A US-based utility contracted with CRA’s Energy consultants to perform modeling, report preparation, and participation in the stakeholder engagement process for their 2021 20-year Integrated Resource Plan (IRP).
CRA worked with the utility to develop the modeling inputs across the utility’s portfolio and its specific market region, including five distinct scenarios. The Aurora market modeling software tool alongside a companion financial model was then used to develop various portfolio options and evaluate their expected performance over time. Robust scenario-based and stochastic analyses were also performed to test the resource selections under a wide range of commodity prices, resource costs, environmental regulation assumptions, and renewable output profiles.
A scorecard system was used to select a final portfolio as the preferred plan for the utility over the next 20 years. The scorecard took into consideration results across five criteria further broken down into 10 metrics including short- and long-term affordability, three measures of rate stability, three measures of reliability, and local economic impact and sustainability criteria.
