Integrated resource planning (IRP) is a planning process for electric utilities that evaluates many different options for meeting future electricity demands and selects the optimal mix of resources that minimizes the cost of electricity supply while meeting reliability needs and other objectives. With traditional utility planning, planners take into consideration the demand to be met, the reliability to be achieved, and applicable government policies and regulations. The planner then selects the types of fuels, power plants, distribution systems and patterns, and power purchases that will meet these objectives with minimum revenue requirement (the revenue the utility must collect to finance and operate the power system). Options are selected only from the supply side (options to supply more power) as opposed to the demand side (options to reduce electricity demand) of the electricity system. IRP however, attempts to take the traditional planning approach several steps further. It strives to: (1) Evaluate all options, from both the supply and demand sides, in a fair and consistent manner; (2) Minimize costs to all stakeholders (and not just costs to the utility); (3) Create a flexible plan that allows for uncertainty and permits adjustment in response to changed circumstances. The traditional goals of utility planning are reliable service, economic efficiency, environmental protection, and equity. Reliable service necessitates the balancing of customer and investor interests (i.e., balancing the quality of service against cost). Equity necessitates the additional balancing of the interests of the various customer classes as well as the interests of present and future generations. IRP makes it easier to strike a balance among these traditional goals by considering all supply and demand options as potential contributors and by integrating them into a common framework. The result is an opportunity to achieve lower overall costs than might result from considering only supply-side options. Furthermore, the inclusion of demand-side options presents more possibilities for saving fuel and reducing negative environmental impacts than might be possible if only supply-side options were considered. However, while DSM programs are one important aspect of an IRP, an IRP is much more than DSM programs. An IRP will also usually include many supply-side measures, ranging from traditional power plants to more innovative sources of electricity supply such as power purchases, independent power plants, cogeneration, and renewable energy sources. >