Was the PURPA beneficial to US eclectic power system? Due to the energy crisis in the United States, public values changed and made a huge impact on government. The US government started to focus on conserving energy and increasing overall electricity's efficiency. As a result, the Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act (PURPA) was created to serve as a law to control and serve both government and individuals. PURPA prevented utilities from constructing more power plants that consume a high amount of fuels. Another reason behind inhibited utilities from building more and more power plants was to limit the amount of pollution that pushed into the atmosphere. In addition to the government's awareness of pollution by its entire means, people…show more content… One of the most significant aspects that PURPA concentrated on was efficiency. It persuaded electric power companies to enhance their power plants production’s efficiency to reach its maximum level. PURPA encouraged firms to use cogeneration beside their main generation sectors. To highlight, cogeneration is a way to not produce only electricity, but also produce heat. Cogenerator used the wasted heat to increase the efficiency of the power plant. As a result, it can conserve more fossil fuels and keep the environment from pollutions.
Moreover, usage of renewable energy sources was persuaded by PURPA. It created many policy incentives for renewable energy technologies uses. Consequently, many benefits were accomplished both economically and environmentally. In terms of economy, a natural monopoly by industry power corporations was not considered anymore because of the competition of renewable energy firms. In the environment, on the other hand, the amount of pollution, which produced by fossil fuels, has been reduced since many renewable energy sources used in the generation of…show more content… The competition took place not only between other utilities but also within themselves as well. For instance, a company like Southern California Edison competed with Los Angeles Department of Power and Water on who can provide customers with a lower price. PURPA encouraged lots of qualifying facilities such as Wind Turbine and Solar Thermal collectors. Therefore, both Southern California Edison and Los Angeles Department of Power and Water have countless options to work with those facilities to produce electricity. Furthermore, the efficiency can be improved by installing the cogeneration sectors besides the main generators. An open market in power production leads to competition between sections. Consequently, customers are the main winners in this
