Integrated Resource Plan

Cost, reliability, environmental responsibility, and achievability drive 15-year resource plan

Our Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) outlines the combination of resources our company will use to meet our customers’ needs for reliable service during the next 15 years.

On May 30, 2024, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) approved our resource plan containing many elements of the settlement between our company and other parties filed April 2, 2024, in our 2022-2036 Integrated Resource Plan docket.

The MPUC decision:

1. Allows us to retain the reliability benefits of Coyote Station while running the portion of the plant used to serve our Minnesota customers for emergency purposes only. This will begin as soon as June 1, 2026, and end no later than 2031. At that time, our Minnesota customers will no longer use the capacity of or energy from Coyote Station. The MPUC’s decision doesn’t require us to withdraw from Coyote Station or change how we operate Coyote Station to serve our North Dakota and South Dakota customers, even beyond 2031.

2. Allows us to begin creating project plans for replacement energy for the portion of Coyote Station used to serve our Minnesota customers—and allows us to make progress toward the Minnesota Carbon Free standard. We will develop plans for 200 to 300 MW of solar resources, 150 to 200 MW of wind resources, and 20 to 75 MW of battery storage to be commercially operational between now and the end of 2029.

3. Recognizes our proposal to add on-site liquefied natural gas storage at Astoria Station is reasonable and prudent to protect system reliability and provide price protection for Minnesota customers. This recognition takes us one step farther in the regulatory process to add on-site fuel at Astoria Station, pending approval in North Dakota.

We serve customers in three states: Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. We have an Advanced Determination of Prudence (ADP) request pending with the North Dakota Public Service Commission for the on-site fuel project at Astoria Station. The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission doesn’t have a project preapproval process, so we are not awaiting any related decisions in that state.

As we’ve done since starting our resource planning process, we’ll continue to monitor the changing landscape.

We’ll file our next IRP in 2026.