Regional Energy Deployment System
The Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) is NLR's flagship capacity planning model for the power sector.
The model simulates the evolution of the bulk power system—generation and transmission—from present day through 2050 or later.
Learn more about the ReEDS model on GitHub, check out the user guide for suggestions on improving usage of the model, or watch a video training series. Each tutorial focuses on a different aspect of the model and includes a demonstration by a ReEDS developer. For additional questions about the model, please contact the ReEDS staff.

ReEDS Model Is Now Available
The ReEDS model is now open source.
Access on ReEDS GitHub.
Standard Scenarios and Examples
The ReEDS model informs a range of electricity sector research questions. These include energy policy, renewable energy integration, technology innovation, and other forward-looking generation and transmission infrastructure issues.
For examples of recent topics and trends observed in the ReEDS model, see the 2023 Standard Scenarios Report: A U.S. Electricity Sector Outlook.
Also, explore the model results in the Scenario Viewer and Data Downloader.
For a more comprehensive view of questions informed by the model, see our publications.
Publications
Brinkman, G., Bannister, M., Bredenkamp, S., Carveth, L., Corbus, D., Green, R., Lavin, L., Lopez, A., Marquis, M., Mowers, J., Mowers, M., Rese, L., Roberts, B., Rose, A., Shah, S., Sharma, P., Sun, H., Wang, B., Vyakaranam, B., Royer, P. 2024. Atlantic Offshore Wind Transmission Study, U.S. Department of Energy.
Brown, P. R., Williams, T., Brown, M. L., & Murphy, C. 2024. System-Cost-Minimizing Deployment of PV-Wind Hybrids in Low-Carbon U.S. Power Systems. Applied Energy, 365, 123151.
Diffendorfer, Jay E., Brian Sergi, Anthony Lopez, Travis Williams, Michael Gleason, Zach Ancona, and Wesley Cole. 2024. The Interplay of Future Solar Energy, Land Cover Change, and Their Projected Impacts on Natural Lands and Croplands in the U.S. Science of The Total Environment, June, 173872
Eberle, A.; T. Mai; J.O. Roberts; T. Williams; P. Pinchuk; A. Lopez; M. Mowers; J. Mowers; T. Stehly; E. Lantz. 2024. Incorporating Wind Turbine Choice in High Resolution Geospatial Supply Curve and Capacity Expansion Models, NLR Technical Report
Joshi, P., Inskeep, S., & Chernyakhovskiy, I. 2024. Impacts of Renewable Energy and Green Hydrogen Policies on Uttar Pradesh's Power Sector Future.
Karmakar, Akash, and Wesley Cole. 2024. Nodal Capacity Expansion Modeling With ReEDS: A Case Study of the RTS-GMLC Test System. NLR Technical Report
Bistline, J. E. T., Brown, M., Domeshek, M., Marcy, C., Roy, N., Blanford, G., Burtraw, D., Farbes, J., Fawcett, A., Hamilton, A., Jenkins, J., Jones, R., King, B., Kolus, H., Larsen, J., Levin, A., Mahajan, M., Mayfield, E., McFarland, J., Zhao, A. 2023. Power Sector Impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Environmental Research Letters, 19(1), 014013.
Gagnon, P.; A. Pham; W. Cole et al. 2024. 2023 Standard Scenarios Report: A U.S. Electricity Sector Outlook, NLR Technical Report
Gurgel, A., Mignone, B. K., Morris, J., Kheshgi, H., Mowers, M., Steinberg, D., Herzog, H., & Paltsev, S. 2023. Variable Renewable Energy Deployment in Low-Emission Scenarios: The Role of Technology Cost and Value. Applied Energy, 344, 121119.
Ruth, Mark F., Paige N. Jadun, and Wesley Cole. 2023. Potential Availability of and Supply Curves for Low-Cost, Dispatch-Constrained Electricity, NLR Technical Report
Zhou, Ella, Amgad Elgowainy, Andre Fernandes Tomon Avelino, Kwang Hoon Baek, Wesley Cole, Garvin Heath, Yijin Li, Weijia Liu, Vikram Ravi, Pingping Sun, Jiazi Zhang. 2023. Markets, Resources, and Environmental and Energy Justice (MarkeRs-EEJ), NLR Presentation
Cole, Wesley, Paul Denholm, Vincent Carag, Will Frazier. 2023. The peaking potential of long-duration energy storage in the United States power system. Journal of Energy Storage Volume 62.
Steinberg, Daniel C., Maxwell Brown, Ryan Wiser, Paul Donohoo-Vallett, Pieter Gagnon, Anne Hamilton, Matthew Mowers, Caitlin Murphy, and Ashreeta Prasana. 2023. Evaluating Impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law on the U.S. Power System , NLR Technical Report
John Bistline et al. 2023. Emissions and energy impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act. Science Volume 380.
Joshi, Prateek, Amy Rose, and Ilya Chernyakhovskiy. 2022. Role of Renewable Energy, Storage, and Demand Response in Karnataka's Power Sector Future, NLR Technical Report
Mai, Trieu, Matt Mowers, Philipp Beiter, Anthony Lopez, and Patrick Brown. 2022. The Determinants of Offshore Wind's Role in a Future U.S. Energy System: A Preliminary Modeling Sensitivity Analysis, NLR Presentation
Mowers, Matthew, Bryan Mignone, and Daniel Steinberg. 2022. Quantifying value and representing competitiveness of electricity system technologies in economic models. Applied Energy Volume 329.
Sergi, Brian, Greg Brinkman, Michael Emmanuel, Omar J. Guerra, Daniel Steinberg, and Bri-Mathias Hodge. 2022. Duke Energy Carbon-Free Resource Integration Study, NLR Technical Report
Chernyakhovskiy, Ilya, Mohit Joshi, Sika Gadzanku, Sarah Inskeep, and Amy Rose. 2022. Opportunities for Renewable Energy, Storage, Vehicle Electrification, and Demand Response in Rajasthan's Power Sector, NLR Technical Report
Schleifer, Anna, Caitlin Murphy, Wesley Cole, and Paul Denholm. 2022 Exploring the design space of utility-scale PV-plus-battery system configurations under evolving grid conditions. Applied Energy Volume 308.
J Bistline, A Sowder, S Bragg-Sitton, B Dixon, Wesley Cole, Jonathan Ho, Caitlin Murphy, A Kwon, L Martin, C Namovicz, and E Eschmann. 2022. Nuclear Energy in Long-Term System Models: A Multi-Model Perspective. Palo Alto, CA: Electric Power Research Institute.TP#3002023698.
Brown, Patrick, Pieter Gagnon, Sean Corcoran, and Wesley Cole. 2022. Retail Rate Projections for Long-Term Electricity System Models, NLR Technical Report
Blair, Nate, Chad Augustine, Wesley Cole, Paul Denholm, Will Frazier, Madeline Geocaris, Jennie Jorgenson, Kevin McCabe, Kara Podkaminer, Ashreeta Prasanna, and Ben Sigrin. 2022. Storage Futures Study: Key Learnings for the Coming Decades, NLR Technical Report
Gagnon, Pieter, and Wesley Cole. 2022. Planning for the evolution of the electric grid with a long-run marginal emission rate. iScience Volume 23 (Issue 3).
McCabe, Kevin, Ashreeta Prasanna, Jane Lockshin, Parangat Bhaskar, Thomas Bowen, Ruth Baranowski, Ben Sigrin, and Eric Lantz. Distributed Wind Energy Futures Study, NLR Technical Report
Brinkman, Gregory, Dominique Bain, Grant Buster, Caroline Draxl, Paritosh Das, Jonathan Ho, Eduardo Ibanez, et al. 2021. The North American Renewable Integration Study: A Canadian Perspective, NLR Technical Report
Brinkman, Gregory, Dominique Bain, Grant Buster, Caroline Draxl, Paritosh Das, Jonathan Ho, Eduardo Ibanez, et al. 2021. The North American Renewable Integration Study: A U.S. Perspective, NLR Technical Report
Chernyakhovskiy, Ilya, Mohit Joshi, David Palchak, and Amy Rose. 2021. Energy Storage in South Asia: Understanding the Role of Grid-Connected Energy Storage in South Asia's Power Sector Transformation, NLR Technical Report
Cole, Wesley, Nathaniel Gates, and Trieu Mai. 2021. "Exploring the Cost Implications of Increased Renewable Energy for the U.S. Power System." The Electricity Journal 34(5): 106957.
