Technology opportunities in a restructured electric industry

This paper describes the Strategic Research & Development (SR&D) program of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). The intent of the program is to anticipate and shape the scientific and technological future of the electricity enterprise. SR&D serves those industry R&D needs that are more exploratory, precompetitive, and longer-term. To this end, SR&D seeks to anticipate technological change and, where possible, shape that change to the advantage of the electric utility enterprise and its customers. SR&D`s response to this challenge is research and development program that addresses the most probable future of the industry, but at the same time is robust against alternative futures. The EPRI SR&D program is organized into several vectors, each with a mission that relates directly to one or more EPRI industry goals, which are summarized in the paper. 1 fig., 2 tabs.