The Pacific Northwest Regional Planning Project (PREPP) 

 

This 18-month study will analyze how the region can meet its needs for reliable, resilient, and affordable energy along with decarbonization goals and other energy, economic, and ecosystem priorities.

illustration of energy system

The Pacific Northwest Regional Energy Planning Project will deliver an independent analysis of how to meet the region's energy needs that can inform future energy planning by utilities and decision-makers.

The Pacific Northwest Regional Energy Planning Project (PREPP) is an 18-month study designed to identify resource development and infrastructure investment options available to address the energy needs and priorities of the Northwest. Funded by the Department of Energy’s Grid Deployment Office (GDO) and the Washington State Department of Commerce, PNNL is leading the engagement-based process and analysis to explore options for meeting the region’s load growth, reliability, and resource adequacy needs, as well as the region’s decarbonization and environmental priorities. 

The study will provide potential infrastructure solutions to address the needs and challenges identified by the region without prescribing any specific actions. It will explore options for meeting their operational and policy requirements, such as transmission expansion, energy efficiency, new generating resources, demand response, and energy storage, along with emerging options, such as distributed energy resources and virtual power plants. 

It will also examine potential infrastructure and resources that could be needed to replace the power and services provided by the four Lower Snake River Dams should Congress authorize removal, consistent with DOE’s commitments per the December 14, 2023, Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. Government, the four Treaty Tribes of the Lower Columbia River, and the States of Oregon and Washington. 

Representing regional perspectives

PREPP’s engagement process will rely on a Steering Committee representing regional community, Tribal, utility, and state perspectives, and a Technical Committee that will comprise planning and resource acquisition subject matter experts to guide the technical decisions in the study. Draft study results will be released in the summer and fall of 2025 and the final study will be available by or before December 2025.

PREPP’s value to the Pacific Northwest

  • Improved understanding of the technical and financial implications of grid investments, including generation, transmission, and distribution, as well as storage, efficiency, and demand response, that can inform individual utility plans and investment decisions. 
  • Insight into investment portfolio costs and benefits, including societal value, employment impacts, and affordability.   
  • Increased alignment of regulatory priorities and utility investment strategies to meet policy goals, while keeping costs low for consumers. 
  • Exploration of changes in generation, including retirement of coal plants and natural gas plants or potential changes to hydrological resources, in the context of the region’s decarbonization goals. 

Leveraging PNNL’s expertise

PNNL is a leader in developing and applying energy system modeling and analytic tools to inform energy infrastructure planning. Efforts in this area include DOE’s National Transmission Study, the North American Resilience Model, and an initiative called Hydropower and Water Innovation for a Resilient Electricity System (HydroWIRES), which evaluates the role of hydropower in grid reliability and resilience. PREPP will leverage this expertise and advanced tools currently unavailable to industry to deliver objective information to decision-makers in the region. Based in the Northwest, PNNL also has a long history of partnership with Sovereign governments and the power industry in the region and beyond. 

For more information, contact the PREPP team.