The SPS is a centralized (baseload) power concept because it would transmit an essentially constant output through a grid network from a site located at some distance from the point of end use. It is one of several baseload concepts proposed for use in the post- 2000 era, and like the other systems would work best in a fairly substantial power pool. The SPS does not require a national grid, however. The debate over centralized vs. decentralized energy systems has arisen as one consequence of the tail-off of scale economies in the utility industry. Even assuming that utilization of decentralized energy systems increases over time, this does not rule out the need for a centralized system to provide massive amounts of power for energy intensive processes (the production of aluminum and silicon used in decentralized technologies, for example) and to serve customers who do not find decentralization feasible. In this regard, the Argonne National Laboratory has recently published a report0 which suggests that it is the small commercial and industrial enterprise that would most likely suffer in a decentralized scenario. Also, most decentralized technologies rely on a central system to provide back-up energy. If this adds to the existing peak demand, more centralized generating capacity would be needed, the utilities' load factor would be worse and electricity costs would be higher. On the other hand, if decentralized users could coordinate their demands to coincide with off-peak hours this would reduce total generating capacity required, improve the utilities' load factor and reduce the cost of electricity. It should thus be possible for distributed and centralized energy systems to develop a symbiotic relationship. Greater individual self-reliance through end-user ownership of decentralized systems, need not be threatened by the co-existence of centralized systems.3° 37Asbury, J.A. and S.B. Webb, "Centralizating or Decentralizing? The Impact of Decentralized Electric Generation,” ANL/SPG-16, Argonne National Laboratory, March 1979. 38 "Centralized vs. Decentralized Energy Systems: Diverging or Parallel Roads?", prepared for the Subcommittee on Energy and Power, House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, by the Congressional Research Service, May 1979, p. 18.
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