Idaho OKs Power Plant in Payette County
Over our objections, Idaho Power moves forward with a new natural gas plant.
Regulators rejected requests by industries and environmentalists to delay Idaho Power’s natural-gas plant.
Idaho Power Co. received state permission Tuesday to build the plant four miles south of New Plymouth.
The Idaho Public Utilities Commission turned aside arguments that the plant could be delayed because of the slowing economy and the potential for greater energy savings through conservation. It accepted Idaho Power’s argument that the state needs more power-generating capacity to accommodate growth and avoid curtailments, and that the company already is pursuing conservation programs aggressively.
“The public interest is not served by delay,” the commission said in its order.
The 330-megawatt plant is scheduled to begin operating in late 2012. It will be built on 137 acres of undeveloped range land adjacent to Interstate 84, immediately southwest of Exit 9 in rural Payette County.
Intervenors seeking to slow the plant included the Industrial Customers of Idaho Power, the Idaho Irrigation Pumpers Association, the Idaho Conservation League and the Community Action Partnership Association of Idaho. Local business and civic leaders favored the plant, which is expected to produce 120 temporary construction jobs and 18 permanent jobs.
