A method for modeling power management in an integrated circuit (IC) includes: specifying a circuit design and a power architecture for the IC, the power architecture including a plurality of power domains for specifying power levels in different portions of the IC; determining an emulation module for the IC by including one or more hardware elements for modeling the power architecture in the emulation module; and using the emulation module to simulate changing power levels in one or more power domains of the IC including a power shutoff in at least one power domain.