Decentralizing Electricity Production

Decentralizing Electricity Production

Howard J. Brown, Tom R. Strumolo

Yale University Press | New Haven

ISBN: 978-0300025699

ISBN-10: 300025696

Updated: 2024-11-07 16:312024-11-07

Published with assistance from the Kingsley Trust Association Publication Fund established by the Scroll and Key Society of Yale College.

Copyright © 1983 by Yale University.

All rights reserved.

This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers.

Designed by James J. Johnson and set in Melior Roman type by P & M Typesetting, Inc.

Printed in the United States of America by Halliday Lithograph, West Hanover, Massachusetts.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Main entry under title:

Decentralizing electricity production.

Includes index.

I. Electric power production—Addresses, essays, lectures. I. Brown, Howard J., 1945-

II. Strumolo, Tom Richard, 1952- TK1005.D38 1983 363.6'2 83-3677

ISBN 0-300-02569-6

Copyright ©1983

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Copyright Holder.

ENCODED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Dedication

Dedication

Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements

Preface and Acknowledgements

I  The Context for Reform

1 Problems, Planning, and Possibilities for the Electric Utility Industry

2 Technology Is the Answer!

3 The Pendulum Swings Again: A Century of Urban Electric Systems

II  Managing Decentralization: The Tools, Rules, and Fuels of Reform

4 The Potential for Diversity: The Production Alternative

5 The Electrical Energy Production System in Transition: The Critical Factor of Reliability

6 The Grid as Energy Absorber and Redistributor

7 The Advantages of Integrating Decentralized Renewable Electrical Technologies: A Connecticut Case Study

8 Restructuring the Electric Utility Industry: A Modest Proposal

III  Issues in Decentralization

9 Diseconomies of Scale

10 Energy: Jobs and Values

11 Planning Practically for a Decentralized Electrical System: How Past Experience Can Guide Us

12 Contributors

Index

Index

Table of Contents

Dedication

Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements

The Context for Reform

Problems, Planning, and Possibilities for the Electric Utility Industry

Technology Is the Answer!

The Pendulum Swings Again: A Century of Urban Electric Systems

Managing Decentralization: The Tools, Rules, and Fuels of Reform

The Potential for Diversity: The Production Alternative

The Electrical Energy Production System in Transition: The Critical Factor of Reliability

The Grid as Energy Absorber and Redistributor

The Advantages of Integrating Decentralized Renewable Electrical Technologies: A Connecticut Case St

Restructuring the Electric Utility Industry: A Modest Proposal

Issues in Decentralization

Diseconomies of Scale

Energy: Jobs and Values

Planning Practically for a Decentralized Electrical System: How Past Experience Can Guide Us

Contributors

Index