Modeling the DOE’s Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment Program in Resource Planning

This policy brief provides guidance for utility modelers and regulators on integrating the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (EIR) program into capacity expansion modeling. It outlines a three-step approach to maximize ratepayer savings: modeling portfolio-wide financing savings, prioritizing 'clean repowering' at existing fossil sites, and optimizing transmission investments. The document emphasizes the urgency of applying for EIR funding by the end of 2025 to meet the September 30, 2026, conditional commitment deadline.

• The Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (EIR) program, managed by the DOE's Loan Programs Office (LPO), offers up to $250 billion in lending commitments through September 2026. It provides low-interest, guaranteed loans for projects that retool, repower, repurpose, or replace energy infrastructure that has ceased operations, or help operating infrastructure reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Utility planners can achieve significant savings by modeling the EIR in three steps: first, applying low-interest financing to all eligible clean generation; second, utilizing 'clean repowering' (deploying wind, solar, and storage at existing fossil sites) to bypass interconnection constraints; and third, applying EIR financing to transmission investments to enable a cleaner generation mix.
• Clean repowering is identified as a high-impact opportunity that could support 250 GW of clean energy resources across the United States, potentially yielding $12.7 billion in annual savings over the next decade. This approach reduces costs by utilizing existing points of interconnection and accessing 'energy community' tax credit bonuses of up to an additional 10% of project costs (ITC) or credit (PTC).
• Integrating EIR financing into transmission planning can flip the economic preference from fossil-heavy portfolios to cleaner ones. Because both transmission upgrades and clean generation are eligible for EIR financing, more aggressive transmission plans that facilitate higher clean energy integration can become the lowest-cost option compared to base transmission plans.
• To maximize ratepayer savings, the brief recommends that utilities use high-leverage EIR loans (up to 80% of project costs) and structure them as off-balance sheet obligations. This prevents credit downgrades that would otherwise increase the cost of non-EIR financing.
• The document highlights a case study from the North Carolina Public Staff, which modeled EIR financing for 40% of eligible projects. This resulted in the selection of an additional 500 MW of eligible resource capacity through 2032 and reduced the present value of the revenue requirement (PVRR) by $415 million.

APA

RMI (2024). Modeling the DOE’s Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment Program in Resource Planning. https://rmi.org/resources/modeling-the-does-energy-infrastructure-reinvestment-program-in-resource-planning/

Chicago

RMI. Modeling the DOE’s Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment Program in Resource Planning. 2024. https://rmi.org/resources/modeling-the-does-energy-infrastructure-reinvestment-program-in-resource-planning/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Modeling the DOE’s Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment Program in Resource Planning |date=4 November 2024 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/modeling-the-does-energy-infrastructure-reinvestment-program-in-resource-planning/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2024modeling, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Modeling the DOE’s Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment Program in Resource Planning}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2024}, month = nov, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/modeling-the-does-energy-infrastructure-reinvestment-program-in-resource-planning/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }