Integrated Resource Plan
Community meeting questions
During the 2024 IRP engagement process, community members have submitted questions virtually and in person. Below you will find a categorized list of these questions and answers that will provide further insight into the integrated resource planning process. If you have any questions or comments regarding Platte River's integrated resource planning, submit them via email to 2024IRP@prpa.org.
More specifically, a specific set of criteria is required by the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA), one of four power marketing administrations within the U.S. Department of Energy ), to complete the IRP. In addition to satisfying WAPA’s criteria, Platte River’s IRP process will consist of the following efforts:
- Community listening sessions to assess customer sentiment toward the composition of Platte River’s future generating mix
- Collecting information to be used in the evaluation of future generation portfolios, such as cost and performance characteristics
- Reports from independent advisors regarding subjects that will provide insight to guide the overall IRP analysis
- An analysis of a wide range of generation options that can be used to meet portfolio planning objectives
- Variations of key variables to determine a range of outcomes with different costs and performance outcomes to understand risks and rewards for different levels of renewable integration
- Recommendation of a portfolio for implementation
- Distribution of findings, including final recommendations to the board and our community owners
- Attending one of the community listening sessions
- Providing your comments or sending your questions via email to 2024IRP@prpa.org
- Visit www.prpa.org/2024IRP for more information and to sign up to receive updates
Additionally, Platte River is procuring solar and wind generation under long term contracts. The suppliers of these renewable resources claim the PTC (Production Tax Credits) and ITC (Investment Tax Credits) provided through the IRA. With these credits, the renewable resource price offered to Platte River is lower relative to what it would be without the IRA benefits. Platte River, being a non-profit entity, passes these savings on to our customers.
Resource diversification
Current modeling from the 2022 resource plan shows a path to an 88% noncarbon energy mix is possible by 2030. Platte River and our owner communities (Estes Park, Fort Collins, Longmont, and Loveland, Colorado) will continue to work toward the goal of 100% noncarbon energy without sacrificing our three foundational pillars.
Hydropower
Aeroderivative combustion turbines
Platte River is seeking board support for the future deployment of a dispatchable thermal generation resource. With the board’s support, Platte River’s proposed 2024 Strategic Budget includes a request for funds associated with the detail design and technical specifications. Platte River’s budget also includes a request for funds to begin the multi-year distributed energy management system (DERMS) to enable visibility into distributed energy resources as part of the virtual power plant. Funding will also be requested for the distributed energy resources programs related to electric vehicles and heat pumps. Battery storage is in Platte River’s long-term transition plan beyond 2024.
We need new dispatchable thermal, aeroderivative combustion turbines to complement renewable generation on a minute to minute, hour to hour and day to day basis. They will be frequently starting, stopping, accelerating and decelerating as the output from wind and solar varies from instant to instant. We can illustrate this need with an example.
The following chart shows Platte River’s renewable generation and load on Oct. 1, 2023, measured every 5 minutes. The top black line shows a gradual increase in load while the green line shows total renewable generation. It can be seen that renewable generation changes very frequently. This chart shows renewable generation from 225 MW of wind and 52 MW of solar. By 2030, Platte River will add a lot more solar and wind. This means, for 2030, the absolute level of the green chart will be higher, but the weather pattern could be exactly the same. These variations will require new dispatchable, flexible and efficient aeroderivative combustion turbines to ensure customer load is met.

Platte River’s existing combustion turbines were not designed for this type of wildly varying duty cycle while aeroderivative turbines are designed for this purpose. Additionally, during dark calm periods, Platte River’s load could be as high as 600 – 700 MW. The existing 388 MW of combustion turbines along with about 70 MW of hydro will not be sufficient to meet our customer’s future load during the dark calm period. Therefore, we need additional turbines.
Resource planning
EVs and home electrification are expected to greatly impact electricity demand in the coming years. We are modeling EVs and home electrification will increase our demand by more than 5% by 2030 and by more than 20% by 2040.
Similarly, for the second question, a solar thermal plant will have the same limitations (lack of flexibility).
While these are interesting propositions, we are not aware of any utility which is considering these options for old coal plants.
