New Control Paradigms for Deregulation

Restructuring of the electric energy utility industry is well underway, even as wide-ranging debate continues about desirable and achievable nature and goals. At this stage of the process, it would be a mistake to assume that any of the experiments in restructuring that are now under way necessarily represent the final patterns that will develop over the next decades. It is important to remember that the traditional industry structural and operating paradigms evolved together, in symbiosis. Energy management in general, and automatic generation control in particular, have been part of that evolution, which has reflected a generally stable pattern of vertically integrated, regulated corporations. The industry’s management and control structures have been effective, in large part because they reflected the existing industry structure. If the industry structure had evolved differently, operating practices no doubt would be quite different. It is to be expected, then, that a radically restructured industry will need, and will develop, new control structures adapted to the new circumstances. One should consider what operating practices, irrespective of past practice, would be most congruent to the new, disaggregated structure?