A Screening Model for Utility Strategic Planning

This paper describes an integrated set of computer models called The Screening System which is designed for utility strategic planning in Northern States Power Company. The Screening System consists of a Control System and five application models, viz., the Generation and Fuel Model (GAF), the Gas Supply and Cost Model (GSC), the Capital Expenditure and Recovery Model (CER), the Subsidiary and Acquisition Model (SAQ), and the Financial Impact and Reporting Model (FIR). This System is interactive and extremely fast to execute so that a large number of scenarios and alternatives can be evaluated quickly. Thus, it can be used to study many system planning and financial planning issues in order to select a limited number of alternatives for more accurate comparisons using detailed models. The experience of Northern States Power Company with the Screening System is also reported in this paper.