The six networks and electric power policy, engineers, economists and ethics

Our national electric power policy is in a period of turbulence. Electricity costs have skyrocketed, reliability has declined, companies have gone bankrupt, investors and pension funds have suffered major losses, many have lost their jobs, accounting deceptions and fraud are rampant. An understanding of large electric power systems and the electric power business is needed to answer the questions of future electric needs economically and reliably. In analyzing electric power policies there are six networks, which need to be considered. The majority of the analyses of these networks has been or can be done by engineers. The networks are: the physical network, energy network, money network, communication network, regulatory network and the business and contracting network. It is by understanding the operation of these networks; the coupling between the networks and how the operation of one affects the other that one can begin to comprehend what needs to be done to have sound electric policy. Such analyses have been sadly lacking. The role of electrical engineering profession and ethical requirements are discussed in the latter part of this paper.