William Barclay Parsons Fellowship Program The William Barclay Parsons Fellowship Program was started in 1985 to honor PB's founder and encourage technical excellence in the firm. This annual program sponsors employees' exploration of state-of-the-art topics and demonstrates the importance of developing technical mentor relationships within the firm. Fellows publish their findings for use by colleagues and the entire engineering community. Two recent fellows and the results of their studies are: "Park-and-Ride Planning and Design Guidelines" by Rob Spillar. Rob's monograph, first printed in 1997, has been widely accepted by the industry. In addition to agencies in the U.S. it has been requested and complimented by agencies in Brazil, New Zealand, Australia and Europe. The publication is being used in the development of new park-and-ride systems and in the expansions of existing ones. The monograph has been instrumental in securing the following projects: - Indianapolis Park-and-Ride System Plan, which identified eight new facilities for programming - Southwest Wisconsin Park-and Ride System Plan, which has identified more than 40 new facilities for programming - Puget Sound Park-and-Ride System Plan Update, which has 43,000 new spaces programmed through 2030 at a construction value of nearly $1 billion - San Jose Valley Transit Smart Parks Project. "Application Guidelines for the Egress Element of the Fire Protection Standard for Fixed Guideway Transit Systems," by Martin Schachenmayr. Martin's monograph is being used by both designers of fixed guideway transit systems and authorities that are charged with confirming compliance with fire/life safety requirements. First published in 1998, the monograph has proven to be a valuable tool in helping designers and enforcement communities all over the world improve their understanding of emergency evacuation requirements and in facilitating the dialogue between the two groups. The second edition of the monograph is scheduled to be published in early 2001. The program is open to all employees of all PB companies worldwide, including affiliates. Information is available from the MS Exchange public folder (All Public Folders\ Office of Professional Practice\Career Development Committee\Parsons Fellowship) or from the PB Website (http://www.pbworld.com under "PB IN PRINT").

Transmission System Management Pricing

The monograph entitled "Transmission System Management and Pricing" was published in September of 1998. Deregulation of the electric power industry was in its infancy in the U.S. at that time and many states were evaluating how and when restructuring would occur within their jurisdictions. Only a few states had started implementing changes.

Today, electric power industry deregulation and restructuring is occurring in more than half the states in the U.S. As a result of the electric utility market being opened for competition, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of proposed new power projects. According to a recent survey by the U.S. Department of Energy, more than 100 GW of new generation projects are in the planning stage in the U.S. alone. The research and groundwork done for the monograph are now fostering PB Power's participation in some of these new projects and in our support of U.S. clients who are becoming active in the international market.

Impact of the Monograph

The objectives of the monograph, which is outlined in the box on the following page, were to:

• Evaluate the changes occurring in the U.S. electric power industry
• Demonstrate the importance of the transmission system in a competitive power industry
• Identify new power purchase options available to end-use customers
• Propose an approach, tools and methodology to fully exploit these opportunities.

It is anticipated that PB Power will generate over $1 million in revenue this year alone from the type of system studies outlined in the monograph. In addition, the monograph has led to the development of a business unit that is participating in the deregulation of the U.S. electric power industry. Techniques discussed in the monograph are now the basis for assisting developers and utility companies by comparing potential locations of new or additional generation plants and their impact on the transmission system. The front-end analysis work has also helped our firm to gain new clients and win larger projects.


Additionally, though the monograph focused on the U.S. electricity industry, it has been an effective complement to related work done by PB Power, and, principally, its predecessor, Merz and McLellan, which have been deeply involved in the subject since deregulation first started in the UK in 1989, and in some dozen other countries in Europe, the Middle East and Australia.

The monograph has resulted in a useful addition to PB's toolbox and has provided a marketing tool for transmission and generation planning studies for both markets within and outside the U.S. It has also helped to establish ongoing relationship with PB Power's divisions in the UK and New Zealand. Not a bad return on the investment from a research project!

Conclusion

The deregulation of the U.S. power industry has created tremendous opportunities for PB and our existing and future clients. Clients poised to take advantage of the changes are typically independent power producers (IPPs), municipalities, investor-owned utilities (IOUs), and large industrial and commercial and institutional entities, including transit/transportation authorities. We are very much interested in providing technical and marketing assistance to help capitalize on these opportunities and are willing to offer presentations, brown-bag seminars or other assistance to other PB divisions, clients and prospective clients. Please contact me at 1-972-780-0705 or talati@pbworld.com for further information.