Ebook: The Virtual Utility: Accounting, Technology & Competitive Aspects of the Emerging Industry

In the winter of 1996, after 4 years of planning and research, the Symposium on the Virtual Utility was held in Saratoga Springs, New York. It was sponsored by Niag­ ara Mohawk Power Corporation, Co-sponsored by CSC Index and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and hosted by Rensselaer Poly­ technic Institute, Troy, NY. The symposium sought to identify new areas of inquiry by presenting cutting-edge academic and practitioner research intended to further our understanding of the strategic, technologically-driven issues confronting the elec­ tricity production and distribution process. The program sought to offer new in­ sights into rapid changes in the utility industry, in part, by examining analogues from manufacturing and telecommunications. In addition to identifying new research areas, the symposium yielded a number of important findings and conclusions. This volume contains the presented papers of the meeting, the discussant reports and two special papers prepared by the meet­ ing rapporteurs who performed superbly in analyzing, synthesizing, explaining and generally bringing a cohesive perspective to the interesting yet complex set of ideas presented at this unique meeting. We would like to acknowledge the people and organizations that contributed to this effort. We thank Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation and Albert Budney, its President & Chief Operating Officer for sponsoring this project, and Andrew Vesey, Vice President, I whose vision, support and championing made this project possible.

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The virtual utility (VU) is a flexible collaboration of independent, market-driven entities that provide efficient energy service demanded by consumers without necessarily owning the corresponding assets. The VU becomes a metaphor for lean, flexible electricity production/delivery and flexible, customer-oriented energy service provision.
Experience in manufacturing suggests that traditional engineering and accounting-based approaches to valuing radical innovations such as the VU are limited in that they fail to consider the full spectrum of benefits that new technologies may yield when fully exploited in a new production process. The purpose of this book is to identify new areas of research by presenting new academic and practitioner research intended to further our understanding of the strategic, technologically-driven issues confronting the electricity production/distribution process.

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The virtual utility (VU) is a flexible collaboration of independent, market-driven entities that provide efficient energy service demanded by consumers without necessarily owning the corresponding assets. The VU becomes a metaphor for lean, flexible electricity production/delivery and flexible, customer-oriented energy service provision.
Experience in manufacturing suggests that traditional engineering and accounting-based approaches to valuing radical innovations such as the VU are limited in that they fail to consider the full spectrum of benefits that new technologies may yield when fully exploited in a new production process. The purpose of this book is to identify new areas of research by presenting new academic and practitioner research intended to further our understanding of the strategic, technologically-driven issues confronting the electricity production/distribution process.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xxii
Front Matter....Pages 1-1
Editor’s Introduction and Reader’s Guide to this Book....Pages 3-15
Front Matter....Pages 17-17
Consensus, Confrontation and Control in the American Electric Utility System: An Interpretative Framework for the Virtual Utility Conference....Pages 19-41
The Virtual Utility....Pages 43-55
Being Virtual: Beyond Restructuring and How We Get There....Pages 57-67
Front Matter....Pages 69-69
The Virtual Utility: Some Introductory Thoughts on Accounting, Learning and the Valuation of Radical Innovation....Pages 71-96
Justifying Capital Investments in the Emerging Electric Utility: Accounting for an Uncertain and Changing Industry Structure....Pages 97-125
Back Matter....Pages 127-131
Front Matter....Pages 133-133
Integrating Financial and Physical Contracting in Electric Power Markets....Pages 135-174
Capacity Prices in a Competitive Power Market....Pages 175-192
Managing Risk Using Renewable Energy Technologies....Pages 193-213
Back Matter....Pages 215-220
Front Matter....Pages 221-221
Monopoly and Antitrust Policies in Network-Based Markets such as Electricity....Pages 223-248
Services in an Unbundled and Open Electric Services Marketplace....Pages 249-274
Technological Change and the Electric Power Industry: Insights from Telecommunications....Pages 275-295
Back Matter....Pages 297-303
Front Matter....Pages 305-305
Interconnected System Operations and Expansion Planning in a Changing Industry:Coordination vs. Competition....Pages 307-332
Rules of the Road and Electric Traffic Controllers: Making A Virtual Utility Feasible....Pages 333-355
Back Matter....Pages 357-367
Front Matter....Pages 369-369
The Future Structure of the North American Utility Industry....Pages 371-389
Front Matter....Pages 391-391
The Bottom Line: A Summary and Analysis of the Virtual Utility Conference....Pages 393-401
The Virtual Utility and Environmental Stewardship....Pages 403-409

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The virtual utility (VU) is a flexible collaboration of independent, market-driven entities that provide efficient energy service demanded by consumers without necessarily owning the corresponding assets. The VU becomes a metaphor for lean, flexible electricity production/delivery and flexible, customer-oriented energy service provision.
Experience in manufacturing suggests that traditional engineering and accounting-based approaches to valuing radical innovations such as the VU are limited in that they fail to consider the full spectrum of benefits that new technologies may yield when fully exploited in a new production process. The purpose of this book is to identify new areas of research by presenting new academic and practitioner research intended to further our understanding of the strategic, technologically-driven issues confronting the electricity production/distribution process.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xxii
Front Matter....Pages 1-1
Editor’s Introduction and Reader’s Guide to this Book....Pages 3-15
Front Matter....Pages 17-17
Consensus, Confrontation and Control in the American Electric Utility System: An Interpretative Framework for the Virtual Utility Conference....Pages 19-41
The Virtual Utility....Pages 43-55
Being Virtual: Beyond Restructuring and How We Get There....Pages 57-67
Front Matter....Pages 69-69
The Virtual Utility: Some Introductory Thoughts on Accounting, Learning and the Valuation of Radical Innovation....Pages 71-96
Justifying Capital Investments in the Emerging Electric Utility: Accounting for an Uncertain and Changing Industry Structure....Pages 97-125
Back Matter....Pages 127-131
Front Matter....Pages 133-133
Integrating Financial and Physical Contracting in Electric Power Markets....Pages 135-174
Capacity Prices in a Competitive Power Market....Pages 175-192
Managing Risk Using Renewable Energy Technologies....Pages 193-213
Back Matter....Pages 215-220
Front Matter....Pages 221-221
Monopoly and Antitrust Policies in Network-Based Markets such as Electricity....Pages 223-248
Services in an Unbundled and Open Electric Services Marketplace....Pages 249-274
Technological Change and the Electric Power Industry: Insights from Telecommunications....Pages 275-295
Back Matter....Pages 297-303
Front Matter....Pages 305-305
Interconnected System Operations and Expansion Planning in a Changing Industry:Coordination vs. Competition....Pages 307-332
Rules of the Road and Electric Traffic Controllers: Making A Virtual Utility Feasible....Pages 333-355
Back Matter....Pages 357-367
Front Matter....Pages 369-369
The Future Structure of the North American Utility Industry....Pages 371-389
Front Matter....Pages 391-391
The Bottom Line: A Summary and Analysis of the Virtual Utility Conference....Pages 393-401
The Virtual Utility and Environmental Stewardship....Pages 403-409
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