Dive Brief:

• Within 15 years Appalachian Power will be generating more than 20% of its power from renewable sources, the utility told the Virginia State Corporation Commission in a resource plan roughly sketching out how it would comply with proposed carbon mandates.
• The Daily Progress reports Appalachian Power warned regulators that a firm plan is not yet possible as utilities around the country are waiting for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to issue final Clean Power Plan regulations.
• Dominion filed its own IRP last week, echoing some of Appalachian Power's uncertainty regarding greenhouse gas emissions limits, and indicating that coal use would continue to be a significant portion of its fuel supply.

Dive Insight:

While utility officials warned regulators that a firm resource plan that outlines CPP compliance is “not practical” right now, Daily Progress reports Appalachian Power has sketched what it believes is a course to reducing meeting demand while reducing carbon emissions and bolstering renewables.

The utility intends to boost its use of natural gas from about 14% to almost a quarter, while cutting coal burn from 72% of its mix. 

“Our plan is certainly to add more renewable energy sources each year,” spokeswoman Teresa Hamilton Hall told the news outlet. “This could involve partnerships with a private company, a locality or even a college or university.”

The company's plan calls for a bump in renewable energy next year followed by a much larger increase in 2022. While modest, Appalachian Power intends to use energy efficiency to manage 1% of its capacity, up from zero.

Dominion last week filed a plan of its own, also alluding to the impossible task of meeting carbon mandates that have yet to be finalized. The utility filed several proposals, all of which would call for at least 400 MW of nameplate solar generation and demand side management programs potentially reaching 600 MW by 2030.

But despite the call for more solar, Dominion also pointed out that the resource is still relatively new in large-scale applications, and said coal generation would still be necessary to meet demand.

Dominion does not actually anticipate retiring any coal units in the near future, and has pointed to state legislation that encourages the utility to keep "coal as a significant part of the Company’s generation portfolio for as long as possible."