OAR 860-090-0110: Integrated Resource Plan Updates

(1) Purpose. The IRP Update primarily serves to: (a) Provide visibility into the utility’s implementation of the near-term action plan; (b) Facilitate efficient scrutiny of any changes to the near-term action plan; and (c) Identify whether the utility’s long-term resource strategy remains relevant. (2) Timing. In any calendar year that the utility does not file an IRP, the utility must file an IRP Update no later than the anniversary date of filing the prior IRP or IRP Update. (3) Filing requirements. The energy utility must complete and submit its IRP Update filing using the IRP Update template approved by the Commission and available on the Commission’s website. The utility must submit with the filing all information and data required by this rule and under the template in machine-readable format. In addition, the energy utility must include in the IRP Update: (a) A description of the resource actions and actions toward enabling strategies the utility has taken since the most recent IRP or IRP Update; (b) Updates to the most recent IRP reference case to reflect any key planning information that has been obtained or developed by the utility, such as updated load forecasts, fuel prices, wholesale market prices, and resource costs; (c) Quantitative comparison of updated reference case forecasts with the range of planning scenarios considered in the Company’s most recent IRP; (d) An updated needs assessment based on changes to conditions, future expectations, and utility actions since the most recent IRP or IRP Update; (e) The date on which assumptions were last updated to inform the needs assessment; and (f) A description of any changes to the near-term action plan, including changes to acquisition targets, that the utility has made in response to changes in conditions, future expectations, and utility actions since the most recent IRP or IRP Update. (4) Availability of information. The utility must publish all information submitted with the IRP Update filing to the utility’s website in a machine-readable format. Information exempt from disclosure pursuant to a protective order issued by the Commission may be provided in redacted form. The utility must keep the published information available to the public until the utility has filed two subsequent IRPs. (5) Additional requirements for an electric company subject to ORS 469A.415. An electric company that is subject to ORS 469A.415 must also include in the IRP Update: (a) An assessment of what has changed since the CEP acknowledgment decision that affects the electric company's progress toward the clean energy targets in ORS 469A.410; (b) Measured values for all community benefits indicators adopted in the most recent CEP for the previous three years, to the extent available, and, if measured values for a community benefits indicator are not available for the previous three years, an explanation of how the electric company plans to measure that community benefits indicator in future years; (c) A summary, with quantitative information, of how the community benefits indicators reported in the most recent CEP have informed the electric company’s implementation of its action plan; and (d) The electric company's two most recent annual emissions data reports filed with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality . (6) Commission action. The Commission may decide to accept an IRP Update and may further specify the extent to which it is accepted. In making a decision whether to accept the IRP Update, the Commission may also provide direction to the utility regarding the substance or filing date of the next IRP. Acceptance of the IRP Update may indicate that updates to the utility’s action plan presented in the IRP Update are consistent with the scope of a prior IRP acknowledgment order. In making a decision on acceptance and providing direction to the utility regarding the substance or filing date of the next IRP , the factors the Commission may consider include: (a) Whether the utility’s strategy materially deviates from the most recent IRP; (b) Whether external conditions or the utility’s circumstances or planning expectations have significantly deviated from the planning scenarios considered in the most recent IRP; and (c) Public input regarding the utility’s IRP Update and its preparations for the next IRP.