Brattle Economists Recommend Moving Beyond "Baseload" Generation For Planning And Operating Today's Electric Grid

Economists at The Brattle Group have released a report today explaining how the use of the term "baseload" generation is no longer useful for the purposes of planning and operating today's electricity system.

Prepared for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Brattle report examines why traditional "baseload" power plants, such as coal and nuclear, are becoming less economical, why their ability to produce power continuously is less essential in today's supply mix, and why operational flexibility is an increasingly important ingredient for a cost-effective supply of electricity. Despite changing market fundamentals that have reduced the previously favorable economics of coal-fired and nuclear power plants, "baseload" generation is still often perceived to be connected with the concepts of system need and system reliability due to the historical use of the term.