Grid, batteries or generators: which should power your festival?

You're comparing festival power quotes, and everyone seems to be pricing a different event. One supplier has offered a generator. Another has proposed batteries. The venue says you can use its grid connection, although nobody has confirmed what else shares it. Which one gives you a reliable festival at a cost your budget can carry?

Start by getting the available grid supply properly assessed. Then ask qualified suppliers to compare workable arrangements against the same equipment, timetable and service requirements. Batteries, generators and combinations of the two can all have a role. The best proposal explains where the electricity comes from, how it reaches each activity, what happens when conditions change and everything you will pay to make that service available.

I would put a confirmed, practical grid connection on the shortlist first. It may remove the need to bring generation to that part of the site. But a connection that needs expensive temporary cabling and distribution equipment, has restricted availability or cannot support the agreed demand may change the decision. The same applies to a battery quote that leaves charging to you or a generator quote that excludes operating cover.

This guide walks through the comparison, including a supplier brief, a fictional cost example and the records to collect afterwards. It is for the person approving the event budget and coordinating suppliers. The electrical design, equipment selection and installation need qualified specialists who have assessed your actual site.

Define the service before choosing the equipment

A useful power brief begins with what happens at the festival. Where are the stages? When do the traders arrive? Does refrigeration stay on overnight? Who is working after the audience leaves? Those questions describe the service you need to buy. A proposed machine only becomes meaningful once a supplier has matched it to that service.

Collect an equipment schedule from production suppliers, traders and anyone bringing an activation. Ask for the equipment description, its manufacturer's electrical information, the intended location and the operating hours. Include a technical contact who can answer the contractor's questions. Don't make your office team translate an appliance label into a supply specification.

Make the schedule cover build and breakdown as well as public hours. A festival open for an afternoon may need electricity during preparation the previous day. A bar can finish selling while its refrigeration still needs to run. Those extra periods affect the equipment booking, operating cover and, for a battery proposal, the charging arrangements.

Identify services that are essential to safe operation with the responsible specialists. Their requirements must be satisfied before you compare optional commercial arrangements. A cheaper proposal that omits an agreed safety provision is incomplete. It doesn't become an acceptable alternative because the event director is willing to accept more financial risk.

The Health and Safety Executive's electrical safety guidance for events identifies site layout, the timetable of demand, available mains supply, emergency power and environmental conditions among the planning considerations. This is Great Britain guidance. Ask your contractor to confirm the current rules and standards applying at your location, rather than copying technical requirements from another event.

For the wider survey and utility coordination, use our outdoor event power and water guide. For this decision, give every bidder the same approved information and ask them to state any departure from it. You want to understand why proposals differ before deciding whether one is better value.

Separate power demand from energy needed over time

Two figures answer different questions. Power, measured in kilowatts, describes how quickly equipment uses electricity at a particular moment. Energy, measured in kilowatt-hours, describes the amount used over time. A proposal needs to address both the demand it can serve and the duration it can serve it for.

The Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources explains these units in its energy storage guide. Its terminology distinguishes a battery's power output from the amount of energy it stores. Those definitions help you read proposals; the guide's examples for homes and businesses don't establish the suitability of a hired festival system.

Here's a deliberately simple, invented example. Suppose an assessed group of equipment averages 12 kilowatts for five hours. Multiplying the two gives 60 kilowatt-hours of energy delivered to that equipment. This is arithmetic to explain the units, not a battery hire specification. The contractor still needs to assess the actual equipment and conditions.

Now suppose another group uses the same 60 kilowatt-hours over ten hours at an average of six kilowatts. The energy total matches, but the operating period and average demand differ. Neither total tells you the highest simultaneous demand or what happens when equipment starts. A supplier must consider those requirements separately.

Ask the battery supplier to distinguish advertised storage capacity from the usable energy it commits to deliver under the proposed operating conditions. Get it to account for losses, operating limits, the required reserve and the condition in which the equipment arrives. Don't apply a generic discount yourself and assume you've made the proposal conservative.

Generator proposals may describe their output using different rating terms. Ask the contractor to explain those terms and how the proposed equipment meets your requirements. A generator's output rating cannot be compared directly with a battery's energy capacity. Compare the services the systems are designed to deliver, with the supplier responsible for selecting suitable equipment.

