OPTIMIZATION METHODS FOR ELECTRIC UTILITY RESOURCE PLANNING

Electric utility resource planning is the selection of power generatio n and energy efficiency (conservation) resources to meet customer dema nds for electricity over a multi-decade time horizon. Because investme nts in these resources are large, electric utilities became one of the earliest users of optimization methods. The industry is now an eager consumer of the operations researcher's wares, and is a continual sour ce of stimulating problems. The first purpose of this review is to exa mine how the needs of utility planners for optimization models have ch anged in response to environmental concerns, increased competition, an d growing uncertainty. The second purpose is to survey the range of mo dels that have developed in response to those needs, and to identify g aps requiring further research.