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

该项目涉及“区域输电组织”(RTO)之间的组织适应过程，这些组织协调向美国三分之二以上的家庭输送电力。RTO是高度复杂的社会技术组织，面临着促进电力生产和输送方式的根本性变革的挑战，这是受个别国家要求增加使用可再生燃料来源(主要来自风能和太阳能等可变来源)的推动。区域技术组织必须通过政策创新适应这些任务，这是一个棘手的组织问题，因为区域技术组织的决策是在涉及大量外部自愿利益攸关方(例如，发电公司、监管者、消费者和环境倡导者)的复杂谈判框架内进行的。对三个RTO(服务于大西洋中部、中西部和加利福尼亚州)进行比较分析的重点是了解这些相互冲突的利益相关者网络如何、为什么以及何时能够带来创新。该方法将对政策形成过程的直接观察与半结构化访谈相结合，对RTO内部利益相关者网络的配置以及RTO利益相关者在政策过程中采用的沟通策略进行了实证调查。RTO在向更可持续的能源系统过渡中发挥着关键作用，做出对环境质量、经济增长和安全以及社会福祉至关重要的决策。这项研究的重点是了解复杂的动态组织中的沟通过程，将提供直接的见解，有助于类似组织和对社会福祉至关重要的基础设施的可持续转型。我们的参与式学术计划包括收集利益相关者对RTO内政策形成过程的看法的基本数据，以及与大学研究人员、行业从业者和监管机构联合举办的会议和研讨会。

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.