Check what the grid connection actually gives you

Ask the venue for a site visit involving its authorised technical representative and your electrical contractor. They need to confirm the usable supply, its location, permitted hours and any other activity sharing it. A photograph of an outlet or last year's successful event doesn't establish what is available for yours.

Find out who can authorise use of the connection. The landowner, venue manager and electricity account holder may have different responsibilities. Ask what permission or additional work is needed and when it can be confirmed. Keep a proposed connection marked unconfirmed until the relevant people have accepted the arrangement.

Then price the route to the equipment. Electricity at the far edge of a site can still require temporary distribution, meaning the equipment and cabling carrying power around the site, plus protected routes, installation work and access arrangements. Have the contractor assess those requirements against the actual layout. The venue's electricity charge is only one part of the grid proposal's cost.

Check shared use explicitly. Another event, a permanent tenant or an adjoining kitchen may need the same supply. Ask the venue to confirm what is committed to your festival and how changes are controlled. You shouldn't discover during soundcheck that the agreement depended on somebody else remaining closed.

For a recurring festival, ask about permanent improvements separately from this year's temporary arrangement. A connection upgrade might make sense over several confirmed dates, but the cost, permissions and delivery timetable need their own assessment. Don't count a future improvement as available capacity for the event you're booking now.

Grid power also needs a failure plan. Have the specialists explain which services need an uninterrupted supply, what alternative is proposed and how the event responds if supply is lost. Our event backup power guide develops that separate question. Here, include the agreed provision in every comparable quote so one option doesn't look cheaper simply by leaving it out.

Make a battery proposal explain charging and delivery

A battery stores electricity that came from somewhere else. Ask where it will be charged, when it will be ready and who is responsible for confirming its starting condition. If the proposal assumes charging at the venue, that connection and its availability need the same scrutiny as a grid supply used directly.

Work through the entire hire period. Can the battery deliver the agreed service without recharging? If recharging is planned, what supplies it and what equipment keeps operating meanwhile? Ask the supplier to describe the sequence in ordinary language, alongside its technical plan. A reference to overnight charging leaves too much unanswered.

For example, refrigeration may need power through the very period the supplier intends to use for charging. The proposal has to explain how both requirements are met. Moving a charging activity into the night doesn't make the remaining demand disappear, and it may introduce staffing or access costs that weren't in the initial quote.

If batteries will be exchanged, confirm the delivery window, suitable access, lifting arrangements and the people authorised to carry out the work. Put that movement into the site schedule. A replacement unit available at a depot is different from one that can be delivered and brought into service before the agreed operating limit is reached.

Ask how the team will know action is needed. The supplier should define monitoring, the point at which it contacts event control and the response available. Your supervisors need instructions they can use, such as who receives a warning and which activity may need to pause. They shouldn't be estimating remaining runtime from an unfamiliar display.

A battery system can avoid engine exhaust at the place it supplies equipment while discharging. That is useful when assessed alongside location, noise and audience experience. It doesn't establish that the whole event has no emissions or that the equipment needs no safety planning. Ask the supplier and relevant specialists about siting, access, weather, fire precautions and emergency arrangements for the specific system.

Make a generator proposal explain the operating plan

A generator quote needs more than a hire period and a machine description. Ask how the supplier expects it to operate through the event, what fuel provision is included and who is responsible for checking and replenishing it. Match those arrangements to the actual service hours, including the quiet periods between programme activities.

Get the fuel estimate tied to the proposed operating schedule and equipment. Ask the supplier what evidence supports it and which assumptions could change the final bill. A fuel allowance in a quote may be a budget estimate, an included quantity or a chargeable minimum. Have the supplier say which, and explain how actual consumption will be recorded.

Check transport and access before agreeing the location. Deliveries, refuelling and collection need routes that remain workable after fencing, trader vehicles and audience areas are installed. If servicing can only happen during restricted windows, the supplier must account for that in its proposal. Event control needs to know what access it is expected to protect.

Exhaust is a separate planning concern from noise. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's carbon monoxide guidance explains that fuel-burning equipment can produce dangerous carbon monoxide and warns against operating portable generators in enclosed spaces. Its household placement advice isn't a festival layout specification. Have your competent supplier assess the actual installation, nearby occupied structures and ventilation openings.

