The meaning of this term depends on the context in which it is used.

To dispatch is to control flow and direction. Just as taxi dispatch controls how many cabs are assigned to specific areas of a city, energy dispatch controls how much energy travels through specific transmission stations to end-use service areas. Just as a taxi company requires a dispatcher to communicate with individual cabs, energy dispatch requires a human operator to schedule, monitor and control distribution of energy.

Dispatch also denotes the process of coordinating the distribution of energy on a moment-to-moment basis to meet changing load requirements.

See also: