SKYROCKET Renewable Energy & Storage SKYROCKET in New Energy Plan BY LOGAN MITCHEL, Ph.D., UTAH CLEAN ENERGY Architects play a critical role in the transition to clean energy. Building decarbonization is more than a buzzword — it’s an essential step to a cleaner and more sustainable built environment. When talking about building decarbonization, the electrification of our homes and buildings is a fundamental part of the solution, and many designers and building owners wonder how all-electric buildings will impact our climate in a state with a long history of fossil fuel electricity generation. What combination of renewable energy, storage, coal or gas will power our homes and buildings in the coming decade? The answer to that question arrived when PacifiCorp (Rocky Mountain Power’s parent company) recently published a several-hundred-page report called the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). The 2023 plan shows a dramatic shift by Utah’s largest electric utility toward an electricity grid powered predominantly by renewable energy, storage and energy efficiency. This is a significant and necessary step closer to the zero-carbon future for Utah. The IRP is a 20-year forecast for how PacifiCorp envisions meeting both Utah’s growing energy demand, and all the electricity needs for its customers across the six states it serves. Together, Volumes I and II of the 2023 IRP currently weigh in at a staggering 766 pages of figures, data and analysis. By 2032 the IRP Calls For: More than 7,800 megawatts of new solar energy More than 7,200 megawatts of new wind energy 7,560 megawatts of proxy lithium ion battery storage and 35 megawatts of pumped hydro storage By 2042 the IRP Calls for a Total Of: 9,111 megawatts of new wind energy 8,095 megawatts of new energy storage 4,953 megawatts of energy saved through energy efficiency; and, 929 megawatts of energy saved through direct-load control programs Enough new renewable energy to power the equivalent of six million homes! 24 REFLEXION
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODQxMjUw