Senate Sends Energy Plan to Governor

By Michelle Dunlop, The Times-News, Twin Falls, Idaho,

Mar. 29–BOISE — More than two decades have passed since state officials have updated Idaho’s energy plan.

That’s about to change.

On Tuesday, the Senate voted unanimously to send to the governor a bill that calls for a new plan. An interim legislative energy committee will look at possible sources of electricity generation for the state as well as the role of alternative fuels in meeting Idaho’s needs.

“This will help us deliver a plan that will be good for the state both now and in the future,” said President Pro Tem Robert Geddes, R-Soda Springs.

Back in 1982 when the state’s current plan was penned, the U.S. Census Bureau projected the state would be the seventh fastest-growing in the nation during the 1980s. Today, Idaho is the third fastest-growing state in the nation.

Seventy percent of Idaho’s electricity needs were met by hydropower in 1982, according to the state plan. In 2004, Idaho Power relied on hydroelectric generation for more than 45 percent of its power and out-of-state coal-fired generation for nearly 55 percent. The company provides power to about 460,000 customers. Overall, the state imports approximately 46 percent of its electricity, according to Idaho Division of Energy reports.

“I think it’s timely — we’ve got a number of coal-based power plants looking to locate at various places in the state,” said Sen. Clint Stennett, D-Ketchum.

One of those places is a site northeast of Jerome where Sempra Generation plans to build a 600-megawatt coal-fired facility. The Senate could vote Wednesday on a proposed two-year moratorium on the building and permitting of coal-fired power plants in Idaho.

In 1982, drafters of the state energy plan saw coal as a “logical fuel source” given the state’s proximity to the coal fields in Wyoming. The policy for coal in the current plan suggests the state “should establish clear and definitive rules” for the use of coal and should encourage utilities and citizens’ committees in the siting process.

Nuclear power was also recognized in 1982 as a potential source given the state’s “many years in nuclear technology development” at the Idaho National Laboratory.

Sen. Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, hopes the interim committee will take a serious look at nuclear energy.

“Nuclear power is a power alternative that could free this country from the substantial dependence on foreign sources,” Davis said.

The authors of the 1982 plan didn’t place a lot of faith in wind power due to the lack of data about it. Over 20 years later, Idaho’s wind energy potential is estimated at 18,000 megawatts; Idaho Power reported at least 61.5 megawatts of wind generation in 2005, with another roughly 200 megawatts-worth of wind projects in various stages.

The interim committee could begin sorting out these issues at its first meeting as early as Thursday.

“It’s probably one of the most important issues we will all face,” Stennett said

Reporter Michelle Dunlop covers the Legislature and natural resources for The Times-News. She can be reached at 343-5553 or by e-mail at mdunlop@magicvalley.com.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Times-News, Twin Falls, Idaho,

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