An Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) is a comprehensive planning process used by electric utilities and regulators to make decisions about how to meet future electricity demand; it is both an assessment of future needs and a plan to meet those needs. Wisconsin does not currently have a mandated public IRP process as part of its utility regulatory framework, unlike nearby states Minnesota, Michigan, and Ohio. While utilities in Wisconsin conduct internal IRP processes, this information is not available to the public or regulators, inhibiting public participation in long-term utility investment planning. Given Wisconsin’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels for its electricity, Clean Wisconsin asked EAP students Jennifer Bui, Ryder Belgarde, Jamie Valentine, and Mike Garcia to find and understand the implications of mandating IRPs for Wisconsin on clean energy development, power system reliability and affordability, and sustainability.
Students analyzed current practices, providing a comparative summary of the objectives and requirements of IRPs in Minnesota, Michigan, and Ohio, which are similarly situated economically, geographically, and politically to Wisconsin. They looked at frequency of filing, planning horizon, and progress timeline of environmental policy and IRPs, focusing on three overarching utility developmental goals: sustainability, affordability, and reliability. Key indicators to measure these goals, respectively, included carbon emissions, average retail price, and frequency of power outages. The students set out to determine whether a robust IRP leads to states achieving their three utility development goals and, if so, to share the results with Wisconsin environmental policy organizations. The group found that IRPs in each state are similarly constructed and appear to be achieving similar results; however, there does not appear to be any significant difference in goal achievement that would suggest that an IRP alone had a strong influence.