Collaborative Research: Planning for Renewables: Regional Transmission Organizations Managing Tension and Networking Innovation

该项目涉及“区域输电组织”之间的组织调整过程，这些组织负责协调美国三分之二以上家庭的电力输送。 RTO是高度复杂的社会技术组织，面临的挑战是促进电力生产和交付方式的根本转变，这是由各个州要求增加使用可再生燃料（主要来自风能和太阳能等可变能源）的任务驱动的。研究与技术组织必须通过政策创新来适应这些任务，这是一个困难的组织问题，因为研究与技术组织的决策是在一个复杂的谈判框架内进行的，涉及大量自愿的外部利益攸关方（例如，发电公司、监管机构、消费者和环境倡导者）。对三个RTO（服务于大西洋中部、中西部和加州）进行比较分析的重点是了解这些利益相关者网络如何、为什么以及何时能够导致创新。该方法融合了直接观察的政策形成过程与半结构化的采访中的配置RTO利益相关者网络和RTO利益相关者在政策过程中所采用的沟通策略的实证调查。RTO在过渡到更可持续的能源系统中发挥着至关重要的作用，决策是至关重要的环境质量，经济增长和安全，以及社会福祉。这项研究的重点是了解复杂动态组织中的沟通过程，将提供直接的见解，有助于对社会福祉至关重要的类似组织和基础设施的可持续转型。我们的参与奖学金计划包括收集有关利益相关者对RTO内政策形成过程的看法的主要数据，以及与大学研究人员，行业从业者和监管机构联合举行的会议和研讨会。

This project addresses the process of organizational adaptation among "Regional Transmission Organizations" (RTOs), which coordinate the movement of electricity to more than two-thirds of households in the United States. RTOs are highly complex socio-technical organizations that are challenged to facilitate fundamental transformations in how electricity is produced and delivered, driven by individual state mandates requiring increased use of renewable fuel sources (primarily from variable sources such as wind and solar energy). RTOs must adapt to these mandates through policy innovation, a difficult organizational problem since decision-making by RTOs happens within a complex negotiation framework involving a large number of voluntary external stakeholders (e.g., electricity generating companies, regulators, consumer and environmental advocates). The focus of this comparative analysis among three RTOs (serving the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and California) is to understand how, why, and when these networks of conflicting stakeholders can lead to innovation. The approach blends direct observation of policy-formation processes with semi-structured interviews in an empirical investigation of the configuration of stakeholder networks within RTOs and the communication strategies employed by RTO stakeholders within the policy process.RTOs play a critical role in the transition to more sustainable energy systems, making decisions that are pivotal to environmental quality, economic growth and security, and social well-being. The focus of this research, which is designed to understand processes of communication in complex dynamic organizations, will provide direct insights that can contribute to the sustainable transformation of similar organizations and infrastructures critical to social well-being. Our program of engaged scholarship includes the gathering of primary data on stakeholder perceptions of policy-formation processes within RTOs, as well as meetings and workshops held jointly with university researchers, industry practitioners, and regulators.