Current IRP Accomplishments
Western’s Integrated Resource Planning requirements based on Section 114 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992, give customers several options to meet or streamline these requirements. The requirements, updated in 2000, recognize the changes occurring in the utility industry and our customer’s varying size and structure. These changes also streamlined the reporting requirements without sacrificing the EPAct’s intent.
Customers must submit annual progress reports and new integrated resource plans every five years, and may now submit them individually or cooperatively when they belong to member based associations.
The IRP regulations allow customers to set action plan timelines (instead of a five-year minimum) to better correspond with their own situations. The regulations require only a brief summary verifying that one was conducted. Customers can submit a brief description of measurement strategies for the options identified in the IRP.
In FY 2010, Western received 78 IRPs from individual customers, 25 plans from cooperatives, 48 minimum investment reports, 89 small customer plans and 5 energy efficiency/renewable energy reports.
Customer reported trends include:
- Large increases in investment in audits, efficiency and demand-side management activities
- Decreased investments in renewables due to unknown and unstable regulatory direction
- Increased demand for renewable energy technologies in all (commercial, industrial, residential and institutional) market segments. Renewables are a hedge against voalitility in energy prices
- Increased requests for education and information transfer on DSM, energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies
- Increased exchange of ideas among energy service providers
The most frequent demand-side management activities cited by Western’s customers are:
- Lighting technologies
- Air conditioning technologies
- Audits for residential, commercial and industrial facilities
- Motors and adjustable speed drives
- Refrigerator and freezer efficiency measures
The top five renewable energy resource choices are:
- Small-scale hydro
- Wind generation
- Solar—PV
- Geothermal (all types--ground source heat pump, heat pump water heaters, generation)
- Biomass/bio-gas
IRPs are driven by customer need and requests. Cost and reliability used to be the major priorities and they still are, but climate change and environmental issues, national security, social issues, economic issues and political issues have joined the list. The potential for additional regulation on emissions is another factor that will certainly influence the results of many IRPs.