Link between traditional planning and energy management

In simple terms, community energy planning is the process of envisioning a desired future state of energy supply and consumption for a local area and designing the appropriate measures to implement that future. While energy planning can be distinguished from other specialized concerns, such as housng or transportation planning, there are also major similarities which bind all these elements together. These similarities and differences are discussed. Community-level energy planning represents a natural extension of the comprehensive planning process. As the comprehensive plan has grown in the past to reflect new subjects of public concern such as environmental quality and economic development, so it can evolve further to address society's growing interest in energy use. Because the general purpose, process, and implementation devices associated with energy planning tie it closely with the comprehensive planning process as currently practiced, incorporating energy issues into the comprehensive plan should be a relatively simple matter.