Idaho Public Utilities Commission accepted Avista natural gas Integrated Resource Plan

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC) recently accepted Avista Utilities’ 2018 natural gas Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), which outlines how the company plans to meet meeting customer demand over the next 20 years.

Avista is required to file a natural gas IRP with the Idaho PUC every other year. By accepting the IRP, the commission has acknowledged that Avista has met its requirement to file the plan. It does not signal approval of “any particular element of the plan, nor an approval of any resource acquisition or proposed action included in the IRP.”

Avista does not expect growth in demand among traditional residential and commercial customers during the planning period. The company noted, however, that lower prices could lead to increased demand for natural gas from large industrial customers.

The IRP anticipates that the total number of customers will grow from 348,000 today to 412,000 in 2037 at an average annual pace of 1.3 percent. Average daily demand is expected to increase at a rate of 0.02 percent each year.

To meet demand, Avista plans to use a diversified portfolio of supply resources, including storage, firm capacity rights on six pipelines and contracts for the purchase of natural gas from multiple supply basins. Analysis conducted for the IRP uncovered no resource deficiencies during the 20-year planning period in all conditions except the high growth and low price scenario.

Under the expected case scenario, existing resources were found to be sufficient to meet demand through 2037.

The IRP also notes the potential for Demand Side Management (DSM) to offset expected load growth.