INTEGRATED RESOURCES PLANNING BY UTTLITTES SERVING U.S. METROPOLITAN AREAS

This paper describes utility-driven integrated resource planning activities in the United States of America, including state energy policy and how utilities respond to it in ways that involve natural-gas-based demand-side R&D and technologies, and natural-gas supply strategies. Technologies used for demand-side management include natural-gas-based residential and commercial building heat pumps and chillers, cooking and water heating appliances developed for restaurant applications, and automobiles, buses, and trucks that use natural gas instead of gasoline. These technologies reduce the cost of meeting urban energy needs, as for example gas space cooling reduces the need for expensive electric peaking units, or improve the urban environment, as for example natural gas vehicles permit growth in vehicular traffic without concomitant growth in smog and the human respiratory disorders that accompany it. The paper focuses on programs developed by three utilities serving medium and large metropolitan areas − Atlanta, San Francisco, and Seattle.