Advanced Energy Perspectives

The 2024 NV Energy Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) proceeding is coming to a close, with a decision expected from the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) by December 20, 2024.

In Nevada, an IRP proceeding is conducted every three years with the goal of ensuring that NV Energy has the resources it needs to reliably and affordably serve Nevada’s electric customers and meet state policy goals. However, NV Energy’s proposed IRP, similar to those preceding it, exemplifies how the IRP process encourages investment in new gas resources, despite the availability of cheaper clean energy resources, such as Nevada’s abundant solar, geothermal, and distributed energy resources increasingly found on Nevadans’ rooftops and driveways. 

Every three years, Arizona Public Service (APS) and Tucson Electric Power (TEP) conduct a comprehensive study predicting the amount of energy their customers will need in order to determine the energy resources required to meet those needs. This study, known as an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), is a common exercise that utilities undertake in many states. While different parts of the country have different electricity needs and varying resources available, we at Advanced Energy United (United) believe all IRPs should include a comprehensive assessment of the advanced energy resources available, a competitive procurement process, and full incorporation of any additional policies that will change resource needs or costs.

Five amendments to a three-year plan is a lot, but that’s what Nevada energy utility NV Energy has proposed to its 2021 Integrated Resource Plan. An IRP is the process through which the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) ensures the utility has the resources it needs to reliably and affordably serve Nevada electric customers. NV Energy’s 5th amendment to its current IRP would allow the utility to get major projects approved under a shortened, simplified process that doesn’t get the scrutiny an IRP should otherwise have.

Disruptive new technologies, aging infrastructure, strengthened environmental regulation, and increased energy efficiency adoption are all contributing to a rapidly changing energy landscape. In order for utilities to plan for meeting future energy demand in the most cost-effective way, many states require utilities to file integrated resource plans (IRPs) with their state public utility commissions (PUCs). IRPs first started in the 1980s in response to the desire to better integrate energy efficiency into utility planning, the unexpectedly high costs of developing nuclear plants, and the oil embargoes of the 1970s. Today, new technologies, changing market conditions, and new environmental regulations are making IRPs change with the times.