ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS 

The Changing Spatial Oi stri bution of Electric Generation 

in New Jersey 

by Catherine Hebson McVicker, Ph.D. 

Dissertation Director: Professor Michael R. Greenberg 

The distribution of electric generating stations in New Jersey was mapped from 1882 to 1980 in order to see how location patterns in the industry have changed in response to urbanization, technological change in the industry, and public concerns. A Sequence of locational stages distinguished by increasingly complex sets of location constraints was identified. 

The stages include (I) an era of econolnic constraints lasting from 1882 to approximately 1900, (11) a long era of combined economic and technological constraints commencing about 1900 and ending after 1950, and 

(111) an era of combined economic, techno1 ogical ,and environmental constraints beginning about 1950 and coming to a standstill. in the late 1970's. A fourth era is now underway characterized by an encompassing economic constraint. 

Innovation diffusion theory, particulary Brown's "market and infrastructure perspective" provided a theoretical framework for the locational stages. The link between generating station location and urbanizatioq, and the presence of the hierarchical diffusion process is confirmed by location quotients derived from the data. 'Nearest neighbor analysis of the distribution of generating stations both statewide and within four substate regions revealed locational tendencies to cluster or disperse unique to utility territory. 

The analysis of location decision-making and resulting distribution of central stations resulted in the following conclusions: 

(1) Location choices must continue to be made, whether the sites selected 

are within New Jersey or beyond the state boundaries, (2) the amount and variation in demand, available technology, and public perception of 

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preferential avoidance-exclusion areas are the current determinants of 

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i 	location, (3) the present regulatory process concerning siting needs rethinking because the multiplicity of policies is too often detriment- al to ultimate consumers, and (4) utility managers, used to constructing ever larger traditional facilities and previously mandated to provide electricity as demanded, must realign company policy with the realities of the eighties. 

The analysis suggests two consequences for future electricity production for New Jersey: (1) Non-location utility policies, e.g.. in the area of end-use management, will have more impact in the short-run on the 

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location of future generating stations than will the introduction of exotic 

or alternative energy sources, and (2) location decisions will increasingly 

favor out-of-state sites.