ABSTRACT
Over the past 20 years, electric utilities have been challenged by economic, regulatory, institutional, and technical developments. As they continue to respond to these challenges, utilities can be expected to alter the way they conduct their business, including the way they operate, the way they plan, and possibly even the way they are structured. Over the past 20 years, electric utilities have been challenged by economic, regulatory, institutional, and technical developments. As they continue to respond to these challenges, utilities can be expected to alter the way they conduct their business, including the way they operate, the way they plan, and possibly even the way they are structured. If intelligent controllers and switches are added, it might even be possible for these local generation, storage, and load control capabilities to be dispatched for system-wide needs as well.