Cole, Wesley J., Danny Greer, Paul Denholm, Will Frazier, Scott Machen, Trieu Mai, Nina Vincent, and Samuel F. Baldwin. 2021. "Quantifying the Challenge of Reaching a 100% Renewable Energy Power System for the United States." Joule 5(70): 1732–1748.
DOE (U.S. Department of Energy). 2021. Solar Futures Study. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. DOE/GO-102021-5621.
Eurek, Kelly, Madeline Macmillan, and Wesley Cole. 2021. A Tutorial for Using an Open-Source Solver for the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) Model, NLR Presentation
Eurek, Kelly, Caitlin Murphy, Wesley Cole, Will Frazier, Patrick Brown, and Anna Schleifer. 2021. Representing DC-Coupled PV+Battery Hybrids in a Capacity Expansion Model, NLR Technical Report
Frazier, A. Will , Wesley Cole, Paul Denholm, Scott Machen, Nathaniel Gates, and Nate Blair. 2021. Storage Futures Study: Economic Potential of Diurnal Storage in the U.S. Power Sector, NLR Technical Report
Frew, Bethany. Emerging Trends in Power System Planning Models, NLR Presentation
Ho, Jonathan, Jonathon Becker, Maxwell Brown, Patrick Brown, Ilya Chernyakhovskiy, Stuart Cohen, Wesley Cole, et al. 2021. Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) Model Documentation: Version 2020, NLR Technical Report
Lantz, Eric, Garrett Barter, Patrick Gilman, David Keyser, Trieu Mai, Melinda Marquis, Matthew Mowers, et al. 2021. Power Sector, Supply Chain, Jobs, and Emissions Implications of 30 Gigawatts of Offshore Wind Power by 2030, NLR Technical Report
Mai, Trieu, Anthony Lopez, Matthew Mowers, and Eric Lantz. 2021. "Interactions in Wind Energy Project Siting, Wind Resource Potential, and the Evolution of the U.S. Power System." Energy 223: 119998.
Mai, Trieu, Wesley Cole, Nathaniel Gates, and Daniel Greer. 2021. "The Prospective Impacts of 2019 State Energy Policies on the U.S. Electricity System." Energy Policy 149: 112013.
Mai, Trieu, Matthew Mowers, and Kelly Eurek. 2021. Competitiveness Metrics for Electricity System Technologies, NLR Technical Report
Mignone, Bryan K., Matthew Binsted, Maxwell Brown, Darek Imadi, Haewon McJeon, Matthew Mowers, Sharon Showalter, Daniel C. Steinberg, and Frances Wood 2021. "Relative Cost-Effectiveness of Electricity and Transportation Policies as a Means to Reduce CO2 Emissions in the United States: A Multi-Model Assessment." Economics of Energy and Environmental Policy 11(1).
Murphy, Caitlin, Trieu Mai, Yinong Sun, Paige Jadun, Matteo Muratori, Brent Nelson, and Ryan Jones. 2021. Electrification Futures Study: Scenarios of Power System Evolution and Infrastructure Development for the United States, NLR Technical Report
Novacheck, Josh, and Marty Schwarz. 2021. Evaluating the Grid Impact of Oregon Offshore Wind, NLR Technical Report
Rose, Amy, Ilya Chernyakhovskiy, David Palchak, Marty Schwarz, Sam Koebrich, and Mohit Joshi. 2021. Pathways for Tamil Nadu's Electric Power Sector: 2020–2030, NLR Technical Report
Sergi, Brian, and Wesley Cole. Operating Reserves in ReEDS, NLR Presentation
Bistline, John, Wesley Cole, Giovanni Damato, Joseph DeCarolis, Will Frazier, Vikram Linga, Cara Marcy, et al. 2020. "Energy Storage in Long-Term System Models: A Review of Considerations, Best Practices, and Research Needs." Progress in Energy 2(3): 032001.
Bistline, John E.T., Maxwell Brown, Sauleh A. Siddiqui, Kathleen Vaillancourt. 2020. " Electric Sector Impacts of Renewable Policy Coordination: A Multi-Model Study of the North American Energy System." Energy Policy 145 (October): 111707.