Platte River hired a consultant to investigate the availability and cost of green hydrogen to be used in the aeroderivative, flexible fuel combustion turbine technology. Their preliminary investigation indicates that green hydrogen could be available in commercial quantities by the middle of the next decade.
While we are not experts in metallurgy, we have learned that because hydrogen is the lightest element, molecules could leak through the pipes and apparatus designed for natural gas and cause embrittlement in certain steel types. We read that special steel alloys will need to be deployed to avert any damage and leakage of hydrogen.
Reliability
Storage
As for how much water is needed to put battery fires out, that depends on the size and layout of the battery yard.
As for the life of these batteries, generally they last about 15 years.
As for 2-hour storage, it doesn’t fit well with our power supply portfolio. We prefer 4-hour storage as it is a better complementary match with wind and solar resources in our portfolio.
Financial sustainability
Platte River is working to achieve our Resource Diversification Policy goal of a 100% noncarbon portfolio by 2030. While solar generation is an important component of this goal, distributed solar resources are not the most effective or economic path to achieve this because they cannot match the generation efficiencies, predictability, dispatchability and economies of scale achieved at a wholesale level. Platte River will evaluate distributed energy resources supporting those that are operationally and economically efficient.
Platte River provides support to the owner communities developing solar rates that better reflect the value solar provides to the system and recognize the need for solar to be paired with storage to ensure reliability. Support will continue to expand by working with the owner communities to develop a virtual power plant and distributed energy resource management systems that more effectively integrate solar and improve visibility, predictability and responsiveness to the system.
The Strategic Financial Plan helps Platte River manage the financial risk associated with the volatility of costs such as purchased power agreements, commodity prices, capital investments and debt costs as Platte River, working with the owner communities, transition to a noncarbon future.
Markets
Distributed energy resources
From Platte River’s perspective, energy storage and flexible energy use will be particularly as customers adopt solar and as Platte River retires coal generation and adds wind and solar to its supply. As reliance on wind and solar increases, so too will reliance on energy storage and flexible energy use. Energy storage shifts renewable energy to align with times customers use energy and flexible energy use shifts when customers use energy to times when renewable energy is available.
Platte River is working with the owner communities’ distribution utilities to develop technology and coordinated approaches to manage DERs in a way that balances benefits to the customer with the needs of a reliable, financially sustainable and increasingly noncarbon electric system.
This estimate will continue to be evaluated and it is subject to some potential limitations. First, most of this capacity does not exist yet; it is based on forecasted adoption by customers of electric vehicles and distributed battery storage. Second, it relies on Platte River’s and the owner communities’ development of a distributed energy resource management system (DERMS) and supporting systems to enable effective flexible DER managements. Third, it assumes program models can be developed that encourage large numbers of customers to participate and that are cost effective compared to other noncarbon resource options.
Platte River’s transmission and generation systems can accommodate significantly more distributed/rooftop solar. Platte River anticipates that by 2030, there will be 155 MW of distributed solar within the communities, compared to about 30 MW today, a five-fold increase in seven years. This is equivalent to approximately 21,000 average-sized residential solar systems. Note that even with this rapid expansion in distributed solar, Platte River also anticipates adding 350 MW to our existing 52 MW of utility-scale solar, bringing the total solar resource—distributed and utility-scale—to 562 MW.
To accommodate this growth in distributed solar, two things are needed to ensure that electric system supply and energy use can be balanced from moment to moment. First, Platte River will need improved visibility into how distributed solar is performing on a near real-time basis. Second, a significant expansion in energy storage is needed.
For those wanting to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as quickly and cost effectively as possible, consider upgrading the efficiency of your home or business. Consider electrifying your building—space heat, water heat and appliances—with new efficient technologies. Consider an electric vehicle for your next vehicle purchase. Efficiency Works offers information and support for each of these opportunities.
For those wanting to help Platte River and the owner communities decarbonize the electric system, please standby and stay tuned as we develop a virtual power plant. Once we have selected a vendor, we will begin developing programs that will allow customers to participate by providing their flexible DERs. This will help us better align our increasing renewable supply with energy use as we approach our 2030 goal.
At this time, V2G is not widely available in the United States from EV manufacturers or from companies that make EV chargers. This will change over time, but the pace is hard to forecast. Platte River hopes to make V2G part of our VPP as it becomes more widely available.