Download Final Report

The Center for the Advancement of Energy Markets (CAEM) shares the growing apprehension of many industry stakeholders regarding the future of local distribution companies (LDCs or DISCOs) in the gas and electric sectors.  In response, CAEM created a blue ribbon panel of 50 leaders in the energy industry, public and private, to thoroughly analyze the risks and opportunities for the "DISCO of the Future," and, most importantly, to make consensus-based policy recommendations to decision-makers at all levels of government. 

After a year of deliberations among the stakeholders, The DISCO of the Future Forum successfully accomplished the following:

• Examined and critiqued the traditional regulatory model for distribution service as compared with the pure DISCO model.
• Facilitated an intensive, yearlong discussion that resulted in new thinking, new ideas, and new modes of cooperation and collaboration between the stakeholders.
• Reached consensus where possible, and when consensus was not possible, worked towards the narrowing of differences between the stakeholders.
• Produced a Final Report that is being widely distributed to policymakers and other stakeholders.  The Final Report contains more than 200 findings and policy recommendations that will form the basis for revising old regulations and, when necessary, the promulgation of new regulations and standards pertaining to the DISCO of the Future.
• Conducted outreach and public education regarding these issues to decision-makers, the media, and the general public.

The DISCO of the Future Forum released a number of white papers -- on outsourcing, provider of last resort, the UK experience, to name but a few -- and a Final Report that is expected to have an immediate and important impact on policy and business decisions that affect DISCOs and their customers over the next few years. 

As part of CAEM's public mission, we are pleased to make all of the documents available to the public free of charge.  If you would like to share the document with your colleagues, CAEM encourages you to do so but does ask that permission be granted by CAEM first or that your colleagues access the document through our web site.

CAEM has also been asked to present the results and findings of the Forum and other CAEM projects, e.g., the results of RED Index 2002, to various organizations at their sites as part of a training session. CAEM is willing to do so for a modest fee.  If interested, please contact Jamie Wimberly, CAEM President, at jwimberly@caem.org

Finally, everyone at CAEM would like to warmly thank the participants of the Forum for their hard work and dedication.  This effort would not have been possible without their support.

Documents Associated with the DISCO of the Future Forum
To obtain any of the following documents, click here

• Final Report (PDF)
• Project Description (39k PDF)
• Scoping Report (138k PDF)
• Bibliography (230k PDF)
• Participants Directory (16k PDF)
• Distribution Utilities: Business Models and Financial Issues (PDF)
• Survey Topics (PDF)
• The Pure DISCO: The Evolution of the UK Electricity Distribution Utility (89k PDF)
• The Role of the Default Provider in Restructuring Energy Markets (PDF)
• Distribution Utility Outsourcing (PDF)