ABSTRACT
Mindful that among power companies both interest and experience in participatory planning have been growing, on March 4 and 5, 1982, the Edison Electric Institute convened the industry's first major workshop on the subject. All were held on the first day, which began with a chairman's presentation that identified generic patterns in some 58 cases of participatory site planning by utilities, according to six basic parameters of interest. Happily, as announced in the Preface to this compendium, the Committee has responded to this suggestion and authorized the formation of a standing Task Force on Public Participation, to develop and implement a work plan of its own. The rationale for involvement was also on the minds of every speaker and came up spontaneously in open discussions, including those held during the wrap-up sessions at the end of each day. Last on the workshop agenda, appropriately, was the question of future directions.