Ask who is present to operate or respond to the equipment, and which hours their price covers. An on-call service may be appropriate for some arrangements, but the proposal should state how a response is provided at your site. If restoring the agreed service depends on someone arriving, include that dependency in your decision.

Finally, ask whether a different arrangement would serve changing demand more appropriately. The supplier might propose separate supplies or a combined system. Let it demonstrate the reasons and costs for your schedule. Don't demand a smaller generator, a particular operating percentage or a fuel saving copied from another festival without the assessment needed to support it.

Ask what a combined system changes

A hybrid proposal combines sources, such as a generator and battery, under an agreed control arrangement. The useful question is what each source does during your festival. Which equipment is supplied, when does the generator run, when does charging happen and what happens if one part becomes unavailable?

Ask the supplier to show the normal operating sequence before discussing savings. For a quiet period, it might propose serving approved equipment from stored energy while the engine is off. For another period, it may need the generator running and charging the battery while also serving demand. The technical supplier needs to confirm the complete arrangement.

The charging demand belongs in the plan. If a proposal lists only what attendees and traders consume, ask how it has accounted for charging and associated losses. Otherwise, its fuel or electricity allowance may describe part of the service while the price assumes you will provide the rest.

Confirm how changes are controlled. If the event adds a trader or extends its closing time, who reassesses the operating sequence? A combined system can give the supplier useful options, but those options depend on its design, controls and the people managing it. They aren't permission for other contractors to add equipment without approval.

Also ask whether the extra equipment creates extra delivery or staffing requirements. A lower forecast fuel bill can coexist with a higher overall hire cost. That may still be worthwhile because of another agreed benefit, such as reducing engine operation during a sensitive programme period. State the benefit and price it openly.

You can accept a combined proposal without making a claim that it is universally better. Ask the supplier to explain why it suits this event and what evidence you will receive afterwards. If the promised operating pattern cannot be demonstrated or depends on unresolved access, leave the proposal conditional until those questions are answered.

Reduce avoidable demand before increasing the order

Before committing, ask the production lead and electrical contractor whether the brief includes equipment that can be removed or scheduled differently. Start with the programme and the service people need. An unused display can be omitted; refrigeration needed for food safety cannot simply be switched off to make a smaller proposal work.

Give traders a realistic submission process. Ask them to list what they will actually bring, then confirm the approved equipment and any service charge before the event. If you advertise an included power allowance, have the contractor help define what it means. A vague promise of power included encourages assumptions on both sides.

Attendance forecasts can inform the commercial conversation, but they don't replace assessed technical demand. You might reduce the number of uncommitted trader pitches before signing contracts. Once equipment and services are promised, a slower ticket-sales week doesn't automatically reduce what those suppliers need. Review actual changes with the people responsible for them.

If you use Loopyah's ticketing tools, your ticket types and current sales help describe the paid audience you are planning for. Add crew, traders, artists and other people outside ticket sales when discussing the operating plan. Keep the electrical assessment with the contractor; sales information is one input to event planning, not a power calculation.

Be honest about scheduling restrictions. If a proposal depends on two activities never operating together, the relevant programme and trader leads must accept that restriction. Record who controls it and what happens when the timetable slips. A theoretical saving is poor value if delivering it requires a programme your event cannot realistically follow.

Compare complete prices against one agreed brief

Send bidders the same site plan, equipment schedule, operating hours and service requirements. Ask them to identify assumptions, exclusions and anything they need another party to provide. Put a date and version on the brief. If an answer changes the scope, give the relevant clarification to everyone still bidding.

Request separate prices for equipment, transport, installation, testing, temporary distribution, operating cover, fuel or charging, site access work and removal. Ask about extended hire, delayed collection and changes to the equipment schedule. This helps you find missing work and understand which parts of the eventual bill can vary.

Don't force unlike items into misleading categories. A battery supplier may include depot charging within hire while another charges it separately. A generator supplier may include an operator within a service package. Record what the total covers and keep the supplier's explanation. Your comparison needs complete coverage more than identical invoice labels.

Here's a fictional example for a festival whose contractor has assessed the same approved service under all four proposals. Every amount is invented and in USD, with applicable taxes included on the same basis. These are not market prices, quotations or suggested equipment budgets. Each proposal includes the same required safety provisions and agreed backup performance.

