Δημοσίευση σε επιστημονικό περιοδικόSummarization: This paper presents the development and application of advanced neural networks to face successfully the problem of the short-term electric load forecasting. Several approaches including Gaussian encoding backpropagation (BP), window random activation, radial basis function networks, real-time recurrent neural networks and their innovative variations are proposed, compared and discussed in this paper. The performance of each presented structure is evaluated by means of an extensive simulation study, using actual hourly load data from the power system of the island of Crete, in Greece. The forecasting error statistical results, corresponding to the minimum and maximum load time-series, indic...