IRP and the electricity industry of the future: Workshop results

Technical Report · Thu Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1994

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10190448· OSTI ID:10190448

Tonn, B; Hirst, E; Bauer, D

During the next several years, the U.S. electricity industry is likely to change dramatically. Instead of an industry dominated by vertically integrated companies that are regulated primarily by state public utility commissions, we may see an industry with many more participants and less regulation. These new participants may include independent power producers, entities that dispatch and control power plants on a real-time basis, entities that build and maintain transmission networks, entities that build and maintain distribution systems and also sell electricity and related to services to some retail customers, and a variety of other organizations that sell electricity and other services to retail customers. Because markets are intended to be the primary determinant of success, the role of state and federal regulators might be less than it has been in the past. During the past decade, utilities and state regulators have developed new ways to meet customer energy-service needs, called integrated resource planning (IRP). IRP provides substantial societal benefits through the consideration and acquisition of a broad array of resources, including renewables and demand-side management (DSM) programs as well as traditional power plants-, explicit consideration of the environmental effects of electricity production and transmission; public participation in utility planning; and attention to the uncertainties associated with different resources, future demands for electricity, and other factors. IRP might evolve in different ways as the electricity industry is restructured (Table S-I). To explore these issues, we ran a Workshop on IRP and the Electricity Industry of the Future in July 1994. This report presents the wisdom and experience of the 30 workshop participants. To focus discussions, we created three scenarios to represent a few of the many ways that the electricity industry might develop.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 10190448
• Report Number(s): ORNL/CON--398; ON: DE95001500
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
292000
296000
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
ELECTRIC POWER
ELECTRIC POWER INDUSTRY
ELECTRIC UTILITIES
SUPPLY, DEMAND, AND FORECASTING
VERTICAL INTEGRATION