The grid proposal includes $900 for equipment, delivery and access to the confirmed connection, $1,500 for installation and distribution, $300 for forecast electricity, $800 for technical cover and $1,000 for the agreed backup provision. Its forecast total is $4,500. The connection and route have both been assessed as feasible for this example.

The generator proposal includes $1,800 for equipment and transport, $1,200 for installation and distribution, $1,100 for forecast fuel, $900 for technical cover and $600 for the agreed backup provision. Its forecast total is $5,600. The backup arrangement differs in equipment from the grid proposal but meets the same approved service requirement.

The battery proposal includes $2,500 for equipment and transport, $1,200 for installation and distribution, $350 for forecast charging, $900 for technical cover and $700 for the agreed backup provision. Its forecast total is $5,650. Its charging arrangement is confirmed and the price includes the complete agreed operating period.

The combined generator-and-battery proposal includes $2,300 for equipment and transport, $1,200 for installation and distribution, $600 for forecast fuel and charging, $900 for technical cover and $600 for the agreed backup provision. Its forecast total is $5,600. The supplier has explained the operating sequence and how it meets the same brief.

On those assumptions, grid has the lowest forecast cost. Battery is $1,150 more, while generator and the combined system are each $1,100 more. The combined system's lower forecast fuel-and-charging line doesn't make its overall price lower than the generator proposal. Extra equipment costs absorb the difference in this invented comparison.

Test the assumptions that could change the decision

The grid result depends on the connection and route being available as assessed. Suppose a subsequent site restriction adds $1,400 to the grid installation price, with everything else unchanged. Its revised total becomes $5,900. The generator and combined proposals at $5,600 are now $300 cheaper; the battery proposal at $5,650 is $250 cheaper.

That is a sensitivity check, meaning you change an assumption to see whether the choice changes. It isn't evidence that grid installation usually overruns. In a real comparison, ask the contractor for the actual revised scope and price. You may also have to revisit feasibility, permissions or the service itself.

Test variable consumption separately. Starting again from the original proposals, suppose generator fuel costs an extra $400 and no other line changes. Its total becomes $6,000. The combined proposal remains $5,600 only if its own consumption assumptions still hold. Don't apply a saving to one option while quietly giving another the same old optimistic estimate.

You may decide to pay a premium for an operational benefit. For example, an assessed battery arrangement might support a programme where engine noise in a particular location would be unacceptable. Record that as a requirement or a benefit you are buying. Ask the supplier to verify the actual acoustic performance rather than accepting a promise of silence.

Keep that decision separate from assumptions about ticket sales. You cannot treat the premium as recovered revenue unless you have a credible reason to expect additional paid demand. Changing the power system may protect delivery of the promised programme without increasing sales. That can still justify the purchase on its actual merits.

Check payment dates too. A cheaper forecast total can require more cash before the event. Put deposits, staged payments, variable charges and any refundable security amounts into your event cash-flow forecast. A refundable amount may affect cash availability without being an event expense; record when and under what conditions it is expected back.

Give environmental claims their own evidence

There are several different things you might want to improve. You could reduce engine operating time near a performance area, use less fuel on site, reduce local exhaust, or lower the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the power service. Those are different results. Choose the one you intend to measure and avoid treating the others as automatic consequences.

A battery charged away from the festival still uses electricity. If it is charged by a generator, that fuel belongs in the relevant comparison. If charging comes from a grid connection, record the source and the method used to account for it. A supplier's equipment label doesn't establish the environmental result of your event.

Ask for a comparison covering equivalent service and a stated period. Does it include build and breakdown? Transport and collection? Charging away from site? Fuel used to recharge? Establish the boundary, meaning which activities the calculation includes. A narrower calculation can be useful if the resulting claim clearly states its limits.

For UK operations, the government's greenhouse gas conversion factors provide reporting factors based on activity data. The collection includes the 2026 edition. Have the person preparing your calculation select the appropriate year, activities and units. Other countries need an appropriate local method; don't assume UK electricity factors describe charging elsewhere.

Keep estimates separate from measurements. A supplier's forecast can support your procurement decision if its method and assumptions are clear. After the festival, request the actual available records and explain any remaining gaps. Missing charging data doesn't become zero charging simply because the system was already full when it arrived.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority's Green Claims Code checklist calls for clear, accurate claims supported by current evidence and fair comparisons. It also addresses misleading omissions and the scope of wider claims. Use that UK guidance where relevant and check the requirements applying to your own marketing.

