trending Market Intelligence /marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/ixNhNVZslxoMJVuOlExvrg2 content esgSubNav
In This List

PacifiCorp aims for 7,000 MW of new wind, solar, batteries by 2025

Podcast

Next in Tech | Episode 49: Carbon reduction in cloud

Blog

Using ESG Analysis to Support a Sustainable Future

Research

US utility commissioners: Who they are and how they impact regulation

Blog

Q&A: Datacenters: Energy Hogs or Sustainability Helpers?


PacifiCorp aims for 7,000 MW of new wind, solar, batteries by 2025

PacifiCorp outlined its preferred energy resource plan for the next 20 years with an emphasis on transitioning to clean energy by retiring 16 of its 24 coal plant units over the next decade and adding more than 7,000 MW of solar, wind and storage, plus major transmission projects for those new resources.

The Berkshire Hathaway Energy subsidiary announced its preferred portfolio on Oct. 3 as part of the 2019 integrated resource plan it plans to file on Oct. 18 with the six state utility regulatory commissions in which it operates.

The company plans to acquire more than 3,500 MW of new wind generation by 2025, including 1,500 MW currently under construction in Wyoming. It also plans on 3,000 MW of new solar by 2025, including resources acquired through customer partnerships. Nearly 600 MW of battery storage paired with solar also is planned to be put into service over the next five years.

To deliver the new resources, PacifiCorp plans to build the $1.8 billion, 400-mile Gateway South transmission line from southeastern Wyoming to northern Utah, a project in addition to the 140-mile Gateway West segment now under construction in Wyoming. Gateway South will be in service by the end of 2023, according to Chad Teply, PacifiCorp's senior vice president for business policy and development.

The company also plans to add 1,100 MW of new wind projects in Idaho by 2032 along with an as of yet unnamed transmission upgrade to support that development after the best wind resources in southern Wyoming are built, Teply said.

By 2038 PacifiCorp plans to have more than 6,300 MW of solar and 2,800 MW of battery storage with projects in Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. This includes adding nearly 1,400 MW of stand-alone storage resources starting in 2028.

Coal phase-out steps outlined

PacifiCorp plans to accelerate the retirements of several units at its coal-fired power plants. The utility now aims to retire unit 1 at the Jim Bridger plant in Sweetwater County, Wyo., in 2023 instead of 2037, and unit 2 in 2028 instead of 2037. Units 1 and 2 at the Naughton plant in Lincoln County, Wyo., in 2025 instead of 2029. A third unit at Naughton was retired earlier this year and is to be converted to natural gas operation beginning next year. Unit 2 at the Craig (Yampa) plant in Moffat County, Colo., of which PacifiCorp owns about 19%, will be shut in 2026 instead of 2034.

Montana legislators tried earlier this year to pass a bill to help the four-unit Colstrip plant but did not succeed. PacifiCorp owns a 10% interest in Colstrip units 3 and 4 in Rosebud County, Mont., and moved up its projected retirement date for those units to 2027 from 2046.

The plan will keep previously scheduled retirements for Cholla unit 4 in Navajo County, Ariz., in 2020; Dave Johnston units 1-4 in Converse County, Wyo., in 2027; Hayden units 1 and 2 in Routt County, Colo., in which PacifiCorp owns small interests, in 2030; Huntington units 1 and 2 in Emery County, Utah, in 2036; and Jim Bridger units 3 and 4 in 2037.

The retirements will reduce the company's coal-fired generation capacity by nearly 2,800 MW by 2030 and nearly 4,500 MW by 2038.

Sierra Club Senior Campaign Representative Christopher Thomas criticized PacifiCorp for being slow on coal plant retirements, saying the company will burden customers with the costs of uneconomic and polluting generators.

"Leaving the retirement schedule for almost two thirds of its coal fleet untouched is out of step with other utilities and the clear economic trends," Thomas said.

PacifiCorp: Pace of coal closures mitigates reliability risk

PacifiCorp Vice President of Resource Planning and Acquisitions Rick Link said the coal units are being retired because new wind and solar resources are more cost-effective with production and investment tax credits. However, the closures must be staged to mitigate reliability risks since the utility is increasingly concerned about the growing scarcity of dispatchable generation across the West. Reliance on power market purchases alone would be risky due to the decline in available capacity Link said, pointing to California's emphasis on retiring gas-fired generation.

Remaining units will operate at lower output levels, but PacifiCorp plans to keep enough capacity available to meet needs when other resources are unavailable. Also, the staging of retirements will give the utility time to bring renewables and supporting transmission projects into service, he said. How much renewable generation and storage will be acquired through power purchase agreements rather than company acquisition remains to be determined, Link added.

Further, agreements must be worked out in cases where PacifiCorp shares ownership of coal plants with other owners, Teply said. With respect to the "softer side of our transition," arrangements must be made with communities that depend heavily on coal plants for employment and economic support, he continued.

The plan incorporates legislation passed in Oregon that requires coal generation, including imports, to be out of the electricity supply for that state by 2030. Link said the company will coordinate with regulators on Washington's new law that requires the grid to be 100% clean by 2045, and address that requirement in the update.