Situation
Wisconsin Power and Light (WPL), an Alliant Energy company, needed to evaluate how its generation portfolio should evolve as market conditions, technology costs, environmental requirements, reliability needs, and customer demand changed. The company faced important decisions regarding its existing generation fleet as well as the timing, type, and scale of new resources needed to serve customers reliably and affordably.
Approach
CRA supported WPL with integrated resource planning that combined power market analysis, resource and portfolio modeling, scenario analysis, and detailed evaluation of alternative generation strategies. We assessed the economics and risks of existing and potential resources across a range of market and policy futures, helping WPL evaluate tradeoffs among cost, reliability, emissions, and portfolio flexibility. CRA also supported stakeholder and regulatory processes and helped connect long-term planning analysis with specific resource investment decisions.
Result
The work provided WPL with a rigorous analytical framework for developing and adapting its long-term resource strategy. CRA’s analysis has supported decisions regarding the evolution of WPL’s generation portfolio and helped establish a planning approach that can respond to changing market conditions, reliability requirements, technology costs, and customer needs.
