Distributed Generation (DG) has become the catchall name for a set of technologies that provide energy to loads in a geographically dispersed context. The promise of DG technology proponents lies little short of the complete transformation of the electric utility industry. However, DG devices face an increasingly efficient electric commodity market and a century-old first-mover advantage held by existing utilities.
Strategic planning is the process through which a business positions itself to defend against future threats and exploit future opportunities. For all businesses involved in energy markets, this process must account for potential DG technology advances. However, the uncertainty inherent in forecasting technology changes confounds the planning process and often leads to the formation of internal factions holding extreme points of view.
For proper positioning to occur, decisions must be made in a prejudicial-free manner. This presentation will give a brief overview of DG technologies and introduce uncertainty-adjusted quantitative models to estimate the impact of DG developments. A methodology will be explained to appropriately weight DG-specific variables against the balance of the electric commodity landscape. The result is a de-biased probabilistic estimation of DG's future that enables a scenario-based strategic planning process customizable for business segments within the energy industry.
Ed Lennox is a management consultant in the Energy practice of Arthur Andersen Business Consulting. Before joining Andersen, Ed held power engineering positions in the R&D Division of S&C Electric Company and in the Engineering Services Group of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. He holds Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Science degree in General Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). His thesis works focused on power engineering, control theory and mechanical dynamics. Ed holds an MBA from the University of Chicago full-time program with concentrations in finance and general management. He is a recipient of the 1997 UIUC Grangier Award for Power Engineering Excellence, and a member of academic honor societies. Ed is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Illinois and a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
| Location | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Bar Association | 11:30 AM | Social | |
| 321 South Plymouth Court | 12:00 PM | Lunch (optional) | |
| (near Jackson & Dearborn) | 12:15 PM | Presentation | |
| Chicago, IL 60604 | 1:00 PM | Adjourn | |
| 312-554-2000 |