Planning to Harness the Inflation Reduction Act: A Toolkit for Regulators

This document is an appendix to a toolkit by RMI that provides a comprehensive set of questions for regulators to use when evaluating how utilities incorporate Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) incentives into their Integrated Resource Plans (IRPs). It aims to help regulators identify cost-saving opportunities and assess the rationale behind utility assumptions regarding clean energy tax credits, hydrogen, carbon capture, and electrification.

• The toolkit provides a structured framework of questions across five exhibits to help regulators evaluate utility resource plans, focusing on common IRA considerations, assumptions, forecasts, objectives, and solutions.
• Regulators are encouraged to question utilities on how they are maximizing IRA benefits for ratepayers, specifically regarding infrastructure investment, emerging technologies like hydrogen and carbon capture, methane monitoring, and public-private partnerships.
• The guide emphasizes the need for utilities to provide detailed documentation on how they model Investment Tax Credits (ITC) and Production Tax Credits (PTC), including the use of 'transferability' for investor-owned utilities and 'direct pay' for cooperatives and municipal utilities.
• The toolkit highlights specific IRA bonus adders that utilities should optimize for ratepayer benefit, including the Energy Community adder, the domestic content adder, and credits for meeting prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements.
• For emerging technologies, the toolkit prompts regulators to investigate the technical and economic assumptions for hydrogen production (Section 45V) and carbon capture and sequestration (Section 45Q), including risks related to capture thresholds and fuel security.
• The guide instructs regulators to verify if utilities have integrated IRA incentives into load forecasts for energy efficiency, demand-side management (EE/DSM), transportation electrification (EVs), and building electrification.
• Regulators are advised to check if utilities are utilizing low-cost financing from the Department of Energy, specifically the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (EIR) loan financing, to lower the costs of new generation and transmission resources.
• The toolkit suggests that regulators ensure utilities are coordinating with state, city, and tribal entities to maximize IRA funding for rural and remote communities through programs such as the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and the Tribal loan guarantee programs.

APA

RMI (n.d.). Planning to Harness the Inflation Reduction Act: A Toolkit for Regulators. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2024/03/Appendix_A_regulatory_collaborative_updates_and_insight_brief.pdf

Chicago

RMI. Planning to Harness the Inflation Reduction Act: A Toolkit for Regulators. n.d. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2024/03/Appendix_A_regulatory_collaborative_updates_and_insight_brief.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Planning to Harness the Inflation Reduction Act: A Toolkit for Regulators |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2024/03/Appendix_A_regulatory_collaborative_updates_and_insight_brief.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmindplanning, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Planning to Harness the Inflation Reduction Act: A Toolkit for Regulators}}, institution = {RMI}, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2024/03/Appendix_A_regulatory_collaborative_updates_and_insight_brief.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }