Integrated Resource Planning is a long-range planning process that forecasts how much electricity our community will need over the next 20 years and evaluates the best mix of resources to meet that need. It looks at supply-side options — such as hydropower, wind, solar, nuclear, natural gas, and batteries — along with demand-side options like energy efficiency and load shifting programs. The goal is to identify a path that keeps our power supply clean, reliable, and affordable under a range of possible future conditions.
Every resource has tradeoffs. Some options may be more affordable, but carry more environmental risk. Others may deliver greater climate benefits, but are less reliable. Integrated Resource Planning doesn't make final decisions — that is the role of EWEB's elected Board of Commissioners. What it does is generate rigorous analysis and transparent options so that those decisions can be made responsibly.
EWEB conducts Integrated Resource Planning on a regular cycle, typically every two years, updating our analysis as the energy landscape evolves.
2023 IRP key insights
The energy industry is undergoing enormous change.
In recent years, the cost of batteries, wind, and solar generation have declined, making them among the least-cost energy sources available. But substantial hurdles remain in integrating these resources into the electric grid in an efficient, cost-effective way. Dispatchable, flexible fossil fuel resources face tighter and tighter constraints, with few zero-carbon options to replace their reliable contribution to the grid. Meanwhile, transmission availability will likely be a key limitation as new renewable generation is added to the grid.
To navigate this volatile energy landscape, EWEB’s 2023 Integrated Resource Plan forecasts EWEB’s energy demand 20 years into the future and examines a variety of energy resources that may fit those future needs.
For the moment, we don’t need to procure any new resources. However, as EWEB’s current contracts expire over the next two to eight years, we will need to decide how to procure the energy that we serve to our customers.
Key insights
Energy demand will rise. Over the past few decades, EWEB’s energy demand has remained flat, despite population growth. We expect this trend to change. Electrification is happening. Massive investments in electric vehicles and electric heating and cooling will add more demand to the grid. Industrial loads may also prompt increases in demand. It’s not a question of if, but rather how much and how soon.
Legacy hydropower is a good fit. EWEB has relied on hydropower from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and our own projects for many decades, and for good reason. It’s a cheap, carbon- free resource that can be dispatched at a moment’s notice to meet our customer’s demand. We will start evaluating BPA’s 2028 product options in our next IRP, which we plan to publish in 2025.
Wind and batteries offer one viable path forward. The reference case suggests that EWEB pursue a large buildout of batteries, paired with new wind resources. This makes sense. In the greater Northwest, wind is an abundant renewable resource that generally produces power during the same seasons we have peak needs. And utility-scale batteries will help smooth gaps in that power generation.
Zero-carbon, dispatchable resources will likely be necessary in the future. Full decarbonization will require us to add a new type of resource to our portfolio – one that is zero-carbon, can dispatch energy on-demand, and has a fuel supply that can last weeks or months. Only this type of resource will allow us to reliably serve electricity when conditions are the most challenging. But the list of options is short.
We need to develop customer programs responsive to our energy needs. Utilities around the country are developing innovative projects and policies that partner with customers to reduce demand for electricity. Some shave peak demand through demand response programs and time-of-use rates. Others use novel rate structures to ensure that the cost of maintaining and improving the grid is equitably shared. We will need to explore similar innovations as we begin to understand our individual customer’s electricity loads better.
Action Items
EWEB's 2023 Integrated Resource Planning identified eight action items focus on conservation, demand response and future analysis:
1. Actively engage in the Bonneville Power Administration’s (BPA) ongoing contract negotiations to develop and analyze new power products coming in 2028.
Electricity from BPA – a federal agency that sells energy from large dams on the Columbia River – accounts for approximately 80% of EWEB’s power. Publicly owned utilities, including EWEB, are collectively negotiating with BPA on the terms of a new contract that utilities expect to sign in fall 2025 and that will start in 2028. The specific terms and elements of the contract will be essential to understanding EWEB’s other resource needs.
UPDATE: In 2025, EWEB signed a new contract with the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) that runs through 2044, securing access to between $2.5 and $3 billion worth of energy. Learn more.
2. Study energy efficiency cost and potential in EWEB’s service territory.
For decades, EWEB has relied significantly on conservation, which is the practice of paying customers to use less electricity through home weatherization rebates and technology upgrades. The 2023 IRP analysis indicated that conservation should continue to be a part of EWEB’s resource strategy. However, it’s not clear how much potential for conservation remains in Eugene, or how much it would cost EWEB to pay customers to conserve more. Many homes are already fully weatherized, with energy efficient heat pumps and appliances already installed. An updated assessment of conservation potential will be essential to understanding how much local energy savings is available, and at what point the savings will not be able to keep up with increased energy demand from electrification.
UPDATE: EWEB completed Phase 1 of a Conservation Potential Assessment (CPA) in March 2025. Learn more.
3. Study demand response cost and potential in EWEB’s service territory and design a product plan.
The IRP analysis indicated there is significant value in reducing electricity demand when demand is at its highest. This kind of “demand response” trims peak demand and reduces the need for EWEB to procure expensive electricity that also tends to be associated with higher carbon emissions. EWEB foresees emerging opportunities to partner with customers to manage peak demand with smart devices, smart metering infrastructure, and managed electric vehicle charging. But further analysis is needed to understand the cost and availability of demand response potential in Eugene and the potential financial value of peak reduction.
UPDATE: EWEB completed Phase 1 of a Demand Response Potential Assessment (DRPA) in March 2025. Learn more.
4. Engage with existing local resource owners/operators to determine areas of opportunity.
Several of EWEB’s contracts with existing, local energy resource suppliers are set to expire in the next several years. EWEB can leverage these existing relationships to determine if mutually beneficial agreements are possible and if additional opportunities exist.
UPDATE: EWEB and the University of Oregon (UO) are engaged in a study that seeks to better understand if running UO’s on-site combined heat and power (CHP) generator during short periods of peak winter demand can support a cleaner, more reliable grid. Learn more.
5. Develop a resource acquisition strategy and framework for future resource needs.
The IRP identified future resource needs as some of our existing contracts expire. Our modeling results showed that the need could come as soon as 2026. To prepare, EWEB will develop a resource acquisition strategy and decision process that aligns with strategic priorities and values to standardize and streamline future resource investment.
6. Track and identify organized electric market impacts and opportunities for EWEB.
The expansion of organized markets such as the California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO) Extended Day Ahead Market, or the Southwest Power Pool’s Markets +, has the potential to substantially impact how EWEB buys, sells and manages energy resources. Similarly, the onset of the Western Resource Adequacy Program (WRAP) is likely to impose new planning standards on EWEB and other regional utilities to ensure grid reliability. It’s essential for EWEB to track these initiatives and prepare for their impacts.
7. Update IRP modeling assumptions and tools.
The IRP is a cyclical, iterative process that uses complex computer modeling software and requires continual updates. EWEB will update assumptions and resource options in the model based on emerging information like updated resource cost projections, supply chain constraints, and new tax incentives.
8. Prepare key inputs for the 2025 IRP.
EWEB has already launched into the 2025 IRP, which will coincide with EWEB’s 2028 BPA contract decision. EWEB will update inputs and modeling processes to reflect new BPA product options, as well as information from EWEB’s demand response and conservation potential assessments.
Read EWEB's 2023 Integrated Resource Plan
Download the 2023 Integrated Resource Plan (127 pages)
Download the 2023 IRP executive summary and action plan (8 pages)
Download the factsheet (2 pages)
Ask a question and offer input
We've published 2023 IRP, but the analysis process is ongoing since we will be publishing an updated IRP every two years. We have lots more questions we want to answer about Eugene's energy future in the years ahead, and we're sure you do, too. We want to hear from you! Please submit your questions and comments here.
Stay informed via email! Sign up to receive periodic updates here.
We're also available to share our results during more tailored presentations and dialogues. Does your group, organization or association want to schedule a presentation or meeting? To learn more, reach out to Aaron Orlowski at aaron.orlowski@eweb.org.
FAQ
Why are Integrated Resource Plans important?
- Providing electricity requires huge, multimillion-dollar investments. Planning helps ensure that those investments make sense for our customers now and in the future.
- An Integrated Resource Plan provides transparency to customers. It shows where the community’s power comes from and gives the public a way to comment on the strategy.
- It’s critical to examine changes in technology, regulations, and customer preferences, and plan for how to best meet our customer needs under a variety of potential futures.
How does the climate crisis affect resource planning for EWEB and the Northwest?
The climate crisis affects our resource planning in a variety of separate ways, some of which are very difficult to quantify. Hotter temperatures could affect EWEB’s electricity load as more people use air conditioning during the summer. Less precipitation might change reduce flows on the rivers that EWEB depends on for hydropower. Unfortunately, the exact nature of these changes will be hard to predict. But we can be fairly certain that increasing regulations on greenhouse gas emissions will affect energy markets. Even though EWEB gets hardly any energy from coal, the retirement of coal plants across the Northwest will shake up energy markets.
Are we considering the impacts of climate change in this IRP cycle?
