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Resource Planning

Integrated Resource Planning, (also known as IRP or a resource plan), is the process where a utility, the Commission, and stakeholders examine a utility’s current and planned electricity generation for the next 15 years. The IRP is a forward looking document that requires utilities to give advance notice of how they plan to generate electricity over the coming decade and a half. Decisions on generation can affect many things, such as electric rates, the communities where power plants are located, and the environment. A resource plan provides a way for interested people and organizations to review these plans and offer input.

Wind-site-permit-process  

Commission Rules suggest utilities file a plan every two years, but depending on the utility’s plans and the size of the utility, the two year rule may be varied. Once a utility files a resource plan, the following timeline for input typically applies:

  1. Anyone who believes the IRP is incomplete may file comments within 30 days of the plan being filed;
  2. Initial comments on the merits of the resource plan are due four months after the filing;
  3. Reply comments are due two months after initial comments are received.

Please check any pending IRP dockets (listed in the table below) for exact scheduling and deadlines.

After reply comments are filed, the Commission compiles a summary of all of the input received, schedules the matter for an agenda meeting, and approximately a week prior to the agenda meeting, issues Briefing Papers summarizing the IRP and significant issues raised in the plan. The Commissioners will then make a decision on the resource plan at one of its regular agenda meetings. For investor owned utilities (like Xcel Energy), the Commission may approve, reject, or modify the plan. For Cooperative or Municipal resource plans, the Commission’s decision is advisory. Utilities that have a very small presence in Minnesota file O-IRPs.


Utility Docket Number Status
Basin Electric Power Cooperative 22-311 O-IRP. Next filing July 1, 2023
Dairyland Power Cooperative 22-313 O-IRP. Next filing July 1, 2023
Great River Energy (GRE) 22-75 Order Issued April 12, 2022 granted extension; Order Issued September 15, 2020. Next filing April 1, 2023
Interstate Power & Light Company 17-374 Completed, Order Issued April 2, 2019. No next filing
Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (MMPA) 18-524 Completed, Order Issued May 28, 2019. Next filing August 1, 2025
Minnesota Power 21-33 Completed, Order Issued January 9, 2023. Next filing March 1, 2025
Minnkota Power Cooperative, Inc. Northern Municipal Power Agency (NMPA) 22-312 Pending
Missouri River Energy Services (MRES) 21-414 Completed, Order Issued Feb 15, 2022. Next filing July 1, 2026
Otter Tail Power Company 21-339 Pending
Southern MN Municipal Power Agency (SMMPA) 21-782 Completed, Order Issued Nov 2, 2022. Next filing December 2, 2024
Xcel Energy 19-368 Completed, Order Issued April 15, 2022. Next filing February 1, 2024


*Table last updated February 2023



Frequently Asked Questions

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