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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Generation cost frontier analysis, dynamic market adjustment, and strategic gaming: Integrated tools for the uncertain transition to a competitive electricity market

Conference ·
OSTI ID:514827
; ; ;  [1]
  1. Applied Economic Research Co., Inc., New York, NY (United States)
The electric utility industry is currently experiencing major change brought on by deregulation. As a result, the focus of power plant management is moving from maximizing plant reliability to reducing costs and getting the most from maintenance reliability spending. To analyze the efficacy of maintenance programs, utilities have benchmarked their plants` maintenance spending and reliability against similar plants`--those with similar equipment design, vintage, age, capacity, and operating history. In various earlier works, applied economic research (AER) has discussed the importance of understanding and quantifying the relationship between spending on maintenance activities and resulting plant reliability. AER has analyzed those relationships using multivariate regression modeling and a technique called frontier analysis. Regression modeling allows the quantification of the individual impacts of key factors affecting cots and performance such as equipment design, operating history, and age. It also furnishes the basis for developing benchmarking, forecasting, and planning tools. Frontier analysis is a tool for evaluating the market efficiency of plants relative to the best achievable practice observed in similar units or in the industry. Units/plants on the frontier are those achieving maximum market efficiency. These models also provide marginal cost curves for reliability relative to maintenance spending.
OSTI ID:
514827
Report Number(s):
CONF-970456--
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English