2021 Arkansas Integrated Resource Plan (IRP)

Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO) filed its 2021 Integrated Resource Plan report with the Arkansas Public Service Commission on Dec. 15, 2021. The IRP is a 20-year plan that outlines the energy resources that SWEPCO plans to secure to serve its existing and future customers. The IRP serves to inform the Commission and interested parties about the anticipated costs and other considerations of various resource options, as well as SWEPCO's preferred plan. The plan does not commit to any specific investment decision, nor is it a commitment to a specific course of action. It is simply a snapshot of the future at a given point in time.

SWEPCO established a stakeholder engagement process, pursuant to APSC rules providing for broad participation in the planning or review process before the plan is submitted to the APSC. SWEPCO’s three objectives for the stakeholder engagement process are:

• Listen: Understand resource planning concerns and objectives of stakeholders.
• Inform: Increase stakeholder understanding of the IRP process, key assumptions and the challenges facing SWEPCO and the electric utility industry.
• Consider: Provide a forum for productive stakeholder feedback at key points in the IRP process to inform SWEPCO's resource planning decision making.

A Stakeholder Committee meeting was held virtually on September 15, 2021. During the meeting, SWEPCO provided an overview of utility objectives, assumptions and estimated needs, and responded to questions. The Committee met separately to begin work on a Stakeholder Committee report which is included in the final Integrated Resource Plan document.