Power Planning to the People

This report examines how open-source utility planning software and stakeholder-driven modeling can improve integrated resource planning (IRP) outcomes, using a case study of the 2021 resource plan from Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities.

• Integrated resource planning is becoming more complex due to factors such as rapid technological change, emissions reduction objectives, new state and federal policies, and higher stakeholder participation, yet utilities have been slow to adopt advanced modeling tools to improve transparency and reduce customer costs.
• Using the open-source tool GenX to analyze the 2021 joint resource plan filed by Louisville Gas and Electric (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities (KU), the authors found that cleaner least-cost planning pathways could provide near-term savings for customers compared to the utilities' own models.
• To empower stakeholders and ensure more robust planning, regulators are encouraged to make industry data and tools more transparent, establish IRP rules for early stakeholder review of assumptions, and lower cost barriers by requiring utilities to fund proprietary model licenses or supporting zero-cost open-source models.

APA

RMI (2022). Power Planning to the People. https://rmi.org/resources/power-planning-to-the-people/

Chicago

RMI. Power Planning to the People. 2022. https://rmi.org/resources/power-planning-to-the-people/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Power Planning to the People |date=6 December 2022 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/power-planning-to-the-people/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2022power, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Power Planning to the People}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2022}, month = dec, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/power-planning-to-the-people/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }