Integrated Resource Planning at Tacoma Power

This presentation will provide an overview of the 2017 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). An IRP is intended to ensure the utility can provide reliable power at lowest reasonable cost and risk over the long term. Historically, the primary questions Tacoma Power has asked in the IRP have been whether, when and which new resources are needed to meet future demand and regulatory requirements. However, the IRP may soon require asking new questions: Does the traditional utility business model need to change? How do we evolve in an increasingly constrained environment?

Load growth in the region has been in decline for quite some time; however, the 2017 IRP update marks the first planning cycle in which Tacoma Power’s load is actually projected to be lower in 20 years than it is today. For an industry that has been built on and supported by growth in demand for decades, declining load growth will require innovative thinking and planning.

Speaker(s): Ahlmahz,

Location:
Seattle, Washington