Worth of a watt: The new economics and technologies

Abstract

In a study presented at INTELEC in 1978 and updated in 1981 , the capital-equivalent cost of continuously dissipating a watt in a Bell System central office was examined. It was estimated that the worth of an ac watt in 1977 was $7.22, and in 1979, with revised assumptions, was $11.31. Thirty years have passed since these studies. This paper examines the economic and technology changes that have developed since that time, and presents a revised estimate of the worth of a watt as it is processed through a typical central office power-processing chain. The technology of the loads in a central office is also reviewed to provide a sense of the changing level of dissipation that has occurred and that can be expected.