Pacific Northwest Power Resource Plan: Comments Due Oct 16

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council published its draft Ninth Power Plan on August 13, 2026, and is taking public comment through October 16, 2026. For public power utilities, co-ops and the people who plan their systems, this Pacific Northwest power resource plan sets out the regional strategy for 2027 through 2032, and the comment window is the point where that strategy can still change.

Here is what the draft recommends, how far it binds anyone, and the one line item that sits squarely on the distribution system.

What the Draft Ninth Power Plan Recommends

The core of the Pacific Northwest power resource plan is recommendation RES-1, which asks “the region, including Bonneville, its customers, investor-owned utilities, and others” to acquire this portfolio by 2032:

Resource (draft RES-1)	Amount by 2032
Conservation	1,060 aMW total (860 aMW OR/WA, 200 aMW ID/MT)
Demand response	590 MW
Voltage regulation	220 MW
Renewables	9,000 MW
Storage	5,200 MW
Natural gas	2,100 MW

Two cautions on reading that table. Conservation is stated in average megawatts, a measure of energy over time, not a nameplate rating, so it does not add to the other rows. And the rows are resource categories, not a delivery schedule or an equipment list. The draft recommends a portfolio; it does not place orders.

Some detail behind the rows, from the Council’s own text:

• Conservation runs on a dual target: 860 aMW from Oregon and Washington at up to $150 per megawatt-hour, and 200 aMW from Idaho and Montana at up to $70 per megawatt-hour (2024 dollars). The Council says it is continuing the conversation on this dual approach during the comment period.
• Demand response of 590 MW represents the potential from time-of-use rates for electric vehicles, and the Council recommends utilities acquire whatever demand response is most strategically valuable for them.
• Storage of 5,200 MW includes roughly 2,000 MW of standalone storage that is already planned, and the Council recommends meeting part of the renewable and storage totals with hybrid resources.

How Binding the Northwest Power and Conservation Council Plan Is

The draft itself is precise on this point: “While the only direct obligation on resource acquisition under the Northwest Power Act is to Bonneville, this regional power plan is influential in resource decisions of others throughout the region.” It adds that there is no legal obligation under the Act for entities other than Bonneville to act consistently with the plan.

So the plan is neither a purchase mandate for every Northwest utility nor wholly advisory. It binds Bonneville’s resource acquisition, and because Bonneville is the region’s primary provider and marketer of power, the draft says the plan “necessarily affects those entities that purchase power from Bonneville.”

The Distribution Line Item: 220 MW of Voltage Regulation

For distribution engineers, the row to read closely is voltage regulation. The Council recommends the region pursue it “to provide energy and flexibility to the system,” and notes that “all available potential for this resource was selected in every sensitivity.” The model generally preferred conservation voltage reduction during the action plan period, but the Council recommends utilities pursue voltage regulation “in whatever form provides the most value for their system.”

Conservation voltage reduction works on the distribution side of the grid: operating feeders toward the lower part of the allowed service-voltage band to reduce energy use. If the basics of feeders and voltage regulation are unfamiliar, what the distribution grid is and how it works is the primer.

What the draft does not establish matters just as much. It names no utilities, projects, specifications or schedules for this resource, so it says nothing yet about which regulators, controls or feeders any particular utility would buy or when. Those answers sit in individual utility plans and procurement documents, not in a regional total.

Why the Comment Window Matters for Public Power

The Council says it is seeking comments that give “specific recommendations for how to improve upon the proposed regional resource strategy.” If your utility buys from Bonneville, plans conservation or voltage programs, or has a view on the dual conservation target, October 16 is the deadline to put it in the record before the Council finalizes the Pacific Northwest power resource plan.

Practical steps before the window closes:

1. Read the action plan chapter, not just the summary table. The recommendation text carries the conditions, such as the dual conservation target and the hybrid storage preference.
2. Check the draft against your own resource plan. Where your utility’s voltage, demand response or conservation plans differ from the regional assumptions, that difference is the substance of a useful comment.
3. Submit through the Council’s comment page at projects.nwcouncil.org/powerplan, and confirm the deadline on the official report page before you file.

For how grid operators elsewhere are handling resource adequacy as large loads connect, see the six RTO resource adequacy filings on large loads.

Get the Next Deadline Before It Passes

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Related Reading

• Large Load Resource Adequacy: What Six RTOs Told FERC
• What Is the Distribution Grid? A Buyer’s Field Guide

Frequently Asked Questions

When do comments on the draft Ninth Northwest Power Plan close?

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council's report page for the draft Ninth Power Plan (Council document 2026-3, published August 13, 2026) says the Council is inviting public comment through October 16, 2026. Comments are submitted through the Council's online comment page.

What resources does the draft Ninth Power Plan recommend?

Recommendation RES-1 in the draft asks the region to acquire, by 2032, 1,060 average megawatts of conservation, 590 megawatts of demand response, 220 megawatts of voltage regulation, 9,000 megawatts of renewables, 5,200 megawatts of storage and 2,100 megawatts of natural gas.

Is the Northwest Power Plan binding on utilities?

Only partly. The draft states that the only direct resource-acquisition obligation under the Northwest Power Act is on Bonneville. It also states that there is no legal obligation under the Act for other entities to act consistently with the plan, although the plan is influential in their resource decisions.