Plan-faithfulness simulator doesn't model the shadow-price intra-period discharge gate

[johanzander]

Summary

core/bess/simulation/inverter_simulator.py's _map_rates (called by derive_control_command, which run_scenario_realized/verify_plan_faithfulness rely on) is a hand-maintained "mirror" of InverterController._map_intent_to_rates, but it does NOT call intra_period_discharge_gate and has no shadow_price parameter anywhere:

grep -rn "intra_period_discharge_gate\|shadow_price" core/bess/simulation/*.py
# (no matches)

For SOLAR_EXPORT it hardcodes discharge_rate=0; for SOLAR_STORAGE/LOAD_SUPPORT it scales purely from the DP's planned action. The shadow-price gate (introduced in #187/#319 for SOLAR_EXPORT/SOLAR_STORAGE, extended to LOAD_SUPPORT in PR #385) is invisible to the simulator.

Why this matters

docs/agents/simulator.md states the simulator "reuses the production controller mappings so the simulator executes exactly what the real controller would write" — that claim is currently false for any gate-affected intent. Concretely:

• A run_scenario_realized/verify_plan_faithfulness test cannot validate the gate logic at all right now (for SOLAR_EXPORT/SOLAR_STORAGE or the new LOAD_SUPPORT extension in PR fix: LOAD_SUPPORT discharge ceiling leaks real-time load spikes to grid #385) — it would pass trivially without exercising the gate branch, since the simulator's mirror doesn't have the concept.
• docs/agents/testing.md's REQUIRED plan-faithfulness verification for control/rate-mapping changes is currently unsatisfiable for gate-related changes, since the tool it requires doesn't model the mechanism being changed.

Suggested fix direction

1. Extend derive_control_command/_map_rates to accept a shadow_price (and whatever else intra_period_discharge_gate needs) and call the real gate function, so the mirror is faithful again.
2. _scenario_inputs/scenario dicts in core/bess/tests/helpers.py will need a way to supply shadow_price per period for scenarios that exercise the gate.
3. Once fixed, add an R == P scenario test for PR fix: LOAD_SUPPORT discharge ceiling leaks real-time load spikes to grid #385's LOAD_SUPPORT gate extension (and ideally backfill one for the existing SOLAR_EXPORT/SOLAR_STORAGE gates too, since they have the same gap).

Related

• Discovered during review of feature: computed overnight reserve floor (Min SOC + historical night use) so one knob covers evening export + night load #381 / PR fix: LOAD_SUPPORT discharge ceiling leaks real-time load spikes to grid #385 (LOAD_SUPPORT discharge ceiling fix): fix: LOAD_SUPPORT discharge ceiling leaks real-time load spikes to grid #385 (comment)
• Blocks writing the plan-faithfulness test that PR fix: LOAD_SUPPORT discharge ceiling leaks real-time load spikes to grid #385 is currently missing.