InstructMPC: A Human-LLM-in-the-Loop Framework for Context-Aware Power Grid Control

Abstract: The transition toward power grids with high renewable penetration demands context-aware decision making frameworks. Traditional operational paradigms, which rely on static optimization of history-based load forecasting, often fail to capture the complex nature of real-time operational conditions, such as operator-issued maintenance mandates, emergency topology changes, or event-driven load surges. To address this challenge, we introduce InstructMPC, a closed-loop framework that integrates LLMs~(LLMs) to generate context-aware predictions, enabling the controller to optimize power system operation. Our method employs a Contextual Disturbances Predictor~(CDP) module to translate contextual information into predictive disturbance trajectories, which are then incorporated into the Model Predictive Control~(MPC) optimization. Unlike conventional open-loop forecasting frameworks, InstructMPC features an online tuning mechanism where the predictor's parameters are continuously updated based on the realized control cost with a theoretical guarantee, achieving a regret bound of $O(\sqrt{T \log T})$ for linear dynamics when optimized via a tailored loss function, ensuring task-aware learning and adaption to non-stationary grid conditions.