Incorporating global warming risks in power sector planning: A case study of the New England region. Volume 1

Abstract

The pertinence of the topic of inquiry contained in this report became apparent in discussions during 1989 and 1990 among members of the Conservation Committee of the National Association of Utility Regulatory Commissioners (NARUC), scientists of Lawrence Berkeley Lab's (LBL) Energy Analysis Program, and the managers of the Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) program at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Similar policy analysis questions were being raised by the Office of Policy Analysis at the U.S. EmAronmental Protection Agency (EPA). These deliberations resulted in a decision to have LBL undertake an illustrative case study of the utility system in New England. The project, which was jointly funded by DOE and EPA, dovetailed with state externality policy developments in that region. Notably, the Department of Public Utilities of the state of Massachnsetts.(MADPU) had adopted in 1990 a rule establishing monetized externality adders as part of a new integrated resource management (IRM) process for the state's utilities. The MADPU adder system, which is undergoing continued review at the time of this writing, includes a substantial externality surcharge for carbon dioxide emissions from new power plants. Because the six New England states are being served by an electric power pool, their utility regulatory commissions decided to investigate whether they might adopt a uniform policy on the externality issue. In 1990 and 1991, several workshops and meetings were held under the auspices of the New England Governors' Conference (NEGC) and the New England Power Planning Committee, in which regulators and utilities discussed their concerns regarding options to incorporate externalities into utility resource planning. The present study is one input to these region-wide deliberations, which continue at the time of this writing.

The potential for electricity efficiency improvements in the US Residential Sector

“…Such a comparison should be undertaken as an extension of this paper. For further discussion of such comparisons, see Krause et al (1991).…”

US Department of Energy Integrated Resource Planning Program: Accomplishments and opportunities

“…A related DOE IRP sponsored project investigated incorporating global warming risks into power sector planning (Krause, Busch, and Koomey, 1992). This study examined the potential for reduced carbon emissions in the New England power sector, as well as the cost and rate impacts of two policy approaches: environmental externalities surcharges and a target based approach.…”