Idaho

High-voltage substation construction and transformer work across Idaho. Here is the grid ESS operates in.

How Idaho makes its power

Hydropower is Idaho's largest electricity source at roughly 44 percent of generation, led by Idaho Power's Hells Canyon Complex on the Snake River. Natural gas supplies about 31 percent and wind about 15 percent, with additional contributions from geothermal, solar, and biomass. Idaho has no coal-fired power plants within the state and imports roughly a third of the electricity it consumes from the regional market.

Grid challenges

Drought and reduced snowpack have lowered hydroelectric output, cutting hydropower's share of generation from about two-thirds in earlier decades to roughly 44 percent. Because the state produces less than half of the electricity it uses, Idaho relies on imports and market purchases and is exposed to regional supply and price conditions. Idaho Power and Rocky Mountain Power are advancing the roughly 290-mile Boardman to Hemingway 500kV line to expand transmission capacity between the Pacific Northwest and southern Idaho.

Major utilities and grid operators

  • Idaho Power
  • Avista Utilities
  • Rocky Mountain Power (PacifiCorp)
  • Bonneville Power Administration (BPA)
  • Municipal utilities and rural cooperatives
  • WECC / Western Interconnection

Sources

Substation work in Idaho?

Tell us the voltage class, the site, and the timeline. ESS mobilizes across the West.

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