Energy planning

Energy planning has a number of different meanings. However, one common meaning of the term is the process of developing long-range policies to help guide the future of a local, national, regional or even the global energy system. Energy planning is often conducted within Governmental organizations but may also be carried out by large energy companies such as electric utilities or oil and gas producers. Energy planning may be carried out with input from different stakeholders drawn from government agencies, local utilities, academia and other interest groups.

Energy planning is often conducted using integrated approaches that consider both the provision of energy supplies and the role of energy efficiency in reducing demands (Integrated Resource Planning). Energy planning should always reflect the outcomes of population growth and economic development.

Energy planning has traditionally played a strong role in setting the framework for regulations in the energy sector (for example, influencing what type of power plants might be built or what prices were charged for fuels). But in the past two decades many countries have deregulated their energy systems so that the role of energy planning has been reduced, and decisions have increasingly been left to the market. This has arguably led to increased competition in the energy sector, although there is little evidence that this has translated into lower energy prices for consumers. Indeed, in some cases, deregulation has led to significant concentrations of "market power" with large very profitable companies having a large influence as price setters.

Approaches to energy planning depends on the planning agent and the scope of the exercise. Several catch-phrases are associated with energy planning. Basic to all is resource planning, i.e. a view of the possible sources of energy in the future. A forking in methods is whether the planner considers the possibility of influencing the consumption (demand) for energy. The 1970s energy crisis ended a period of relatively stable energy prices and stable supply-demand relation. Concepts of Demand Side Management, Least Cost Planning and Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) emerged with new emphasis on the need to reduce energy demand by new technologies or simple energy saving.

In the United States the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 PURPA and more comprehensively the Energy Policy Act of 1992 introduced these concepts into the legal system, to be further detailed by individual states.

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