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| Idaho Energy Update |
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A weekly summary of energy and climate issues. We feature updates from the Legislature and state agencies, Idaho's utilities and regulators, and topical clean energy developments in Idaho and the Northwest - all designed to help you follow and participate in Idaho energy issues.
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Do you want to live in a state powered by clean and renewable energy, and free from the threat of nuclear waste, weapons, and power? If the answer's yes, then you should join the Snake River Alliance. We have 30 years of experience watchdogging the Department of Energy and an active campaign to develop a sustainable energy future for Idaho. Every voice counts, so make a difference today and join us!
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Support the Alliance when you buy Patagonia!The Alliance is proud to receive foundation support from Patagonia, and now you can support the Alliance when you purchase Patagonia gear! Visit www.patagonia.com
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| Wednesday, December 07, 2011 |
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Dec 7 Idaho Energy Update: Idaho Power to review its coal plants
By lwoodruff @ 2:36 PM :: 101 Views ::
0 Comments ::  :: Clean and Renewable Energy, Idaho Energy Updates
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Idaho Power relies on out-of-state coal-fired power plants for more than 40 percent of its electric generation. As part of its required power planning process the utility says it will examine each of the coal plants in which it has an interest to determine whether to continue the massive investments required to keep the plants legal, or whether to begin planning to retire them and replace their generation with cleaner resources. Meanwhile, the state’s largest electric utility has filed contracts with regulators for three new renewable energy projects – including wind, small hydro and landfill gas generation. Speaking of hydropower, Idaho Power has reported to the PUC that its costs to date in the seven-year-old Hells Canyon hydropower relicensing saga have eclipsed $141 million, and the case is a long way from resolution.
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| Tuesday, November 22, 2011 |
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Nov. 22 Idaho Energy Update: Tough Day for State Energy Plan
By lwoodruff @ 4:54 PM :: 269 Views ::
0 Comments :: :: Clean and Renewable Energy, Idaho Energy Updates, Action Alert!
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Clean energy advocates are starting to wonder whether the Legislature is cooking up a turkey in the form of a revised Idaho Energy Plan. Lawmakers voted repeatedly Monday to weaken provisions in the 2007 Idaho Energy Plan as part of their five-year rewrite of the plan. Idaho wind developers are considering their next move in the wake of a surprising ruling by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that the PUC erred in refusing to accept more than a dozen wind contracts with Idaho utilities. Meanwhile, the PUC is accepting comments on Avista utilities Integrated Resource Plan, and there’s a Dec. 5 hearing on Idaho Power’s big general rate case. In other news, Hoku Materials has finally plugged its huge Pocatello polysilicon plant into Idaho Power’s system, and Gov. Butch Otter signed an order to extend the life of the Office of Energy Resources.
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| Thursday, November 17, 2011 |
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| Thursday, October 27, 2011 |
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Oct. 27 Idaho Energy Update: Get Involved Edition
By lwoodruff @ 3:18 PM :: 249 Views ::
0 Comments :: :: Idaho Energy Updates, Action Alert!
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Welcome to the Get Involved Edition of the Idaho Energy Update. A number of public comment and engagement opportunities are on tap this month, beginning with Idaho Power public meetings in four cities next week on its Integrated Resource Plan along with a PUC comment deadline on the plan set for Nov. 14. The Legislature’s Interim Energy Committee is also scheduling a day of public comment Nov. 2 and a meeting on Nov. 3 on its efforts to rewrite the 2007 Idaho Energy Plan, while the PUC is holding public hearings three cities on Idaho Power’s big 2011 rate case. Last but not least, FRIDAY IS THE DEADLINE to comment to the BLM on the huge proposed Gateway West transmission project that would span southern Idaho.
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| Tuesday, October 04, 2011 |
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Oct. 4 Idaho Energy Update: New Utility Coal Report, Rate Cases & Idaho Energy Plan Revisions
By lwoodruff @ 12:52 PM :: 138 Views ::
0 Comments :: :: Clean and Renewable Energy, Idaho Energy Updates
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The Snake River Alliance has released the first of two reports on the use of coal-fired generation by Idaho’s three electric utilities, and in a related development Idaho Power has notified the Idaho Public Utilities Commission of the planned early decommissioning of the Boardman coal plant in Oregon, of which Idaho Power is a 10 percent owner. On the regulatory front, parties in Idaho Power’s big 2011 rate case have reached a settlement agreement, but the public will have a chance to weigh in before the PUC decides whether to accept the deal. Meanwhile, Avista’s electric rates and the rates charged by Intermountain Gas will both decline following PUC review of their cases. And the Legislature’s Interim Energy Committee will soon receive draft revisions to the 2007 Idaho Energy Plan, and when it does it will post the plan for public review and comment.
