Regional Partners Advance Project to Explore Energy Resource and Infrastructure Options to Meet Regional Energy and Environmental Needs

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today the U.S. Department of Energy’s Grid Deployment Office (GDO) announced the launch of the Pacific Northwest Regional Energy Planning Project (PREPP), a broad engagement‐based planning process that will produce regional analyses of infrastructure investments that will be required to meet the goals and requirements of regional participants, including resource adequacy, decarbonization, ecosystem priorities, and system resilience and reliability. Funded by GDO and the Washington State Department of Commerce, the 18-month study will explore how utilities in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington can plan infrastructure investments to address complex dynamics facing the region such as high load growth, electrification, planning for extreme weather events, and meeting decarbonization targets.

The Northwest is facing a combination of energy system challenges, including resource adequacy, historic load growth forecasts, climate impacts to a hydropower-dominated system, natural resource and ecosystem concerns, and decarbonization. However, most current planning for generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure takes place at the individual utility level. More granular and coordinated analysis and planning could make it easier for the many entities involved in owning, operating, and investing in the regional grid to understand and address these challenges.

PREPP will combine best-in-class datasets and projections on weather trends, extreme weather events, and new electricity demands to produce a set of future scenarios that can meet growing regional demand, provide reliable electric service, and align with regional energy policies. The study will provide potential infrastructure solutions to address the needs and challenges identified without prescribing any specific actions. It will examine at least one scenario looking at what infrastructure and resources could be needed to replace the power and services provided by the four Lower Snake River Dams should Congress authorize removal, consistent with DOE’s commitments per the December 14, 2023, Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. Government, the four Treaty Tribes of the Lower Columbia River, and the States of Oregon and Washington.

PREPP does not replace or duplicate current planning processes or any utility’s integrated resource plan or resource acquisition plan but can help quantify and evaluate the impacts of various infrastructure options available to the region. PREPP’s process will rely on a Steering Committee representing regional, community, Tribal, utility, and state perspectives, as well as a Technical Committee that will comprise planning and resource acquisition subject matter experts to guide the technical decisions in the study.

Learn more about the Grid Deployment Office.