If you can only verify that a specified area ran without an engine operating there during certain hours, say that. Don't extend it into a claim about the festival's entire emissions. Your wider sustainable event checklist can coordinate the other activities. This procurement decision needs evidence specific enough to support the words you publish.

Send a supplier brief that leaves little to guess

You don't need an enormous tender document for every festival. You do need an agreed description of the job that a supplier can answer without inventing the missing event. Use the following fields as a starting point, then have the relevant specialists confirm what supporting technical information is needed.

• Event, site and contact. Name the festival, the venue representative, the production lead and the person authorised to approve commercial changes.

• Dates and service hours. Include delivery, installation, checks, build, public operation, overnight demand, breakdown and collection restrictions.

• Current site plan. Identify intended activity locations, proposed service areas, access routes and known venue conditions requiring assessment.

• Equipment information. Attach the submissions from production suppliers, traders and activations, including their technical contacts and operating periods.

• Confirmed site supply. Record the venue's verified offer, permissions and shared-use conditions, or state which information remains unresolved.

• Required service. Explain which activities must operate, their approved interruption requirements and the specialist safety provisions every proposal must satisfy.

• Supplier proposal. Ask for the normal operating sequence, charging or fuel arrangements, technical responsibilities and consequences of an unavailable source.

• Complete price. Request included work, variable assumptions, exclusions, payment dates, change charges and what another provider must supply.

• Acceptance and cover. Ask how readiness will be demonstrated, who attends, who responds during operation and what records will be handed over.

• Measurement. Specify the fuel, electricity, operating-time and charging records you want, with the method and limits of any environmental comparison.

Tell suppliers which alternatives you want them to evaluate, while allowing them to explain why an option is unsuitable. A competent bidder refusing an unworkable arrangement is providing useful information. Ask it to identify the missing condition and a feasible alternative rather than forcing a price for something it cannot responsibly deliver.

Require a plain description of exclusions. If a proposal says charging is by others, name the provider and get that provider's agreement. If the venue supplies access, identify who opens the gate and when. An unresolved dependency should remain visible in the comparison until the responsible party confirms it.

Set a response date that leaves time to resolve these questions. Rushing from the first quote to booking can make an incomplete proposal look settled. Before accepting, check that every priced option answers the final version of the brief and that any supplier clarification has reached the people delivering the affected work.

Before sending the brief, decide who can answer a supplier's clarification. A trader can confirm its equipment details, but that doesn't give it authority to accept an extra charge on the festival's behalf. Tell bidders where commercial approvals come from and ask them to identify proposed changes before carrying them out.

Pay attention to proposals that meet only part of the timetable. A battery package covering public hours may be useful if another confirmed arrangement supplies build and overnight services. Price the complete combination, including the handovers between providers. It would be misleading to compare that partial package with a generator service covering the entire site period.

You can also compare separate arrangements for different areas. A confirmed grid connection might serve a nearby building while another assessed system serves a remote stage. Ask one qualified lead to coordinate the technical responsibilities and interfaces. Your commercial comparison should show the whole event cost and explain any difference in the service delivered in each area.

If every complete proposal is beyond the approved budget, return to the programme and commitments while there is still time to change them. Ask which optional activities can be reduced or removed and get revised assessments and prices. Removing an agreed safety requirement is not a way to close the gap. Nor should you sign an incomplete quote and hope the missing provision proves unnecessary.

Work through one festival decision before signing

Imagine the fictional Riverside Sessions festival is reviewing the original four proposals above. Maya, the event director, controls the budget. Leon, the production lead, gathers the equipment schedule and coordinates the technical suppliers. The venue's authorised technical representative confirms the grid arrangement. These names and circumstances are invented to explain the process.

Leon asks each bidder to confirm its service against brief version three. The battery bidder initially assumes it can recharge from the venue overnight. But refrigeration remains in operation, and the venue has not confirmed spare charging capacity during those hours. Leon records that dependency as unresolved rather than treating the quoted charging allowance as a complete plan.

The supplier returns a revised arrangement with confirmed charging provision, included within the fictional $5,650 total. Its technical submission now covers the full operating timetable. That makes the option comparable. Had the missing charging work increased its cost, Maya would have needed the revised total before deciding.

