New Blog Looks at Future Challenges for Integrated Resource Plans and Utilities
WASHINGTON, DC—Integrated Resource Plans (IRPs) are meant to guide investment and procurement decisions to help regulated utilities. They are used in over half of states. This week, the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) rejected the planning document for the state’s major utility, Dominion Energy. Specifically, the SCC found that the utility did not account for the impact of the $870 million expenditure on energy efficiency programs that the utility is required to invest.
Dallas Burtraw, Senior Fellow at Resources for the Future (RFF), writes in his new blog post: “The failure in this case to adequately account for demand-side management options raises the following question: Is the IRP process in general up to the task?” Dr. Burtraw’s new blog is called Does Integrated Resource Planning Integrate Electricity Demand?
The post summarizes the findings of a report released this week by Dr. Burtraw and Jake Duncan, graduate student at Bard College, that addresses this question by surveying IRPs from a sample of eight utilities.
The answer the study finds is that the current approach will not be adequate in the next decade when the possibility of expanded electricity demand—due to electric vehicles, other technologies, and the expanded introduction of renewable resources—elevates the dynamic problem of scheduling demand to match the timing of when supply is available.
The coauthors ask whether the IRP process as it is practiced today can provide a platform for navigating the expected expansion of the electricity sector. Dr. Burtraw notes in the post that expansion can benefit consumers as well as electricity companies, but it also introduces a complex new dimension.
The author points out, “For electrification to offer environmental benefits, it must involve a growing role for renewable resources.”
Read the full blog here.
Read the new paper here.
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