Economic Impacts of Electricity Supply Options

Public interest requires electric utilities to have a social obligation beyond the mere provision of electricity. As an example, the New York State Legislature recently passed (August 1992) an energy bill that establishes an integrated resource planning process to provide guidance to State electric utilities for procuring future electricity resources. It calls upon the State’s investor owned utilities to consider all options and “select the source or sources which best serve the public interest, taking into consideration such factors as … preservation or creation of economic opportunities, …”1 before purchasing power, investing in new plants, or repowering or extending the life of existing plants. To this extent, economic development has become an important consideration in the procurement of electricity resources.2