Berkshire Hathaway Energy subsidiary PacifiCorp, the largest grid operator in the Western U.S. and one of several utility assets controlled by investor Warren Buffett, has outlined a sweeping clean energy transition across its six-state service territory, extending from the Pacific Ocean to the Rocky Mountains.
Relying on renewable energy, battery storage and energy efficiency, as well as new transmission, advanced nuclear energy and the retirement of coal-fired generation, the Portland, Ore.-based utility plans by 2030 to slash nearly three-quarters of its greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels and position itself to achieve a 98% reduction by midcentury.
PacifiCorp detailed its strategy in a 20-year integrated resource plan filed Sept. 1 to utility energy regulators in California, Oregon and Washington, where the utility operates as Pacific Power, and Idaho, Wyoming and Utah, where it operates as Rocky Mountain Power.
"Our integrated resource plan is designed to determine the lowest-cost options for customers, adjusting for risks, future customer needs, system reliability, market projections and changing technology," Rick Link, vice president of resource planning and acquisitions for PacifiCorp, said in a statement.
Building on a shortlist of 19 projects revealed in June, the plan calls for a massive portfolio of new zero-carbon resources in the West by 2040, led by 6,181 MW of energy storage, mostly in the form of batteries coupled with solar arrays, and over 8,000 MW of demand-side management through energy efficiency and load-control programs. The utility also proposes 5,628 MW of solar power, more than 3,600 MW of new wind resources and 1,500 MW of advanced nuclear energy.
PacifiCorp's nuclear energy ambition includes the start of a 500-MW demonstration of Bill Gates-backed TerraPower LLC's integrated nuclear and energy storage technology at a retiring coal plant in Wyoming in 2028.
The plan also seeks to convert two units at the Jim Bridger coal-fired facility in Wyoming to natural gas rather than retire them in 2023 and 2028, as was previously planned. "The conversion assists network reliability," PacifiCorp spokesperson David Eskelsen said in an email.
To further support reliability, PacifiCorp intends to add 1,226 MW of "non-emitting" peak power resources by 2040. "The non-emitting peaking resource is assumed to use a non-CO2-emitting fuel such as hydrogen," according to the filing. The utility proposes to cut its coal capacity by 2,211 MW by the end of 2030 and by 4,087 MW by the end of 2040.
Transmission build-out
PacifiCorp's "preferred portfolio" assumes the addition of roughly 10,000 MW of new resources by the end of this decade and approximately double that by 2040. The updated strategy accelerates the utility's decarbonization compared with its 2019 integrated resource plan, which foresaw a 59% reduction in emissions by 2030.
To help deliver the new largely renewable energy resources, PacifiCorp proposes a significant build-out of its transmission.
That includes a 416-mile, 500-kV transmission line and related infrastructure extending from Medicine Bow, Wy., to Mona, Utah, and a 59-mile, 230-kV line within Wyoming. Both are planned to enter service by the end of 2024. The utility also proposes to construct a 290-mile, 500-kV line connecting its Boardman substation in Oregon to its Hemingway substation in Idaho; this would come online in 2026. The plan includes a host of upgrades of existing transmission assets as well.
The utility has scheduled a public meeting Oct. 1 to discuss its plan and the next steps toward implementation. PacifiCorp expects utility commissions in the six states to analyze the proposal over the next several months and to vet it against their resource planning requirements, Eskelsen said.