Why do energy companies plan for the future?

The landscape of energy delivery changes every day. New technologies and government legislation enter the scene. New customers, from single-family homes to big businesses, move into service territories. Fuel prices fluctuate.  

Energy companies use advanced computer modeling and optimization to consider these factors and create resource plans. They consider future scenarios and factor in ways to support requests made to regulatory agencies. The goal of resource planning is to ensure safe, cost-effective, reliable and responsible energy solutions for all customers both now and in the future.    

Energy companies routinely reevaluate plans to account for the dynamic world of energy generation and evolving policies. Updates ensure plans reflect the evolving market, risks and regulations associated with various energy generation options like solar, wind, battery energy storage, natural gas and others.  

As computational and modeling programs continue to improve, companies can explore complex scenarios more efficiently and better understand potential challenges. That includes fluctuations in commodity prices and supply chain disruptions, such as those caused by weather events, like a polar vortex, or global pandemics.  

Energy companies also update their resource plans when evaluating new generation sources and decommissioning existing generating facilities. Think of generating facilities like mechanical systems on your car. They don’t last forever and typically become more costly to maintain over time. Just as you plan for the best time to repair or replace your car, resource planning for electricity generation helps find the optimal time to update or retire existing power plants.  

In our ever-evolving energy landscape, resource planning serves as a roadmap to guide energy companies through the complexities of tomorrow’s power generation. Whether considering the adoption of new technologies or decommissioning aging generating facilities, resource plans help companies determine the lowest risk, highest reward options to meet future electricity demands efficiently, affordably and reliably.  

Learn more about our resource plan, the Clean Energy Blueprint, here.