In a general public meeting on Feb. 10, PacifiCorp announced they were going to apply for an extension on their Integrated Resource Plan (IRP).
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In a general public meeting on Feb. 10, PacifiCorp announced they were going to apply for an extension on their Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). Originally to be filed on April 1, 2021, the company stated their new deadline date would be Sept. 1, 2021, with public meetings April-August.
According to PacifiCorp’s website, “the IRP is a comprehensive decision support tool and roadmap for meeting the company’s objective of providing reliable and least-cost electric service to all of our customers. The plan is developed with considerable public involvement from state utility commission staff, state agencies, customer and industry advocacy groups, project developers, and other stakeholders.”
The plan is filed every other year and focuses on the first 10 years on a 20-year planning period, according to PacifiCorp. The plan specifically creates steps that can be implemented in the next two to four years.
During the meeting, PacifiCorp said their new modeling software has been having performance issues and the extension is needed to fully prepare their IRP.
“The object of the IRP is to develop the best portfolio of resource types that is the least-cost least-risk path forward for our customers,” Rocky Mountain Power and PacifiCorp spokesman David Eskelsen said. “Each edition of the IRP is an updated look at the future based on the most recent information we have.”
One reason Kemmerer and other plant locations look to this plan is to find out about future plans for plants.
“So, the plan is more of a roadmap for the future, and updated information with each successive edition may show that changes are indicated,” Eskelsen said. “For example, the anticipated retirement dates for Naughton and other generating units in the 2017 IRP were different from expectations in the 2019 edition of the IRP. There may be additional changes in the 2021 edition.”
While this may mean extended time before closure or other changes, Eskelsen said it is too early to make any predictions.
“The fact is, the current round of computer modeling of the economics and reliability is still in progress, so there are no results as yet,” Eskelsen said. “Any speculation about how that might change is likely meaningless at this point.”
