Core Sector: Electricity/Energy

Resource Adequacy

The resource mix in the United States continues to undergo a transformative period that started for many parts of the country in the early-2000s and has accelerated during the past decade. During this period, utility-scale wind, solar, and natural gas-fired generation have accounted for most capacity additions, while retirements have been comprised primarily of coal-fired generators, older natural gas units, and nuclear plants. Rapid electrification and changing load profiles are creating ongoing system planning challenges, while extreme weather events are having more significant impacts on the grid operations.

With the changing nature of the system, state commissioners continue to play a vital role in their respective jurisdictions. Their roles in overseeing resource decisions are growing in complexity, with consideration for customer costs, state and federal environmental requirements, extreme weather events, fuel supply limitations, generation retirements, and growing levels of intermittent and energy-limited resources. Reliability concerns continue to be an urgent and immediate priority for commissions in most parts of the United States. As new challenges emerge, the regulatory community can make better informed decisions with more accurate information and effective tools to interpret evolving reliability challenges.

NARUC’s Center for Partnerships & Innovation division provides commissions with timely and relevant resources and activities (available below), including reports, technical papers, and virtual trainings aimed at supporting regulators as they navigate these challenges. These efforts are coordinated with NARUC’s Committee on Electricity and the Staff Subcommittee on Electric Reliability and Resilience.

The NARUC staff expert who supports these activities is Deborah Reynolds.

  • Resource Adequacy for State Utility Regulators: Current Practices and Emerging Reforms, November 2023
    The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners today released a new report that documents current practices and captures the evolving role of state utility regulators in maintaining reliability amid the energy transition. The report also describes reforms currently underway across the industry to further improve resource adequacy methods and introduce tools that are commensurate with the changing nature of the electric system.

  • Resource Adequacy Primer for State Regulators, July 2021
    This primer was developed by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and is intended to be used as an aid to state commissioners, their staff, and the regulatory community to provide a basic explanation of resource adequacy practices throughout the United States. This document is not intended to provide any recommendations for actions, decisions, or opinions. 

  • NRRI Insights: The Intersection of Decarbonization Policy Goals and Resource Adequacy Needs: A California Case Study, March 2021
    The NRRI Insights piece, “The Intersection of Decarbonization Policy Goals and Resource Adequacy Needs: A California Case Study,” explains the changing role of resource adequacy in the context of pressing industry issues such as: the rapid retirement of baseload and dispatchable generation; the state regulator’s finding that future procurement decisions should balance RPS requirements with resource adequacy needs; the continued development of advanced reliability metrics, which can help bridge the gap between decarbonization policy goals and resource adequacy needs; and the state’s responses to the ongoing supply shortages.

  • CPI Innovation Webinar: Recent Market Design Enhancements to Address Evolving Resource Adequacy Concerns, March 2023
    NARUC's Center for Partnerships and Innovation hosted an Innovation Webinar to discuss recent market design enhancements throughout the country to address evolving resource adequacy concerns. Approximately 200 GW of nameplate wind and solar capacity have been added to the U.S. power grid during the past two decades. Recently enacted federal incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will accelerate the investment in, and deployment of clean energy and storage across the U.S. Amidst this rapid transformation to a cleaner electric system, reliability events resulting from changing system attributes, combined with extreme weather events, have led to the recent introduction of several design enhancements in wholesale power markets throughout the country. Subject matter experts explained these market enhancements in CAISO, ERCOT, and ISO-New England and explored the different roles and interplay between market operators and regulators in addressing ongoing resource adequacy concerns.

  • Bulk Power System Learning Modules, 2021 - 2024
    America’s bulk power system (BPS) is a large interconnected electrical system comprised of generation and transmission facilities, operated by various control systems. As the BPS continues to evolve amidst the ongoing energy transition, NARUC has been offering virtual training sessions on relevant information aimed at electric utility regulators since 2021. This effort began as a collaborative between NARUC, the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), and the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA), with support from the U.S. Department of Energy. Current and past partners have included: Energy Systems Integration Group (ESIG); Lawrence Berkely National Laboratory (LBNL); National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL); and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). These BPS courses are designed to introduce non-technical attendees to key technical concepts and their practical applications amidst an evolving electric system. Subject matter experts offer insights on topics identified and prioritized by the regulatory community.

Funder:

NARUC is grateful to the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity and Office of Energy Efficiency Renewable Energy, which enables the resources and activities described on this webpage.