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Idaho Power Seeks Acceptance of Plan by Staff Idaho Statesman, November 25, 2006

Idaho Power Co. has written a plan that calls for new power-generating capacity, possibly including a new clean-coal plant in southeastern Idaho and nuclear power from the Idaho National Laboratory.

Idaho Power seeks state regulators' approval of the company's latest 20-year growth plan. The plan calls for 1,300 megawatts of power-generating additions and conservation savings to meet the demands of the company's growing customer base. That base has increased from 300,000 customers in 1990 to more than 460,000 customers today in southwestern Idaho and eastern Oregon, the company said.

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission said the base could reach 680,000 customers by 2025 -- an increase of 11,000 to 12,000 customers each year.

The PUC said Idaho Power's plan includes:

• Adding 100 megawatts of wind power in 2007.
• Adding 170 megawatts in 2008 by expanding the Danskin natural gas plant near Mountain Home.
• Adding a 250-megawatt coal plant in 2013, possibly at the existing Jim Bridger Plant in Wyoming, of which Idaho Power owns one-third.
• Possibly acquiring, in about 2017, some 250 megawatts from a plant using an advanced clean-coal technology called Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle. Developers have expressed interest in Pocatello and Soda Springs as possible sites for the advanced coal technology.
• Possibly acquiring, in about 2023, some 250 megawatts from an anticipated nuclear plant at the Idaho National Laboratory near Idaho Falls.
• Transmission upgrades, particularly to the transmission line from the McNary Dam near Umatilla, Ore., to Boise, to add 285 megawatts of capacity.
• Conservation programs to reduce power requirements by 187 megawatts and average load by 88 megawatts.

Idaho Power said its Integrated Resource Plan is for planning purposes only, and could change depending on the response it gets from its requests for proposals and its changing power needs. The company held four public meetings to seek comments.

The plan is prepared every two years.

The PUC is taking comment through Jan. 22 on the 160-page document. Copies are available at www.puc.idaho.gov and www.idahopower.com/2006irp.

Comments are accepted via e-mail by accessing the commission's home page and clicking on "Comments & Questions." Fill in the case number (IPC-E-06-24) and enter your comments. Comments can also be mailed to P.O. Box 83720, Boise, ID 83720-0074 or faxed to (208) 334-3762.