The State of Utility Planning, 2024 Q4

In Q4 2024, US utilities updating their IRPs reduced planned wind and solar capacity by 20 GW and increased planned gas capacity by 12 GW, leading to an 8 percent increase in projected emissions despite a small downward adjustment in projected load.

• Utilities that updated their IRPs in Q4 2024 increased projected emissions by 8 percent, driven by a 12 GW increase in planned gas plants and a 20 GW reduction in planned wind and solar capacity by 2035.
• While Q4 2024 marked the first time since 2021 that utilities observed a decrease in projected load in IRP updates, overall US IRPs still anticipate load to grow 20 percent by 2035 compared to 2021 levels.
• There is a significant gap between current utility projections and net-zero pathways; while the IEA NZE scenario requires net-zero electricity emissions by 2035, current IRPs project a reduction of only 56 percent by 2035 compared to a 2005 baseline.
• Utilities cited interconnection difficulties, strict reliability needs for data centers, and changing capacity accreditation rules in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and Southwest Power Pool (SPP) as reasons for scaling back wind and solar plans.
• Between 2023 and 2035, current planned capacity in US IRPs includes 260 GW of wind and solar additions, 84 GW of gas additions, and 74 GW of coal retirements.

APA

RMI (2025). The State of Utility Planning, 2024 Q4. https://rmi.org/resources/the-state-of-utility-planning-2024-q4/

Chicago

RMI. The State of Utility Planning, 2024 Q4. 2025. https://rmi.org/resources/the-state-of-utility-planning-2024-q4/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=The State of Utility Planning, 2024 Q4 |date=15 January 2025 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/the-state-of-utility-planning-2024-q4/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2025state, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{The State of Utility Planning, 2024 Q4}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2025}, month = jan, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/the-state-of-utility-planning-2024-q4/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }