Electricity is a commodity that has captured the attention of Americans, from its creation to the present and onward to projections of the future. From an object of luxury to a mainstream "staff of life" and forward into the sophisticated world of tomorrow, electricity has become a critical necessity. The criteria have become: electricity on demand, reliably delivered, in sufficient quantities, and at the right price. At the heart of meeting this challenge is the utility planner.

Generating and delivering electricity requires a complicated infrastructure, significant funding, competitive markets, and adequate regulation. Broken into its simplest terms, utility planning is beginning with the most optimum operation of existing electrical facilities and foreseeing the future well enough to provide additional facility to "guarantee" an adequate supply of a reliable product (electricity) at an acceptable cost. Generation provides the product, transmission is the vehicle to deliver the product...