**Combining AHP Method with BOCR Merits to Analyze the Outcomes of Business Electricity Sustainability**

Rabah Medjoudj, Fairouz Iberraken and Djamil Aissani

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/64042

#### **Abstract**

Over the last three decades, many researchers and decision makers have investigated separately the issues of economic growth, profitability, and quality of life when thinking about business electricity sustainability. The correlations between these paradigms still remain at the stage of discussions, debates, and forecasts as a reaction to the occurred conflicts and disasters. There is a lack of real encryption that demonstrates their interactions. It is useful to materialize the expectations of stakeholders by mathematical modeling and providing answers to specific wants of each society according to its financial resources, its concrete societal objectives, especially to which kind of energy legacy it wants to contribute to future generations. It is imperative that experts assist decision makers, through transparent methods that seek consensus. To this end, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method was proposed as it has proven its efficiency in many areas of human activities. The outcomes were analyzed using this method, and the findings were compared and recommendations were made using other multi‐criteria decision‐ making (MCDM) methods. As for energy sustainability, it is imperative to move toward renewable energy resources while trying to hold together the benefits, opportunities, costs, and risks (BOCR). We have retained that status quo is not sustainable.

**Keywords:** electricity sustainability, AHP, BOCR, renewable energy resources, cost‐ benefit analysis

### **1. Introduction**

Sustainable development revolves around the legacy we bequeath to future generations, but it must meet the aspirations of the current generation. Can we build the future by ignor‐

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ing the present? No. How about the electricity sustainability? The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) describes electricity as a solution, an essential foundation for a sustainable world. Modernization of the electric system will increase productivity, contribute to economic growth, and transition to cleaner technologies and environmental sustainability, and it can also increase the reliability and safety of food while reducing the risk of failure or dangerous electrical disturbances as stated by North American Electric Reliability Corporation [1] and Bauchot and Marcaux [2]. In this chapter, we have investigated the main indicators of electricity sustainability, the multi‐criteria decision‐making methods that allow highlighting decision makers' attitudes and customers' reactions, and finally the merits of some energy resources taking into account simultaneously profitability and quality of life. Nowadays, many companies face the option to expand their business and venture into new global market. For their long‐run growth planning, they are required to consider sustainability as a performance index. Decision makers should combine several indicators such as economic, social, and environmental, which are the three main pillars of sustaina‐ bility. Many opinions were raised on the importance of such an area. Based on the Brundt‐ land report of the United Nations in 1987, some researchers consider equal importance for the three areas [3]. However, Doane and Mac Gillivray [4] have reported that most of the existing sustainability management tools and systems are mainly designed by environmen‐ talists and social scientists. Some do refer to economic sustainability but are so sketchy that they would be inadequate for actually managing a real business. They have shown that maintaining high and stable levels of economic growth is one of the key objectives of sustainable development. Murphy [5] has stated that a relatively limited treatment has been afforded to the social pillar. The author showed the way to expand the parameters of the latter by connecting it empirically to the environmental imperatives. The tilting of the societies in the areas of new technologies and sustainable development is a matter of decision making, knowing that the tools are available with the duty of obtaining the desired results. Today, we should face the decision making on business electricity sustainability in a multi‐criteria context, including various energy resources technologies with their posi‐ tive and negative attributes. Over the past three decades, a considerable progress has been made in multi‐criteria decision analysis (MCDA), and many examples of applications can be found in the literature in different areas, such as design and control of complex sys‐ tems, energy management, environment protection, territory planning and development. To provide knowledge and to assist decision makers, several researchers in sustainability have suggested the use of multi‐criteria decision‐making methods (MCDM) [6–10]. A review of the literature on analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and BOCR combination has generated a great interest in such fields, and it will be generalized to both enterprise long growth and electricity sustainability. The rest of the chapter is organized as follows: The BOCR sub‐ nets development is discussed in Section 2. AHP development is provided in Section 3. It is followed by reviews of its combination with BOCR merits and a concept development in Section 4. Section 5 is devoted to the economic criteria and to cost‐benefit analysis meth‐ ods. The electricity sustainability development with an application to a case study is discussed in Section 6. Conclusion and future work are provided in Section 7.