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| Wednesday, August 24, 2011 |
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Aug 23 ID Energy Update: Turmoil in the Renewables World, Oregon Looks at PacifiCorp's Coal Use
By lwoodruff @ 8:25 AM :: 270 Views ::
1 Comments :: :: Clean and Renewable Energy, Idaho Energy Updates
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This hasn’t been the best of months for wind and solar projects in Idaho, what with the PUC hitting the brakes on no fewer than 14 wind projects while utilities and renewables developers accused each other of dealing in bad faith over wind and solar contract negotiations. In an Oregon case with ramifications for two of Idaho’s electric utilities, the Oregon PUC has questions about the huge amount of coal-fired generation in PacifiCorp’s energy portfolio. PacifiCorp is known in southeastern Idaho as Rocky Mountain Power, while Idaho Power gets most of its coal generation from the Bridger coal plants in Wyoming, which are mostly owned by PacifiCorp. Intermountain Gas customers are in store for a rate cut due to abundant gas supplies nationwide, and the BLM has finally released its draft EIS for the big proposed Gateway West transmission line targeted for southern Idaho. Finally, the Snake River Alliance is planning a series of three workshops to explore its new energy guide, Idaho’s Clean Energy Future, and to discuss current energy issues in Idaho.
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| Tuesday, July 26, 2011 |
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July 26 2011 Idaho Energy Update: Big Solar News & Rate Cases
By lwoodruff @ 3:54 PM :: 378 Views ::
0 Comments :: :: Clean and Renewable Energy, Idaho Energy Updates
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Solar was in the news the past couple of weeks, with Idaho Power and partner Interconnect Solar Development submitting a contract to state regulators for what may become Idaho’s first utility-scale solar project. Meanwhile, a north Idaho company nailed down a second contract from the federal government as it pushes ahead on its dream to integrate solar panels into the nation’s roadways, parking lots, and other surfaces. Also, the PUC is beginning work on two large rate cases filed by Idaho Power and Avista Utilities, while Idaho Power’s latest “integrated resource plan” – its roadmap to meet future energy needs – has been filed with the PUC and will soon be open to public comment.
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| Wednesday, May 18, 2011 |
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May 17 Idaho Energy Update: Alliance Releases New Activist's Energy Guide
By lwoodruff @ 8:33 AM :: 414 Views ::
1 Comments :: :: Clean and Renewable Energy, Idaho Energy Updates
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Responding to inquiries from Idahoans wanting a greater voice in how their utilities operate and where they get their power, the Snake River Alliance has released “Idaho’s Clean Energy Future,” a free booklet available for download that walks readers through the world of Idaho’s electricity industry. Meanwhile, the Public Utilities Commission says it’s not turning a deaf ear to Idaho Power’s request for changes in the way it treats some of its growing energy conservation programs. And the PUC has also received the every-other-year energy resource plan from Rocky Mountain Power, and will soon set a comment period so the public can weigh in.
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| Tuesday, May 03, 2011 |
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May 3 ID Energy Update: Idaho Power Amps Up Wind Fight, Colo Rejects Nuke Plant
By lwoodruff @ 4:10 PM :: 599 Views ::
0 Comments ::  :: Nuclear Power, Clean and Renewable Energy, Bruneau nuclear reactor, Idaho Energy Updates
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In a move that’s leaving Idaho energy-watchers scratching their heads, Idaho Power has pulled out the stops with a pricey ad campaign to try to further slow down wind energy development in Idaho. The ads paint the utility as one of the nation’s greenest – a claim quickly refuted in another ad by the region’s independent power producers. In other Idaho Power news, long-time regulatory affairs chief and more recently the company’s sustainability czar Ric Gale announced his retirement from the company. And in nuke news, the Pueblo County Commission in Colorado has denied a request for a reactor project – one that once involved the company that has been shopping reactors around Idaho for the past four years. And THAT company, Eagle-based AEHI, has a June 6 date before the Payette County Commission for its project, as well as an October 2012 date in U.S. District Court to answer to federal securities fraud charges.
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| Friday, April 08, 2011 |
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Idaho Energy Update: Senate Pulls Plug on Idaho's Renewable Energy Development Incentive
By lwoodruff @ 4:49 PM :: 647 Views ::
0 Comments :: :: Nuclear Power, Clean and Renewable Energy, Bruneau nuclear reactor, Idaho Energy Updates
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The Idaho Legislature finally completed its unusually acrimonious 2011 session Thursday, but not before the Senate’s final vote – to pull the plug on Idaho’s incentive for investments in renewable energy. Despite easy passage in the House and amid the end-of-session chaos, the Senate came one vote shy of extending the sales tax rebate for renewable energy developments, an incentive viewed as critical for many renewable projects to move forward. Meanwhile, Seattle City Light has signed an agreement to buy the renewable energy credits from a wind farm under construction near Mountain Home. The PUC surprised many in rejecting a settlement agreement reached between Idaho Power and other parties on how the utility funds its energy conservation programs. And peripatetic Payette power plant proponent Alternate Energy Holdings filed its late financial report to the SEC – and the outlook for its would-be nuclear reactor is not a pretty picture.
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The Alliance receives 60% of its funding from foundations and 40% from people like you! Thanks to our members, major donors, and these foundations for making our work possible: Edwards Mother Earth, Bullitt, Lightfoot, Tides, Engelhard, Community Involvement Fund, and Patagonia.
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