We are. This IRP cycle will consider the impacts of climate change in terms of:
- Possible carbon legislation
- Fuel prices
- Levels of electrification (including EV adoption)
- Carbon impacts of various portfolio options
- Hydro variation
In addition, the Board recently amended the SD15 Climate Change Policy to support a low-carbon electric power portfolio that maintains, on a planning basis, over 90% of annual energy from carbon-free resources and targets over 95% of annual energy from carbon-free resources by 2030.
What criteria will be used to evaluate power resource options?
EWEB’s modeling process involves several steps. At the front end, we have instituted constraints that set the outer limits of a possible resource portfolio. One constraint, for instance, is that the portfolio must abide by EWEB’s Climate Change Policy, which targets 95% carbon-free resources by 2030. We then have the modeling software solve for the “least-cost” option, meaning it will generate the portfolio falls within the constraints and is also the most affordable.
While we may wish that there were a perfect resource – zero carbon, always reliable, abundant and affordable – that doesn’t exist. Every resource has tradeoffs. Some portfolios may be more affordable, but may carry more financial risk. Others may result in lower carbon emissions, but come at a higher cost. EWEB’s Board of Commissioners will have to weigh these tradeoffs as we chart our energy future.
Why don’t we just install more solar panels?
The IRP modeling process looks at many possible future energy resources that fit EWEB’s needs, including solar. The IRP will help EWEB’s Board of Commissioners evaluate the tradeoffs between different resources to find the ones that best meet our criteria. Solar is a carbon-free energy source with low environmental impacts. But it’s also an intermittent resource – we can’t always rely on it when we need it – and it produces less energy when EWEB’s needs are highest, which is during the dark winter months. Our initial modeling results picked wind over solar, most likely because wind generates much more energy than solar during times when EWEB has the greatest need – the cold, dark winter months.
Climate change is going to reduce snowpack and water resources. How do we know that hydropower will be a viable resource in the future?
It’s true that climate change is likely to reduce mountain snowpack and water availability on the river systems that EWEB depends on for hydropower. Climate change is expected to impact the timing of water runoff, with more in the spring and less in the summer. But despite the severity of the climate crisis, those changes will be gradual, allowing EWEB and the rest of the utilities in the Northwest significant time to analyze the changes and adapt. Hydropower remains one of the best sources of carbon-free energy available to EWEB and most likely will for years to come. Incorporating these runoff forecasts is something we might model in the next round of the IRP, in 2024.
How will electric vehicles and other potential electrification be considered in the IRP?
We forecast that greater adoption of electric vehicles and electric space and water heating will cause our energy needs to increase. This is something we determined prior to starting the IRP. In 2020, EWEB conducted an electrification study to examine how the transition from fossil fuel-powered technologies to electric technologies would affect EWEB. The study looked closely at light-duty vehicles and space and water heating, and the results are being fed into the IRP.
In general, the electrification study found that the financial benefits of electrifying will prompt EWEB customers to transition to electric vehicles in the coming years. The financial benefits of electrifying with heat pump water heaters will also prompt customers to switch, but space heating electrification is less likely, based on the finances. Today, EWEB has enough generation and transmission capacity to handle the anticipated levels of electrification within the next few years, and these transitions will be slow at first. At the same time, EWEB will need to explore ways to encourage customers to charge their electric vehicles during off-peak times so that EWEB’s peak energy needs don’t substantially increase.
Why are carbon emissions from EWEB’s electricity so much lower than emissions from the national electricity sector?
EWEB gets most of our electricity from the Bonneville Power Administration, a federal agency that sells energy at cost to utilities around the Northwest from 31 hydroelectric dams in the region. Hydropower is more abundant in the Northwest than any other region in the United States, and is carbon-free, resulting in significantly lower emissions. Some other utilities in Oregon don’t get as much of their electricity from BPA, and consequently have higher emissions from their energy sources.
How will customer input be used in the IRP?
We’ve published the 2023, and we encourage you to check out our results. This IRP is the first in an iterative process: We'll be doing a new IRP every two years, with ongoing analysis. So reach out! What questions do you have about our 2023 results that we can answer through further analysis?
Explore specific topics
During the 2023 Integrated Resource Planning process, we published a series of short fact sheets exploring key questions in detail.
Is Solar a Good Fit for Our Community’s Energy Needs?
How can EWEB’s IRP incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion?
What are considerations around utility-scale storage in EWEB’s future portfolio?
IRP next steps: How and when will EWEB acquire new resources?
Related Programs
Join Power Partners
Curious about energy issues? Join our Power Partners email newsletter list!
Solar electric program
Our solar electric program allows you to produce clean, renewable power at your home while also helping us decrease the amount of power we purchase from non-renewable sources.
