Electric Utility Rate Design Proposals. Executive Summary of Interim Report

摘要

There has been a growing awareness of the need for a consistent public policy with respect to electric utilities. The central objective of such a policy should be to ensure that adequate and reliable supplies of electricity, efficiently generated from abundant domestic fuels, are available to consumers at just and reasonable prices, and that such supplies are prudently used. Four broad issues have dominated the discussion of utility policy in recent years, and are analyzed in this report: (1) rate-reform and load-management practices to flatten peak demand, and thereby reduce the need for expanded generating capacity; (2) fuel-utilization policies to minimize utility dependence on oil and natural gas; (3) improved power plant reliability, system interconnections, and other measures to reduce required reserve margins without unduly sacrificing system reliability; and (4) utility-financing procedures that maintain the economic viability of the industry and encourage management efficiency. Much of the analysis is based on limited empirical data and, thus, many of the conclusions drawn should be considered tentative. Furthermore, the diversity of the utility industry makes it impossible to formulate generalized conclusions that are equally applicable to all individual utility systems and utility customers. (ERA citation 03:050504)