Identification and definition of unbundled electric generation and transmission services

摘要

State and federal regulators, private and public utilities, large and small customers, power brokers and marketers, and others are engaged in major debates about the future structure of the electric industry. Although the outcomes are far from certain, it seems clear that customers will have much greater choices about the electric services they purchase and from whom they buy these services. This report examines the ''ancillary'' services that are today buried within the typical vertically integrated utility. These ancillary services support and make possible the provision of the basic services of generating capacity, energy supply, and power delivery. These ancillary services include: Management of generating units; reserve generating capacity to follow variations in customer loads, to provide capacity and energy when generating units or transmission lines suddenly fall, to maintain electric-system stability, and to provide local-area security; transmission-system monitoring and control; replacement of real power and energy losses; reactive-power management and voltage regulation; transmission reserves; repair and maintenance of the transmission network; metering, billing, and communications; and assurance of appropriate levels of power quality. Our focus in this report, the first output from a larger Oak Ridge National Laboratory project, is on identification and definition of these services. Later work in this project will examine more closely the costs and pricing options for each service.