid|queue_results|deal|report|response) — branch on this before parsing the rest.",
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    "_front_door": {
+      "additionalProperties": {},
+      "description": "In-band front-door hint (first workflow-entry tool of a session): call plan_query(intent) first for the ordered multi-step plan.",
+      "properties": {},
+      "type": "object"
+    },
+    "_return_loop": {
+      "additionalProperties": {},
+      "description": "Suggested next-session delta call (get_changes since=24h) so you pull only what changed.",
+      "properties": {},
+      "type": "object"
+    },
+    "as_of": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ],
+      "description": "Pricing as-of timestamp"
+    },
+    "avg_rate_kwh": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "anyOf": [
+            {
+              "type": "number"
+            },
+            {
+              "type": "string"
+            }
+          ]
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ],
+      "description": "Average rate, cents/kWh"
+    },
+    "caller_tier": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ],
+      "description": "Tier the response was served at"
+    },
+    "citation": {
+      "additionalProperties": {},
+      "description": "Machine-readable citation: how to attribute DC Hub (dchub.cloud) for this payload.",
+      "properties": {},
+      "type": "object"
+    },
+    "filter": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "additionalProperties": {},
+          "properties": {
+            "iso": {
+              "anyOf": [
+                {
+                  "type": "string"
+                },
+                {
+                  "type": "null"
+                }
+              ],
+              "description": "ISO filter echoed back"
+            },
+            "sector": {
+              "anyOf": [
+                {
+                  "type": "string"
+                },
+                {
+                  "type": "null"
+                }
+              ],
+              "description": "Sector the rate covers"
+            },
+            "state": {
+              "anyOf": [
+                {
+                  "type": "string"
+                },
+                {
+                  "type": "null"
+                }
+              ],
+              "description": "State filter echoed back"
+            }
+          },
+          "type": "object"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ],
+      "description": "Echo of the applied filters"
+    },
+    "gated": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "type": "boolean"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ],
+      "description": "true when parts of the payload were withheld by tier"
+    },
+    "grid_status": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ],
+      "description": "Real-time grid status flag (when served)"
+    },
+    "industrial_rate_kwh": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "anyOf": [
+            {
+              "type": "number"
+            },
+            {
+              "type": "string"
+            }
+          ]
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ],
+      "description": "Industrial electricity rate, cents/kWh"
+    },
+    "natural_gas_usd_mmbtu": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "anyOf": [
+            {
+              "type": "number"
+            },
+            {
+              "type": "string"
+            }
+          ]
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ],
+      "description": "Henry Hub-referenced natural gas price, USD/MMBtu (when served)"
+    },
+    "provenance": {
+      "additionalProperties": {},
+      "description": "Collection-level provenance block: {source, method, as_of, verification_counts, cite_url_template, license, cite_as}. Quote the verification level when citing.",
+      "properties": {},
+      "type": "object"
+    },
+    "quota": {
+      "additionalProperties": {},
+      "description": "Caller quota state (remaining calls, tier) when available.",
+      "properties": {},
+      "type": "object"
+    },
+    "retail_rate_kwh": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "anyOf": [
+            {
+              "type": "number"
+            },
+            {
+              "type": "string"
+            }
+          ]
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ],
+      "description": "Retail electricity rate, cents/kWh"
+    },
+    "retail_rates": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "additionalProperties": {},
+          "properties": {
+            "avg_cents_kwh": {
+              "anyOf": [
+                {
+                  "anyOf": [
+                    {
+                      "type": "number"
+                    },
+                    {
+                      "type": "string"
+                    }
+                  ]
+                },
+                {
+                  "type": "null"
+                }
+              ],
+              "description": "Average retail, cents/kWh"
+            },
+            "latest_period": {
+              "anyOf": [
+                {
+                  "type": "string"
+                },
+                {
+                  "type": "null"
+                }
+              ],
+              "description": "EIA period the rates come from"
+            },
+            "max_cents_kwh": {
+              "anyOf": [
+                {
+                  "anyOf": [
+                    {
+                      "type": "number"
+                    },
+                    {
+                      "type": "string"
+                    }
+                  ]
+                },
+                {
+                  "type": "null"
+                }
+              ],
+              "description": "Maximum, cents/kWh"
+            },
+            "min_cents_kwh": {
+              "anyOf": [
+                {
+                  "anyOf": [
+                    {
+                      "type": "number"
+                    },
+                    {
+                      "type": "string"
+                    }
+                  ]
+                },
+                {
+                  "type": "null"
+                }
+              ],
+              "description": "Minimum, cents/kWh"
+            },
+            "states_covered": {
+              "anyOf": [
+                {
+                  "anyOf": [
+                    {
+                      "type": "number"
+                    },
+                    {
+                      "type": "string"
+                    }
+                  ]
+                },
+                {
+                  "type": "null"
+                }
+              ],
+              "description": "States in the aggregate"
+            }
+          },
+          "type": "object"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ],
+      "description": "Retail-rate aggregate block"
+    },
+    "scope": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ],
+      "description": "What the figures cover (e.g. the ISO/state scope line)"
+    },
+    "site_evaluation_handoff": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "items": {
+            "additionalProperties": {},
+            "properties": {},
+            "type": "object"
+          },
+          "type": "array"
+        },
+        {
+          "additionalProperties": {},
+          "properties": {},
+          "type": "object"
+        }
+      ],
+      "description": "Pre-built follow-up calls (analyze_site / get_water_risk args) when the payload carries coordinates — an array of {tool, parameters, why} entries."
+    },
+    "success": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "type": "boolean"
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ],
+      "description": "true when the pricing lookup succeeded"
+    },
+    "wholesale_price_usd_mwh": {
+      "anyOf": [
+        {
+          "anyOf": [
+            {
+              "type": "number"
+            },
+            {
+              "type": "string"
+            }
+          ]
+        },
+        {
+          "type": "null"
+        }
+      ],
+      "description": "Wholesale / LMP context, USD/MWh (when served)"
+    }
+  },
+  "type": "object"
+}

