Key factors affecting the success of Demand-Side Management collaboratives
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
- Raab (J.), Boston, MA (United States)
In recent years, many utilities and nonutility parties (NUPs) across the country have tried a new approach to reaching agreement on Demand-Side Management (DSM) program design and policy issues. The DSM collaborative process, as it is called, represents an attempt by groups that have often been adversaries to work together intensively from the very beginning of the DSM planning process to reach consensus on the issues that have separated them and to produce a plan that is mutually acceptable to all parties. The NUPs involved in collaboratives include environmental and consumer groups, state agencies, and sometimes staff of the regulatory agencies. In a recent study, we analyzed nine cases of DSM collaboration in ten states. These collaboratives have involved 24 utilities and over 50 NUPs in 10 states. The size of the collaboratives ranged from just two parties in the New England Electric System (NEES) - Conservation Law Foundation of New England (CLF) Collaborative to 28 in the Wisconsin Collaborative. The collaboratives included in this study constitute the majority of DSM collaboratives underway at the time this study was initiated and include those with the longest track records. Our study examined the context and organization of DSM collaboratives and the extent to which these collaboratives were successful. Success was measured by a broad array of criteria, including the achievement of consensus by collaborative participants, approval of the resulting DSM plan by state regulators (e.g., Public Utility Commissions) and courts, satisfaction of participants' objectives, savings of time and money compared to the likely results of traditional litigation, and changes in historic relations among the parties. We were able to identify a substantial number of contextual and organizational characteristics that help determine collaborative success. This paper focuses on five such characteristics that might be particularly interesting to a broad audience.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- OSTI ID:
- 7230583
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9210170-1; ON: DE92041253
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 1992 International Energy Efficiency (IEE) and Demand Site Management (DSM) conference, Toronto (Canada), 20-22 Oct 1992
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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The context and organization of demand-side management collaboratives: An overview
The context and organization of demand-side management collaboratives: An overview
Related Subjects
POLICY AND ECONOMY
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
ELECTRIC UTILITIES
MANAGEMENT
CONSULTANTS
DECISION MAKING
ORGANIZATIONAL MODELS
PLANNING
REGULATIONS
SUPPLY AND DEMAND
PUBLIC UTILITIES
296000* - Energy Planning & Policy- Electric Power
990100 - Management