Regulation
Engaging with utility planning and procurement processes and legislative implementation to ensure electricity demand is met with a diverse selection of clean energy.
Our Regulatory Priorities
RNW works directly with utilities, regulators, and other stakeholders throughout the planning process, advocating for clean energy and storage to meet growing power needs. RNW leverages legal, economic, and technical expertise to advance public interest outcomes on behalf of our members.
Resource Planning
Intervene in utility resource planning proceedings to advocate for renewable energy, storage, and grid modernization to ensure rising demand is met with renewable energy and storage.
Capture Full Value
Advocate for utilities to account for the full value of renewable energy and storage, including capacity accreditation, decreased risk profile, power cost savings, and ancillary benefits.
Resource Procurement
Push for equitable, competitive procurement processes that give clean energy fair access to compete with fossil and utility-owned assets.
Regulatory Investigations and Rulemakings
Engage in a wide variety of utility commission proceedings to incentivize decarbonization while protecting customers and communities.
Legislative Implementation
Advocate for principled implementation of clean energy and other legislation that impacts RNW’s work. Any law is only as good as its implementation process, and we work hard to see these policies carried through to on-the-ground realities.
Idaho Efforts
RNW’s advocacy and planning support has helped Idaho move towards a clean energy grid while managing load growth and electricity demand.
Outcomes
- Implementing Changes: RNW has been actively involved in shaping Idaho’s Integrated Resource Plan.
- Reducing Risks: Oregon regulators backed up concerns RNW raised about Idaho Power’s plans to lean more heavily on large natural gas plants for its future energy supply. In a recent ruling on the utility’s long-term energy plan, the Oregon Public Utility Commission agreed that this shift carries risks worth taking seriously.
Montana Efforts
RNW closely follows and engages in a wide range of Montana utility regulatory proceedings, including staff investigations, formal rulemakings, and a rate case involving NorthWestern Energy, the state’s largest utility.
Outcomes
- Pushing for Improvements: RNW challenged NorthWestern Energy’s request to bill customers for two power plants, the Yellowstone County Generating Station and the Colstrip coal plant. By pointing out flaws in the utility’s planning process, RNW helped convince regulators that NorthWestern hadn’t proven these investments were a responsible use of customer money.
Oregon Efforts
RNW’s regulatory advocacy is focused on ensuring that utilities are demonstrating progress toward the state’s clean energy mandates, employing sound resource planning practices, and running fair and competitive procurement processes. RNW also engages in investigations and rulemakings to implement new laws.
Outcomes
- Ensuring Clean Energy Progress: PacifiCorp, a major utility, filed a legal challenge against Oregon’s utility regulator. RNW intervened to defend the regulator’s authority to oversee utility decisions, and the case was resolved in its favor.
- Advocating for Competitive Procurement: RNW successfully pushed Oregon’s two major utilities to accept bids that use a more flexible type of transmission access and to drop requirements that would have made it harder for storage projects and emerging resources to qualify.
- Pushing for Better Resource Planning: RNW worked with technical consultants to expose the deep flaws in PacifiCorp’s IRP modeling, which resulted in a shared understanding among staff and stakeholders of the need for a new modeling approach.
Washington Efforts
RNW engages with utilities to ensure that they are on track to completing clean energy plans that RNW has been advocating for. Additionally, RNW is involved in resource planning for storage and system modernization.
Outcomes
- Clean Energy Advocacy: Washington regulators approved conditions on PacifiCorp’s clean energy plan that RNW advocated for, helping ensure the utility follows through on its clean energy commitments.
- Engaging with Utilities: RNW continued to engage at the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) to ensure that they are on track to meet the Clean Energy Transformation Act’s (CETA) 2030 standard.
Member Spotlight
