Integrated Resource Planning Offers a Strategy to Accelerate Clean Energy

Around the world, energy systems are undergoing rapid transformation. Rising demand, climate imperatives and technological innovation are converging to create a complex planning landscape. In response, the strategic approach known as Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) has emerged as a powerful framework that utilities and energy planners can use to balance supply and demand while finding cost-effective approaches to long-term electricity needs using renewable energy.

In many parts of the world, IRP and similar long-term planning processes (known by various names, such as Integrated Energy Planning or Integrated System Planning) are helping governments and utilities design resilient, cost-effective and equitable energy futures.

What Is Integrated Resource Planning?

Unlike traditional planning models that focus solely on power generation, IRP incorporates energy efficiency, demand response, storage and distributed energy resources. It also integrates broader goals such as equity, environmental protection, reliability and economic development.

The IRP process typically begins with setting clear objectives that reflect the priorities of a particular country, region or local jurisdiction — such as increasing renewable energy, reducing costs or improving energy access. Planners forecast future energy demand, evaluate resource options and use modeling tools to develop and compare scenarios. Once a preferred plan is selected, it is submitted for regulatory approval, implemented and periodically updated to reflect changing conditions.

Globally, IRP practices vary but share common principles. In the United States, for example, more than 40 states have formal IRP mandates that are typically updated every two to four years. In the European Union, member states submit 10-year National Energy and Climate Plans to meet EU-wide goals for decarbonization, energy efficiency and energy security. These plans are updated every two years and are supported by long-term strategies that the countries are required to develop for meeting their energy targets and emissions reduction goals under the Paris Agreement. In some developing countries, IRP and similar long-term planning processes are helping to manage rapid energy demand growth and the integration of evolving technologies, despite limited capital.

Global Examples of Long-Term Planning Processes in Action

Several developing countries have adopted IRP or similar frameworks to guide their energy transitions and have seen successful results:

• Laos developed an Integrated Resource and Resilience Planning process in 2018 with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Stockholm Environment Institute. Using software modeling tools, the country developed scenarios for ensuring access to affordable and reliable power, identified renewable energy zones and developed a resilience action plan to address risks like flooding and extreme temperatures. After implementing the  process, Laos set a new record for clean energy investment, rising to $550 million in 2024, a 5,320% increase from $10 million in 2023.
• Ghana launched its Integrated Power System Master Plan in 2018 and updated it in 2019 and 2023. Using the consulting firm ICF’s Integrated Planning Model, Ghana’s plan focuses on resilience, climate impacts and universal access. The plan includes a robust monitoring and evaluation framework and has helped expand energy access from 84% in 2018 to 90% by 2023, one of the highest rates in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Jamaica approved a 20-year IRP in 2020 to meet its 50% renewable energy target by 2030. The plan includes solar, wind, liquified natural gas and other renewables, and is expected to mobilize over $7 billion in investment for infrastructure and energy efficiency. The country is ahead of this trajectory with 42% of electricity generation coming from renewables.

Lessons from the US: How IRP Helped Drive Energy Stability

In the U.S., IRP has evolved over four decades. Initially focused on reducing costs, IRP gained traction in the 1980s due to fuel price volatility and interest in energy efficiency. With the deregulation of the U.S. electricity market in the 1990s, regulators relied more on market competition to guide electricity system planning, and IRP rules in many states were loosened or repealed. But then came the California electricity crisis in 2000 and 2001: Generation capacity shortages, drought and delays in building new power plants resulted in blackouts, the collapse of a major energy company and an 800% increase in electricity prices. For the entire country, California’s crisis highlighted the importance of long-term energy planning, and regulators across the country began to renew and strengthen IRP mandates. Today, almost 80% of U.S. states require utilities to file an IRP or other long-term planning document.

• California uses a centralized IRP process led by the California Public Utilities Commission, aligned with greenhouse gas targets and involving utilities, stakeholders and transmission planners.
• Colorado requires Electric Resource Plans, and one utility in the state — Xcel Energy — uses all-source bidding to identify cost-effective projects.

IRPs in the U.S. are shaped by each state’s clean energy mandates, such as Renewable Portfolio Standards, clean energy standards and energy storage requirements. More than 30 states have these types of goals, with many targeting 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040–2050. Many utilities also set their own goals that exceed state mandates — more than 50 utilities have committed to net-zero or 100% clean energy targets.

These goals and requirements create a complex web of demands and expectations for utility compliance. But using the IRP process has enabled U.S. utilities to chart paths to simultaneously meet all of these goals and requirements: A study carried out by the University of Colorado found that utilities are generally on track to meet or exceed their state mandates and their own goals, and projects that the U.S. electric grid will be 100% decarbonized by 2060 if all goals are met.

But to achieve such ambitious goals, IRP approaches and modeling need to continue to evolve to tackle new challenges that surround the clean energy transition. Emerging challenges for planners involved in the IRP process include modeling energy storage, reflecting changing renewable costs, estimating natural gas prices, incorporating policy incentives and planning for new technologies like offshore wind and hydrogen. Water availability and climate change impacts are also increasingly critical issues, prompting the use of frameworks like Decision-Making Under Deep Uncertainty, which helps utilities prepare for multiple possible futures.

A Strategy for Cost-Effective Clean Energy Planning

IRP offers a strategic pathway to accelerate clean energy transitions while ensuring reliability, affordability and equity. IRP and other long-term planning processes can help align national climate goals with local development needs, optimize resource use, and build resilient energy systems.

As global energy systems evolve, IRP offers a proven, adaptable framework that can help countries design resilient, inclusive and low-carbon electricity systems that meet both present needs and future ambitions.

Cover photo:  Eakarat Buanoi / iStock