PacifiCorp proposes to nearly cut in half the proportion of its electricity that comes from coal-fired generators, along with building a new 637 MW natural gas-fired plant in Utah during the next 10 years, according to a revised integrated resource plan (IRP) submitted to Idaho regulators by the company’s Rocky Mountain Power utility. The Idaho Public Utilities Commission will take comments on the IRP, including its plan to cut reliance on coal from its current 62.5% portion of the PacifiCorp portfolio to 36.3% by 2020. For gas-fired generation, the 637 MW Lake Side generation plant is planned to be in place in Utah County by mid-2014, and bids for another gas-fired plant are called for late this year for a facility that can be online in 2016. Over the next 10 years, the proportion of generation from natural gas is expected to increase to 25.5% from its current 11.7% level.

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