Washington law (RCW 19.280) requires all electric utilities to create and regularly update resource plans. These plans help estimate how much electricity will be needed and what resources will be available to meet that demand over time. The goal is to ensure that utilities are planning ahead to provide reliable and cost-effective electricity. Every two years, utilities must share their plans or progress reports with the public and submit a summary of their estimated electricity needs for the next 10 years to Commerce. Commerce compiles this information and reports it to the state Legislature.
Integrated resource plans
Utilities that don’t get all of their electricity from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) must create an integrated resource plan (IRP) every four years and submit a progress report every two years. A “full requirements customer” is a utility that receives nearly all of its power from the BPA, except for all up to six megawatts from renewable energy or non-dispatchable energy resources.
The IRP must include:
- 10-year projection estimates for customer demand
- Conservation and efficiency assessment
- Resource assessment
- Comparative resource evaluation
- Transmission assessment
- Resource adequacy assessment
- Long-range load assessment
- Short-term plan
- A 10-year clean energy action plan
- Equitable clean energy transition assessment
The assessments must consider the anticipated levels of zero-emissions vehicle use in a utility’s service area.
Resource plans
Full-requirements customers and utilities with fewer than 25,000 customers can opt of creating a full resource plan. Instead, they can submit a simpler resource plan that includes:
- Estimated electricity needs for the next five and 10 years
- A prioritized list and evaluation of selected resources
- A 10-year action plan for complying with the Clean Energy Transformation Act’s greenhouse gas neutral and 100 percent clean-energy standard
Most utilities that are fully or almost fully served by BPA must complete resource plans that consist of a summary (cover sheet) of their estimated loads and resources over the 10-year planning period.
The assessments must account for the anticipated levels of zero-emission vehicle use in a utility’s service area.