As part of a mission-oriented program for accelerating the commercialization of geothermal energy, research is sponsored which concerns the quantitative analysis of investment decisions by industries involved in the development of geothermal resources. The results of a quick-response study...

IM-GEO is an analysis used to estimate the impact of technology improvements on the relative cost of hydrothermal power. The analysis is available in a tutorial program for use on personal computers. It is designed for use by R and D program managers to evaluate R and D options. Only the...

This report reviews recent DSM shareholder incentive designs and performance at 10 US utilities identifies opportunities for regulators to improve the design of DSM shareholder incentive mechanisms to increase the procurement of cost-effective DSM resources. We develop six recommendations: (1)...

Electric utilities face a variety of uncertainties that complicate their long-term resource planning and acquisition. These uncertainties include future economic and load growths, fuel prices, environmental regulations, economic regulations, performance and construction cost of existing power...

Decoupling revenues from sales is an important regulatory option under consideration by regulators seeking to transform utilities from sellers of a least-cost energy commodity to providers of least-cost energy services. This report examines decoupling from three perspectives. First, the authors...

In this paper, I offer some thoughts about least cost planning, not from the perspective of the regulator or utility, but from the perspective of a residential customer. The problem that I address is, as a homeowner in northern Virginia, I am about to make a long term fuel choice for my...

Integrated resource planning involves the creation of a process in which supply-side and demand-side options are integrated to create a resource mix that reliably satisfies customers' short-term and long-term energy service needs at the lowest cost. Incorporating the concept of meeting customer...

Conservation supply curves are a common tool in economic analysis. As such, they provide an important opportunity to include a non-linear representation of technology and technological change in economy-wide models. Because supply curves are closely related to production isoquants, we explore...

The effectiveness of SO{sub 2} emission allowance trading under Title 4 of the 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act (CAA) is of great interest due to the innovative nature of this market incentive approach. However, it may be a mistake to frame the compliance problem for a utility as a decision...

The last two decades have seen a dramatic increase in the market share of independent, nonutility generators (NUGs) relative to traditional, utility-owned generation assets. Accordingly, the ''buy versus build'' decision facing utilities--i.e., whether a utility should sign a power purchase...