Performance driven plant management

Plant maintenance in the regulated electric utility industry, has historically been driven by availability and capacity considerations. Operation's role has been to keep the units on-line and at the maximum load available. With the recent emergence of independently produced power and considerations of further deregulation of electric power production, an increasingly competitive environment is being created. Performance Driven Plant Management focuses on an integrated management approach to operation, engineering and maintenance. The application of the concepts of Performance Driven Plant Management to the electric utility industry becomes one of incorporating the historical management philosophy, built around concerns for availability and capacity, into a more comprehensive framework built around a concern for overall plant effectiveness. 5 refs., 1 tab