Revision to the Final Principles of Integrated Resource Planning for Use in Resource Acquisition and Transmission Planning

Western Area Power Administration (Western) published in the Federal Register two proposed changes to Western's Final Principles of Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) in the Federal Register on June 29, 2011. The Final Principles of IRP were last published in the Federal Register on June 9, 1995. First, Western proposed that its current practice of developing project-by-project evaluation criteria to determine the quantity, length, and source of a long-term energy purchase be replaced with uniform, Western-wide evaluation criteria. Western will make no changes to its current practice of developing project-by-project evaluation criteria to evaluate long-term energy- purchases. Second, Western proposed eliminating transmission planning principles that are unnecessary as a result of changes in the planning area made since 1995. Western will eliminate the transmission planning principles now accomplished by other means consistent with its proposal.