Brown, Maxwell, Wesley Cole, Kelly Eurek, Jon Becker, David Bielen, Ilya Chernyakhovskiy, Stuart Cohen, et al. 2020. Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) Model Documentation: Version 2019, NLR Technical Report
Cole, Wesley, Sean Corcoran, Nathaniel Gates, Trieu Mai, and Paritosh Das. 2020. 2020 Standard Scenarios Report: A U.S. Electricity Sector Outlook, NLR Technical Report
Cole, Wesley, Daniel Greer, Jonathan Ho, and Robert Margolis. 2020. "Considerations for Maintaining Resource Adequacy of Electricity Systems with High Penetrations of PV and Storage." Applied Energy 279: 115795.
Denholm, Paul, Jacob Nunemaker, Pieter Gagnon, Wesley J. Cole. 2020. "The Potential for Battery Energy Storage to Provide Peaking Capacity in the United States." Renewable Energy 151 (May): 1269–1277.
Diaz, Paul, Ryan King, Devon Sigler, Wesley Cole, and Wesley Jones. 2020. Uncertainty Quantification for Capacity Expansion Planning, NLR Technical Report
Frazier, A. Will, Wesley J. Cole, Paul Denholm, Daniel Greer, Pieter Gagnon. 2020. " Assessing the Potential of Battery Storage as a Peaking Capacity Resource in the United States." Applied Energy 275 (October): 115385.
Gagnon, Pieter, Will Frazier, Elaine Hale, and Wesley Cole. 2020. Cambium Documentation: Version 2020, NLR Technical Report
Murphy, Caitlin, Eliza Hotchkiss, Kate Anderson, Clayton Barrows, Stuart Cohen, Sourabh Dalvi, Nick Laws, et al. 2020. Adapting Existing Energy Planning, Simulation, and Operational Models for Resilience Analysis, NLR Technical Report
Murphy, Caitlin, Trieu Mai, Yinong Sun, Paige Jadun, Paul Donohoo-Vallett, Matteo Muratori, Ryan Jones, and Brent Nelson. 2020. "High Electrification Futures: Impacts to the Bulk Power System." The Electricity Journal 33(10): 106878.
Rose, Amy, Ilya Chernyakhovskiy, David Palchak, Sam Koebrich, and Mohit Joshi. 2020. Least-Cost Pathways for India's Electric Power Sector, NLR Technical Report
Siddiqui, Sauleh, Kathleen Vaillancourt, Olivier Bahn, Nadejda Victor, Christopher Nichols, Charalampos Avraam, Maxwell Brown. 2020. "Integrated North American Energy Markets Under Different Futures of Cross-Border Energy Infrastructure." Energy Policy 144 (September): 111658.
Sun, Yinong, Paige Jadun, Brent Nelson, Matteo Muratori, Caitlin Murphy, Jeffrey Logan, and Trieu Mai. 2020. Electrification Futures Study: Methodological Approaches for Assessing Long-Term Power System Impacts of End-Use Electrification, NLR Technical Report
Augustine, Chad R., Jonathan L. Ho, and Nathan J. Blair. 2019. GeoVision Analysis Supporting Task Force Report: Electric Sector Potential to Penetration, NLR Technical Report
Cohen, Stuart M., Jonathon Becker, David A. Bielen, Maxwell Brown, Wesley J. Cole, Kelly P. Eurek, Allister Frazier, et al. 2019. Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) Model Documentation: Version 2018, NLR Technical Report
Cole, Wesley, Nathaniel Gates, Trieu Mai, Daniel Greer, and Paritosh Das. 2019. 2019 Standard Scenarios Report: A U.S. Electricity Sector Outlook, NLR Technical Report
Cole, Wesley J., and Nina M. Vincent. 2019. Historical Comparison of Capacity Build Decisions from the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) Model, NLR Technical Report
Frazier, A. Will, Cara Marcy, and Wesley J. Cole. 2019. "Wind and Solar PV Deployment after Tax Credits Expire: A View from the Standard Scenarios and the Annual Energy Outlook." The Electricity Journal 32 (8): 106637.
Frew, Bethany, Wesley J. Cole, Paul Denholm, A. Will Frazier, Nina Vincent, Robert Margolis. 2019. "Sunny with a Chance of Curtailment: Operating the U.S. Grid with Very High Levels of Solar Photovoltaics." iScience 21 (November): 436–447.
Miara, Ariel, Stuart M. Cohen, Jordan Macknick, Charles J. Vörösmarty, Fabio Corsi, Yinong Sun, Vincent C. Tidwell, et al. 2019. "Climate-Water Adaptation for Future U.S. Electricity Infrastructure." Environmental Science & Technology 53 (23): 14029-14040.
Murphy, Caitlin, Yinong Sun, Wesley Cole, Galen Maclaurin, Craig Turchi, and Mark Mehos. 2019. The Potential Role of Concentrating Solar Power within the Context of DOE's 2030 Solar Cost Target, NLR Technical Report
Reimers, Andrew, Wesley Cole, and Bethany Frew. 2019. "The Impact of Planning Reserve Margins in Long-Term Planning Models of the Electricity Sector." Energy Policy 125 (February): 1–8.
Basore, Paul A., and Wesley J. Cole. 2018. "Comparing Supply and Demand Models for Future Photovoltaic Power Generation in the USA." Progress in Photovoltaics 26(6): 414–418.
Cohen, Stuart M., and Justin Caron. 2018. "The Economic Impacts of High Wind Penetration Scenarios in the United States." Energy Economics 76 (October): 558–73.
Cole, Wesley, Kelly Eurek, Nina Vincent, Trieu Mai, Matt Mowers, and Greg Brinkman. 2018. Operating Reserves in Long-term Planning Models, NLR Presentation
Cole, Wesley, and A. Will Frazier. 2018. "Impacts of Increasing Penetration of Renewable Energy on the Operation of the Power Sector." The Electricity Journal, Special Issue: Energy Policy Institute's Eighth Annual Energy Policy Research Conference, 31 (10): 24–31.
Cole, Wesley, Will Frazier, Paul Donohoo-Vallett, Trieu Mai, and Paritosh Das. 2018. 2018 Standard Scenarios Report: A U.S. Electricity Sector Outlook, NLR Technical Report
Cole, Wesley, Bethany Frew, Pieter Gagnon, Andrew Reimers, Jarett Zuboy, and Robert Margolis, 2018. "Envisioning a Low-Cost Solar Future: Exploring the Potential Impact of Achieving the SunShot 2030 Targets for Photovoltaics." Energy 155(15):690–704.
Frew, Bethany, Wesley Cole, Nina Vincent, Andrew Reimers, and Robert Margolis. 2018. " Impact of Dynamic Storage Capacity Valuation in Capacity Expansion Models: Preprint." Presented at the 2018 International Energy Workshop Gothenburg, Sweden June 19-21, 2018, NLR Conference Paper
Hodson, Elke L., Maxwell Brown, Stuart Cohen, Sharon Showalter, Marshall Wise, Frances Wood, Justin Carone, et al. "U.S. Energy Sector Impacts of Technology Innovation, Fuel Price, and Electric Sector CO2 Policy: Results from the EMF 32 Model Intercomparison Study." Energy Economics 73: 352–370.
Mai, Trieu. John Bistline, Yinong Sun, Wesley Cole, Cara Marcy, Chris Namovicz, and David Young. 2018. "The Role of Input Assumptions and Model Structures in Projections of Variable Renewable Energy: A Multi-Model Perspective of the U.S. Electricity System." Energy Economics 76: 313-324.
Mai, Trieu, Daniel Steinberg, Jeffrey Logan, David Bielen, Kelly Eurek, and Colin McMillan. 2018. "An Electrified Future for the U.S. Energy and Electricity Systems: Initial Scenarios and Future Research." IEEE Power & Energy Magazine. July/August: 34-47.
Sun, Yinong, Wesley Cole, and Venkat Krishnan. 2018. "Comparing Power Flow Approximations for Electricity Infrastructure Capacity Expansion Models with High Spatial Resolution." 2018 IEEE/PES Transmission and Distribution Conference and Exposition (T&D).
Zhou, Ella, Wesley Cole, and Bethany Frew. 2018. "Valuing Variable Renewable Energy for Peak Demand Requirements." Energy 165(2018): 499-511.
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Last Updated Dec. 7, 2025