Electricity markets in the United States are undergoing unprecedented structural changes as a result of the confluence of regulatory, competitive, and technological forces. This paper will introduce the role of distributed generation technologies in evolving electric markets and will review both current and emerging distributed generation technologies aimed at retail industrial, commercial and residential markets. This paper will draw upon several Electric Power Research Institute’s (EPRI) and member utility case studies involving the assessment of distributed generation in premium power service, standby power and industrial cogeneration applications. In addition, EPRI products and services which can help evaluate energy service options involving distributed generation will also be briefly reviewed
