ABSTRACT
Environmental, economic, and political issues in the latter half of the last century have made it challenging for the electric utility industry to continue with the status quo. The rising cost of primary fuels is increasingly challenging the sustainability of generating power out of fossil-based sources in the long run. And given the role that fossil fuels play in electricity generation across the world, the utility industry’s baseline costs and carbon footprints are on the rise. At the same time and since tariffs for the sale of electricity to consumers, set by utility commissions across most jurisdictions in the developed world, have not changed, utility companies face reduced revenues and therefore tighter operating budgets.