The grid bidder confirms the original route and included backup service. The generator bidder confirms its fuel estimate and operating cover. The combined-system bidder explains when its engine runs, how charging is supplied and which records it will provide. Leon records the specialist confirmations without rewriting them as his own equipment specification.

Maya chooses the original $4,500 grid proposal because it meets the agreed service and has the lowest forecast complete cost. She keeps the $1,400 route-change scenario in her review notes as a reason to protect the confirmed access arrangement. She doesn't add it to the approved forecast unless a change is actually expected or approved under the event's budgeting method.

Before booking, Maya checks the payment schedule and names Leon as the person who receives equipment changes. A sponsor's proposed extra display then goes through that route. Leon obtains the contractor's assessment and any revised price before Maya accepts it. The event has bought a defined service, so new equipment needs a decision rather than a convenient-looking outlet.

Accept the installed service before public operation

The booking should explain what acceptance involves and which records the supplier will provide. Ask the contractor and venue to define the required inspection, testing and technical confirmation. Then agree how the relevant event leads will check that the resulting service supports the programme and locations in the approved brief.

Use the installed layout. A supplier demonstrating equipment at its depot hasn't checked the routes, connections and operating conditions at your festival. If the entrance, stage or trader area has moved, have the affected specialists review that change. Keep the final technical records and the current operating instructions available to their intended users.

For a battery or combined system, ask the supplier to confirm the starting condition and monitoring arrangement. For a generator, confirm the agreed fuel and operating provision. For grid supply, confirm the authorised connection and shared-use arrangements. The supplier should also identify any limits that affect what event staff may promise to other contractors.

Plan tests with enough time for the supplier to restore the system to its required condition afterwards. A successful demonstration that consumes stored energy may change readiness for public operation. Get confirmation that the agreed starting condition has been restored, or that another approved arrangement is in place. Don't assume the equipment is ready because the rehearsal went well.

Give event control a short operational handover. It needs the contact on duty, current restrictions, monitoring and reporting arrangements, and the decision route if the service cannot be maintained. Keep detailed electrical work with authorised personnel. Staff should know how to report a problem without entering a restricted area or changing the installation.

Acceptance is also the point to identify unresolved commercial items. If the supplier has added work, confirm the authorisation and price through the agreed process. Separate a technical concern that prevents safe operation from an invoice question that the commercial leads can resolve. Neither should be hidden inside a general statement that everything is fine.

Keep the evidence that will improve next year's quote

Ask for records while the system is operating, rather than trying to reconstruct them after collection. Confirm who retains meter readings, charging information, generator operating hours and fuel records. The right set depends on the arrangement and the claims you intend to make. Request data the supplier can actually provide and explain any gaps.

Record changes to the event alongside consumption. An added trader, longer performance or extra overnight period can explain a difference between forecast and actual use. Without that context, you might blame the supplier for a variance created by an approved programme change. Equally, a supplier should explain a shortfall against an unchanged accepted brief.

Reconcile the final bill against the scope. Check included quantities, actual variable charges, approved additions, extended hire and any credit due. A fuel delivery invoice isn't necessarily a measurement of fuel consumed by your event; ask how remaining fuel and other relevant quantities are accounted for. Use the supplier's documented method consistently.

Keep cash deposits and expense totals separate in this review too. A returned security deposit improves cash availability without reducing the underlying service price. An amount retained for a documented charge may become an expense. Have the person responsible for the accounts apply your normal treatment and resolve any disputed charge with the supporting records.

Return to Riverside Sessions. Suppose the agreed grid service is delivered for the original $4,500 forecast, with no additions or adjustments. Maya records the actual result against that proposal. She can describe the $1,150 difference between the comparable grid and battery quotes. It is a purchasing comparison, not a measured reduction in fuel or electricity use. Any claim about those results needs the relevant operating records.

If the final cost differs, preserve the original quote and explain the cause. A confirmed route change is different from higher electricity use; extra technical hours are different from an unauthorised addition. That detail helps you improve the next brief and ask a returning supplier a specific question about what should change.

For the next festival, start with those records and a fresh description of the event. Reconfirm the venue supply, operating hours and equipment requirements. Then ask suppliers to price feasible alternatives again. Approve the proposal whose complete cost and operating plan you can explain, with a named owner for every condition it still depends on.