Mapping Energy: Where Idaho's Power Comes From

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Courtesy: Northwest Power and Conservation Council

This page is no longer being updated. For ongoing coverage of this topic, go to Boise State Public Radio’s website.

Most of us don’t think about where the electricity that powers our lights, televisions, computers, phones — our lives — comes from. And if we wanted to find out, how many of us would know where to start?

Search no more. Thanks to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, there’s a map for that.

The projects are color-coded, as you can see. Light blue is for wind, dark blue is for hydro, yellow is natural gas, green is biomass, red is coal, and white is for geothermal generation.

To be clear: some of the electricity Idahoans use is generated out of state. For example, Idaho Power has three coal-fired power plants, all of which are in neighboring states. If you’re curious about generation in Idaho, though, this map has you covered.

To see a map of power generation across the Northwest, click here.

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April 17, 2013

Electricity Rate Hikes Are Here To Stay

As StateImpact has reported, Idaho Power on Monday submitted a proposal to raise customer rates by as much as 15.34 percent, on average, for the next year. The price hike is largely the result of low rainfall and snowpack, which have lowered Idaho Power’s production of hydroelectricity — a comparatively cheap resource. The Idaho Conservation […]

April 15, 2013

Idaho Power Requests 15 Percent Rate Hike, Citing Drought’s Effect On Hydro Generation

Idaho Power is asking utility regulators to raise electricity rates by as much as 15 percent, on average, starting in June. That would be the highest cost adjustment to hit customers in more than a decade, as you can see in the chart below.

December 18, 2012

Existing Wind Projects Fare Well Under Public Utilities Commission Ruling, But There’s A Catch

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission today handed a key victory to wind developers currently operating in the state, but it did so while imposing an indirect limit on the amount of wind development Idaho is likely to see in the near future. “There are very different implications for existing versus new wind developers,” the Idaho […]

December 4, 2012

Gov.’s Commission Weighs Idaho Jobs Against Existing Nuclear Waste Disposal Agreement

The Idaho National Laboratory creates billions of dollars in economic impact for the state of Idaho, along with tens of thousands of jobs. Sustaining and expanding that economic engine may require relaxing some of the requirements and restrictions on spent nuclear fuel shipments and waste disposal included in a 1995 agreement between the state, the […]

October 18, 2012

Idaho’s Energy Supply Isn’t So Clean After All

Idaho utilities and wind developers are squaring off over the wind industry’s future in the state, as StateImpact explained last month. As part of that reporting, we’ve rolled out stories on Idaho’s electricity supply, including this one on in-state electricity sources. Hydroelectricity accounts for nearly 80 percent of in-state electricity generation, it shows. While that’s […]

October 5, 2012

Pay Keeps Rising For Idaho Power CEO — And There’s A Reason

Idaho Power CEO J. LaMont Keen‘s base salary rose by 45 percent between 2006 and last year, compensation records show. Keen’s salary was $436,538 when he was appointed just over six years ago. By 2011, it had risen to $634,423. “That’s a highly significant increase, especially in the years of recession,” said Harry Schum of […]

October 4, 2012

Why Idaho’s Electricity Is Cheaper Than The Rest of The Nation’s

Lately, we’ve covered the wind industry’s aggressive move into Idaho, and utilities’ attempts to rein in the industry’s expansion in the state. Related to that reporting, it’s worth taking a look at the big picture of electricity generation in Idaho. With that in mind, we posted this map last week. Now, let’s size it up […]

October 1, 2012

Wind Power Dispute Creates Odd Alliance Between Renewable Energy, Traditional Idaho Businesses

The federal law that helped 30 Idaho wind projects get underway over the last four years was initially championed by an entirely different breed of business: timber companies, canal companies, and Simplot. That adds a twist to a story that is, on its face, about a dispute between the renewable energy industry and utilities, primarily […]

September 28, 2012

Wind As Energy, Wind As Art

Sometimes, in reporting, you stumble across something that is just plain great. Lately I’ve been focused on wind development, and this wind map is one of those awesome things I happened to find. Go ahead: click on it. You’ll see. The live wind map is an art project, as the site explains. It’s based on […]

Map: Where Idaho’s Energy Comes From

Courtesy: Northwest Power and Conservation Council Most of us don’t think about where the electricity that powers our lights, televisions, computers, phones — our lives — comes from. And if we wanted to find out, how many of us would know where to start? Search no more. Thanks to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, […]

Mapping Energy: Where Idaho's Power Comes From

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September 21, 2012