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Resource Planning
Resource Planning

Benton PUD prepares an annual Load Forecast to estimate its future customer count and energy sales for at least the next ten years. The Load Forecast is a key input into Benton PUD's power supply planning, budgeting, monthly revenue projections, rate analysis, and capital improvement plans.

Benton PUD’s recent load forecasts:

Powerlines in Sunrise

Benton PUD prepares a resource plan every two years in accordance with Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 19.280. As described within RCW 19.280.010, “It is the intent of the legislature to encourage the development of new safe, clean, and reliable energy resources to meet demand in Washington for affordable and reliable electricity. To achieve this end, the legislature finds it essential that electric utilities in Washington develop comprehensive resource plans that explain the mix of generation and demand-side resources they plan to use to meet their customers' electricity needs in both the short term and the long term.”

RCW 19.280.020 defines two types of resource plans, as described below:

  • Integrated resource plan means an analysis describing the mix of generating resources, conservation, methods, technologies, and resources to integrate renewable resources and, where applicable, address overgeneration events, and efficiency resources that will meet current and projected needs at the lowest reasonable cost to the utility and its ratepayers and that complies with the requirements specified in RCW 19.280.030(1).
    • Required by utilities with more than 25,000 customers that are not full requirements customers.
  • Resource plan means an assessment that estimates electricity loads and resources over a defined period of time and complies with the requirements specified in RCW 19.280.030(5).
    • Required by all other utilities that have not voluntarily elected to develop a full integrated resource plan.

Effective October 1, 2023, Benton PUD became a full requirements customer, as defined by RCW 19.280.020—meaning an electric utility that relies on Bonneville Power Administration for all power needed to supply its total load requirement other than that served by non-dispatchable generating resources totaling no more than six megawatts or renewable resources.

Benton PUD’s recent resource plans:

Benton PUD prepares a Conservation Potential Assessment (CPA) every two years. The Washington State Energy Independence Act requires electric utilities serving 25,000 or more customers to pursue all conservation that is cost-effective, reliable, and feasible. By January 1 of each even-numbered year, a utility must identify its achievable cost-effective conservation potential for the upcoming ten years and a biennial target.

Benton PUD’s recent CPA’s:

  • 2025 CPA – In Progress 
  • 2023 Amended CPA – approved by Resolution No. 2670 on 4/23/2024

Benton PUD prepares a Demand Response Potential Assessment (DRPA) every two years to support the Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA) requirement to assess the amount of demand response resource that is cost-effective, reliable, and feasible.

Benton PUD’s recent DRPA’s:

Other demand response material:

Pole Climbing

The Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA), Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 19.405, requires utilities to be greenhouse gas neutral by 2030 and carbon free by 2045. Benton PUD’s electricity supply is already over 90% carbon free primarily due to hydroelectric and nuclear power. CETA requires by January 1, 2022, and every four years thereafter, consumer owned utilities to develop and submit to the Department of Commerce a four-year Clean Energy Implementation Plan (CEIP) with specific targets for energy efficiency, demand response, and renewable energy  as well as actions to support an equitable transition to the state's clean energy goals.

Benton PUD’s recent CEIP’s: