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Integrated Investment Planning Framework
In this panel discussion, utility and industry leaders from Pacific Gas & Electric, SA Power Networks, Hatch Consulting, and Black & Veatch will discuss how leading organizations are defining value, evaluating tradeoffs, and making more defensible investment decisions across transmission and distribution portfolios.
Electric utilities are confronting an unprecedented convergence of pressures to balance reliability, resilience, affordability, and decarbonization, challenging traditional approaches to investment planning. These legacy approaches (often developed within organizational silos) are no longer sufficient to evaluate cross-system trade-offs or optimize capital deployment across transmission and distribution systems.
This panel will present an emerging industry consensus framework for Integrated Investment Planning (IIP) that supports more transparent, risk-informed, and value-based decision-making. Panelists will discuss how utilities are defining, quantifying, and operationalizing value across risk reduction, financial outcomes, and strategic objectives; evaluating portfolios that include both traditional and non-traditional solutions; and optimizing investments under real-world constraints such as workforce availability, supply chain limitations, and regulatory requirements.
Panelists include utility and industry leaders who led the development of the IEEE Integrated Investment Planning white paper that discusses how to build out a value framework for T&D investments. The white paper was sponsored by the IEEE Industry Technical Support Leadership Committee – Integrated Grid Planning Task Force. Drawing on findings from this industry-led effort, the discussion will highlight practical considerations for implementation, including data maturity, governance of assumptions and models, and methods for calibrating benefits across diverse investment types. The panel will also explore how integrated planning approaches can improve the defensibility and transparency of investment plans, strengthen stakeholder confidence, and enhance the ability to translate long-term plans into near-term, actionable execution.
Attendees will gain insights into how leading utilities are advancing integrated planning capabilities, along with practical, scalable approaches for applying these frameworks within their own organizations.
