Integrated Resource Planning
Help Shape Our Energy Future
Heber Light & Power’s Integrated Resource Plan serves as the strategic roadmap for meeting projected customer energy needs in the near-term and long into the future. We are updating our plan and would like input from our community.
How to provide your feedback on the Integrated Resource Plan:
Read the Draft Integrated Resource Plan
Review the Draft 2026-2040 Integrated Resource Plan: Charts & Tables
To establish historical growth rates, HL&P applied a weather-normalized regression model. Results showed that after adjusting for weather effects, the base load has grown at an average annual rate of 5% over the last five years. Population and job growth projections, new large loads, and historical growth rates were used to establish a low, mid, and high growth forecast.
Additional forecasts establish scenarios where net metering adoption rates increase with growth and demand side management practices curb demand growth. The rapid adoption of net metering could reduce overall system load growth by up to 1% each year for five years, but would not reduce the system peak. Demand-side management could result in demand savings, although it is challenging to estimate the magnitude of these savings or their consistency from year to year.
2026-2040 Planned Portfolio
Preferred Portfolio with required capacity reserves. Having adequate capacity ensures reliability and reduces market exposure.
The IRP establishes a goal to maintain 30% renewables or more in the portfolio, allowing for Renewable Energy Credits to be remarketed if this level is exceeded.
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Learn More About Energy Resources
The Upper Snake Creek Hydropower Plant is powered by a hydroelectric turbine generator providing valuable renewable energy to HL&P customers. Power generation at the Upper Plant commenced in 1949 and continues to operate much the same as it did almost seventy-five years ago. The output of the plant ranges from 750 kilowatts in the summer to 250 kilowatts in the winter.
The Lower Snake Creek Hydropower Plant is located downstream for the Upper Snake Creek Plant and was acquired by HL&P in 2010 from Rocky Mountain Power. Located two-miles below the Upper Plant, it utilizes the same water flows and generates up to 1500 kilowatts of energy.
The Lake Creek Hydroelectric Power Plant was built by HL&P employees in 1981 to fulfill the growing energy requirements of the Heber Valley. The plant has a peak generating capacity of 2000 kilowatts and continues to efficiently provide clean renewable energy to HL&P’s customers.
HL&P has owned gas generation assets since 1984. By incrementally adding to the fleet, HL&P has grown its natural gas generation over the years to meet the company’s growing energy demand. Today, the plants have over 15 megawatts of available natural gas generation and the company plans to continue to grow this resource to firm up intermittent renewable resources and to meet peak loads.
The Hunter II coal-fired steam electric generating unit, located at the Hunter Station in Emery County, is jointly owned by PacifiCorp, Deseret Generation & Transmission, and the Utah Area Power Administration (UAMPS). HL&P is entitled to a six percent share of UAMPS’s total energy.
Intermountain Power Agency (IPA) is a political subdivision of the state of Utah, organized in 1977 by 23 municipalities. IPA’s Intermountain Power Project (IPP) includes a two-unit, coal-fired, steam-electric generating station with a net capacity of 1,800 megawatts. The generating station is in Delta, Utah. HL&P has an entitlement share of up to 11 megawatts.
Federal Hydropower refers to the energy HL&P receives from the Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP).
CRSP is a system of dams, reservoirs, and power plants managed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in the western United States. It serves a crucial role in water resource management, providing water for irrigation, municipal use, and hydroelectric power generation. Federal hydropower, produced by the CRSP’s power plants, is highly valuable for its customers because it offers a reliable and sustainable source of clean energy. This power not only helps meet the electricity needs of communities and industries but also contributes to grid stability, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and promoting environmental su
HL&P System Operators make real-time market power purchases to meet system load requirements. Long-term market purchases are secured months to years in advance to ensure adequate resources are available and to hedge against market volatility.
These purchases ensure we meet customer demand and maintain a dependable energy supply.
HL&P receives energy from two wind resources.
Through UAMPS, HL&P has a power purchase agreement for 700 kilowatts of energy from the Pleasant Valley Wind Farm located in Uintah County, Wyoming. This wind farm is the largest in Wyoming with 80 Vesta V80, 1.8-megawatt wind turbines capable of generating 144 megawatts.
The Horse Butte Wind Farm is a 57.6-megawatt project located in Bonneville County, Idaho. HL&P receives up to one megawatt as a participant in this UAMPS project. The facility began commercial operation on August 15, 2012.
In 2018, HL&P added geothermal and solar energy to the portfolio. Located in Hazen, Nevada, the Patua Power Plant includes a base-load geothermal facility that generates up to 25 megawatts and a 10-megawatt solar installation. The geothermal power plant is a binary facility with three Turbine Air Systems Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) air-cooled units using Atlas Copco Turbines. HL&P is entitled to between zero and twelve megawatts of energy an hour, depending on plant generation. HL&P takes up to 11 MW of energy from this project.
The Red Mesa Tapaha Solar Resource is a 66 MW solar
photovoltaic generation facility located on the Navajo Nation reservation in southeastern Utah. The facility became operational in June 2022. UAMPS entered into a power purchase agreement with Navajo Tribal Utility Authority Generation-Utah, LLC, a subsidiary of Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (“NTUA”), which allows HL&P to receive up to 5 MW of energy from this project.
The Steel Solar Resource is an 80 MWac solar photovoltaic generation facility located in Box Elder County, Utah. UAMPS’ members contracted for a 40 MW portion of Steel Solar 1(A). HL&P receives up to 6 MW of energy from this facility.