A community farmer creates plans that ensure there’s enough affordable food for their customers at a farmer’s market stall. In a similar way, energy industry resource planners create plans to ensure there’s enough power supply for customers throughout the year as cost-effectively as possible.
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 evaluating and preparing for the adoption of new technologies or decommissioning aging generating facilities, resource planners focus on identifying the lowest risk, highest reward options to meet future electricity demands efficiently, affordably and reliably.
A variety of factors, including changes in greenhouse gas regulations, advancements in technology and shifts in energy demand, can influence the cost of resource plans. Energy companies use technology to explore and model energy generation scenarios, influencing factors and associated costs.
Other factors to consider include:
- Generation source lifecycle costs. Construction, operation and decommissioning costs vary for solar, wind, natural gas and coal-fired energy generation. Using our farmer example, this is like choosing the right crops. Some may require more maintenance but supply more produce; others may require more upfront work but keep producing with little additional effort.
- Customer growth. More customers moving into an energy company's service territory can spread the cost of energy more widely, potentially lowering costs per customer. When more people shop at a farmer’s market, the farmer can spread costs over more people and reduce the price of their products overall.
- Optimized placement. Strategically planning where to build new generation resources can save on transmission and construction costs. Some generating facilities will do better in certain locations than others, as some crops might need more sunshine or require different soil than others.
When planning how to generate energy, one of the most critical factors is cost. Ensuring energy remains affordable for customers is a complex process. Resource plans help companies prepare for the future, keep costs manageable and ensure reliability. Learn more about how energy companies create these plans here.