Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández (NM-03) introduced H.R. 5964, the Integrated Resource Planning Modernization Act, to help states and utilities better plan for future electricity needs so families can keep the lights on at prices they can afford.

The bill responds to growing strains on America’s power grid — from surging data center demand to wildfire-driven blackouts and increasingly extreme weather — that are driving up electricity costs for households and businesses across the country.

“Our electricity grid faces ever-growing challenges from increased data center demand to wildfire-caused blackouts. As utilities across the country race to address these challenges, Americans’ energy bills only go up,” said Leger Fernández. “Today, many integrated resource plans (IRPs) don’t adequately account for the increased complexities and risks that confront our modern grid and drive up costs for ratepayers. We need to improve how states and utilities plan our power grid’s future to make sure it can reliably meet Americans’ electricity needs without costing them an arm and a leg. The IRP Modernization Act helps our states and utilities plan smarter so families aren’t stuck paying more every month just to keep the lights on.”

The IRP Modernization Act is designed to support, not replace, state regulatory authority and utility decision-making. It would:

• Direct the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop voluntary integrated resource planning guidelines and best practices, so states and utilities can modernize how they plan for future electricity needs.
• Ensure these best practices account for today’s grid realities and challenges, including:
  • Extreme weather events
  • Increased electricity demand (such as growing data centers and electrification)
  • Transmission capacity and interregional planning
  • New grid technologies and distributed energy resources
• Provide voluntary training and technical assistance so state regulators, utilities, and stakeholders can put these modern best practices to work.
• Create a new voluntary formula grant program for states to help utilities update their IRP processes and systems, adopt DOE’s guidelines and best practices, and improve modeling and data capabilities.

By helping states and utilities modernize their planning, the bill aims to improve grid reliability and resilience while protecting ratepayers from unnecessary costs. Better planning can reduce the risk of outages, avoid overbuilding expensive infrastructure, and make it easier to integrate clean energy, storage, and demand-side solutions that can save consumers money over time.

The legislation is cosponsored by Representatives Ed Case (D-HI), Steven Horsford (D-NV), Jared Huffman (D-CA), and Shri Thanedar (D-MI) and has been endorsed by the Environmental Defense Fund and Kit Carson Electric Cooperative.

“States and utilities need to know how much electricity is needed to keep the lights on. The Integrated Resource Planning Modernization Act will help states and utilities have the resources they need to get more power onto the grid and stay running as coal plant outages and increasingly frequent extreme weather threaten grid reliability,” said Joanna Slaney, Vice President for Political and Government Affairs, Environmental Defense Fund.

"The Integrated Resource Planning Modernization Act will allow Kit Carson the ability to properly plan and analyze the necessary resources and assets required in the future to better service our members' electrical needs in a more efficient, responsible and affordable process" said Luis A. Reyes, CEO, Kit Carson Electric Cooperative.

Leger Fernández’s bill builds on the long-standing role of integrated resource planning in the power system, while recognizing that outdated planning processes can miss modern risks and opportunities—leaving consumers exposed to higher bills and more vulnerable to outages. By updating IRP tools and providing resources to implement them, the IRP Modernization Act seeks to ensure that the grid of the future is more reliable, more resilient, and more affordable for families in New Mexico and across the nation.

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