Integrated Resource Planning Workshop

RINGGOLD, Ga., January 25, 2010 – OSA, Inc.

The first workshop for the Collaborative Integrated Resource Planning Study (CIRPS) is scheduled for February 25, 2010 in Ringgold, GA. All interested parties are invited to attend. The purpose of this workshop is to present the base case data and to make refinements to the data based on input from the working group. See www.powrsym.com for more details.

The CIRPS project will bring together electric utilities, equipment suppliers, environmental organizations, financial institutions, academia, regulatory agencies and interested individuals to evaluate the long-term costs and benefits of the various resource options over a wide range of future data uncertainty. The study will take into account the total societal cost of the various options, including the impact of emissions and waste disposal. The CIRPS project will use the PowrSym model to make 30 year comparative analyses using a fictional, but very typical regional electric utility.

Options to be evaluated include continued operation, upgrade, and retirement of existing generation resources, new fossil plant technology, nuclear, solar, wind, storage options, smart grid options, grid expansion, combined heat and power options, distributed generation options, and various conservation and efficiency options.

The CIRPS project will consider uncertainties on all forecasts, for example fuel costs, environment impact costs, and cost/performance of new technologies. The CIRPS project will be conducted in an open and transparent framework with Internet-based and in-person working groups representing diverse viewpoints. The combination of many options and a wide range of uncertainties will produce thousands of simulation scenarios.

A generic regional electric utility has been created for the CIRPS study so that attention can be focused on the resource options and data uncertainty without the complications presented by support and opposition to specific real projects. The generic system begins with a typical mix of coal, nuclear, hydro, and combustion turbine resources of various vintages. It is not expected that the CIRPS project will result in a single optimal resource plan for the generic system due to the range of data uncertainty. We can expect that some options will be robust in that these options are winners over a wide range of data uncertainty. Other options will be winners under one end or the other of data ranges. Some options will be enhanced and other options penalized by their ability to respond to data uncertainty as events unfold over the study period.

The goal of the CIRPS project is to bring together all resource options and data range uncertainties in a logical computer simulation with active participation by parties of all viewpoints in a professional framework. The resulting simulations and databases will be maintained for update as new resources are developed and data uncertainty ranges shift over time.

OSA began development of the PowrSym computer model in 1983 and has enhanced it over the years to accurately model generating resources, renewable options, cogeneration options, conservation, and smart grid options. OSA provides consulting services and PowrSym support worldwide with a focus on operational and long range planning studies.

Contact:

Candace Henderson
Marketing Director
7638 Nashville Street
Ringgold, GA 30736
Candace@babb.com
(706) 965-6361