Appalachian Power has filed its 2016 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for Virginia providing a blueprint for how it will meet its forecast load obligations in the Commonwealth over the next 15 years. The plan calls for continued reliance on its existing coal, natural gas and hydro generation plants and renewable energy contracts, while increasing large-scale or "universal" solar and wind energy, and energy efficiency programs by 2030.
Appalachian annually files an IRP in Virginia for the ensuing 15 years with the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC). In its West Virginia territory, the company submits a plan every five years with a 10-year outlook to the state's Public Service Commission.
The Virginia IRP provides a forecast of the company's load requirements and a plan to meet those obligations with supply- and demand-side resources over 15 years while maintaining reasonable prices, reliable service, energy independence, and environmental responsibility. It is based on current assumptions of customer load requirements, commodity price projections, supply-side alternative costs, demand-side management program costs, and the effect of environmental rules and guidelines.
"This plan is essentially a snapshot of a process that is constantly under review based on changing market conditions, the economy, and the adoption of new products by consumers among many other variables," said Charles Patton, Appalachian's president and chief operating officer. "We, as a company and an industry, continue to plan and adapt to the constant change of our markets so that we can remain healthy and deliver reliable power to our customers now and in the future at a reasonable price."
The 2016 IRP identifies several key components to meet its load obligations: further diversification of its mix of supply-side resources (with the addition of universal solar and wind, and natural gas generation); incorporation of additional demand-side resources; and recognition that residential and commercial customers will add distributed generation resources, primarily rooftop solar. The company's plan:
- Adds 590 megawatts (MW) of universal solar by 2030;
- Adds 1,800 MW of wind energy by 2030;
- Adds 10 MW of battery storage resources in 2025;
- Implements customer and grid energy efficiency programs reducing capacity requirements by 203 MW by 2030;
- Assumes 60 MW of customer added distributed generation including rooftop solar; and
- Continues operation of existing coal and gas-fueled generating plants.
In its final order in the company's 2015 IRP case, the SCC directed Appalachian to provide preliminary analyses of multiple potential plans that could arise from the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan (CPP). Appalachian included those analyses and possible cost impacts in this year's filing.
The SCC scheduled a public hearing for the IRP on Nov. 2. The complete filing may be found on the SCC website: http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case. It is case PUE-2016-00050.
Appalachian Power has 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is a unit of American Electric Power, one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity and custom energy solutions to nearly 5.4 million customers in 11 states. AEP owns the nation's largest electricity transmission system, a more than 40,000-mile network that includes more 765-kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. AEP also operates 223,000 miles of distribution lines. AEP ranks among the nation's largest generators of electricity, owning approximately 31,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S.