Changed3 schema fields changedv2.3.6Jul 2, 2026

addedInput schema / properties / data_type / description

Added value: +"Optional price type focus, e.g. retail, wholesale, gas"

addedInput schema / properties / iso / description

Added value: +"ISO/RTO grid region (required for ISO pricing): ERCOT, PJM, MISO, CAISO, SPP, NYISO, ISONE"

addedInput schema / properties / state / description

Added value: +"US state abbreviation for state-level pricing context, e.g. TX"

First observedv2.1.19Jun 8, 2026

TDQS

A4.4/5.0

Behavior4/5

Does the description disclose side effects, auth requirements, rate limits, or destructive behavior?

Annotations already declare readOnly/idempotent/non-destructive, so the safety profile is covered. The description adds genuinely useful context beyond that: the return shape, the 'one round trip, no planner overhead' cost profile, the real-time grid-status flag, and the CC-BY-4.0 attribution requirement. It stops short of describing freshness/latency guarantees for the live data, keeping it below a 5.

Agents need to know what a tool does to the world before calling it. Descriptions should go beyond structured annotations to explain consequences.

Conciseness4/5

Is the description appropriately sized, front-loaded, and free of redundancy?

Front-loaded with the routing decision and dense with actionable content; the example call and returns block earn their place. Some all-caps emphasis and a re-statement of the sibling list are slightly redundant, so it is efficient but not perfectly lean.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness5/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

For a read-only price lookup with an output schema, routing, scope, return fields and attribution are all covered. An agent has everything needed to choose this tool over the near-miss siblings and call it correctly.

Complex tools with many parameters or behaviors need more documentation. Simple tools need less. This dimension scales expectations accordingly.

Parameters3/5

Does the description clarify parameter syntax, constraints, interactions, or defaults beyond what the schema provides?

Schema description coverage is 100%, so the schema already documents iso, state and data_type. The description reinforces iso (the 7 valid values) and gives a worked example call, but adds no syntax or meaning beyond what the schema states. Baseline 3 is appropriate.

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose5/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

States a specific verb and resource: 'live energy PRICING for the 7 US ISOs', enumerating the exact data returned (retail cents/kWh, wholesale/LMP, gas $/MMBtu, grid status). It explicitly names the siblings it is not (get_grid_data, get_grid_intelligence, get_gas_economics), so an agent can distinguish it without opening any schema.

Agents choose between tools based on descriptions. A clear purpose with a specific verb and resource helps agents select the right tool.

Usage Guidelines5/5

Does the description explain when to use this tool, when not to, or what alternatives exist?

Provides an explicit front-door routing decision: use execute_plan when price is one factor in a siting/comparison question, and get_energy_prices when the user wants today's price for one ISO. It names alternatives for adjacent needs (fuel mix/demand/curve, headroom, behind-the-meter gas economics) with the condition that selects each.

Agents often have multiple tools that could apply. Explicit usage guidance like "use X instead of Y when Z" prevents misuse.

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