Scott Hassell

This report addresses the conceptual basis, design, and implementation of the National Environmental Performance Track program. The voluntary program sought to encourage facilities to improve their environmental performance and provide a more collaborative relationship between facilities and regulators. While the program had mixed success, EPA should continue to seek out new approaches to complement and enhance traditional regulatory approaches.

Greater use of information and communications technologies (ICTs) marks a U.S. transition toward a "digital society" that may profoundly affect electricity supply, demand, and delivery. RAND developed four 2001-2021 scenarios of ICT evolution and assessed their implications for U.S. electricity requirements. Even large deployment of ICTs will only modestly increase U.S. electricity use over the next two decades. The more pressing concern will be how to meet the increased need for higher-quality and more-reliable power that accompanies ICT use.