Issues in the Future Supply of Electricity to the Northeast

摘要

This assessment of the problems of the electric sector is part of the BNL study on the Energy Future of the Northeast. Topics covered by the issue papers include the potential supply of energy to the Northeast from coal, oil, natural gas, liquefied natural gas, nuclear power, municipal waste, solar energy, and wind power, and the demand for energy in the Northeast from the industrial, transportation, and residential and commercial sectors. This paper compares energy demand projections derived in other parts of the Northeast Energy Perspectives Study to current utility projections; discusses major technical issues in capacity forecasting, including system load factors, outage rates, scale economies, unit sizes, and generation mix planning; discusses major siting constraints faced by each type of generation in the Northeast; and prepares preliminary forecasts of the number and type of new generation facilities necessary by 1985 and 2000, and an analysis of the implications for regional siting policy. (ERA citation 03:018460)