POWER UP! Southern Idaho gets 'special' boost from renewable energy - Times-News

POWER UP! Southern Idaho gets 'special' boost from renewable energy

As federal incentives for renewable energy production increase, many companies are rushing to produce power in Idaho for a growing national energy market, while benefiting from tax credits and other incentives.

Idaho consumes almost four times more energy than it produces, although its total energy use is among the 10 lowest states.

Meanwhile, energy demand in the northwest will increase 25% in the next decade, according to the Oregon Capital Chronicle. Electricity demand in Idaho will mostly be from increased manufacturing and industrial activity.

The availability of a range of renewable energy production is attractive to larger businesses, whether from their own policy or commitments to reduce carbon emissions, backed by EPA credits and tax breaks for companies that make efforts to reduce their carbon emissions.

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For Jan Rogers, having commercial production in all five sectors of renewable energy makes the region more attractive to businesses looking for a place to build.

“We are literally producing all five clean renewable sectors in our region,” Rogers said.

Rogers is the executive director of Southern Idaho Economic Development Organization, whose aim is to build economic strength in the region by attracting large manufacturing and industry.

Electricity produced around the Magic Valley is largely from hydroelectric sources, but wind, solar, and bio gas are increasing.

The Idaho Electrical Generation Map, produced by the state of Idaho, shows the location and type of each type of electricity plant across the state.

“When I’m selling our state, I look for what makes us special. If anybody can say it, then we’re not special,” Rogers told the Times-News. “But if nobody else can say it, then we are special. It really makes us stand out in the U.S.”

Rogers has lived here for over 30 years and has seen the region double in size in that time.

But the area hasn’t lost its character.

The most common renewable energy, hydropower, has been used in Idaho for more than a century and accounts for about 50% of all energy produced in the state. Because of the steady, stable source of energy, Idaho has some of the lowest electricity prices in the nation.

Solar and wind projects have had the most growth in recent years. With a stated goal of reducing carbon emissions, the Biden administration set a goal to permit an unprecedented 25 gigawatts of renewable energy on public lands by 2025.

Solar

The largest solar farm in Idaho is located on 952 rural acres between Rogerson and the Nevada border.

Jackpot Solar, owned and operated by Duke Energy, began operating its facility at the end of 2022, putting electricity onto Idaho Power’s energy grid for use in Idaho, through a 20-year purchase agreement.
Jackpot Solar panels soak up some rays on a windy day north of Jackpot on April 27.

In a statement, Adam Richins, Idaho Power Co. senior vice president and chief operating officer said the project continues their commitment to clean energy, “while also helping us address the rapidly growing need for new resources to ensure we can provide reliable, affordable electricity to our customers.”

At 120 megawatts of capacity, the plant could generate enough electricity annually to serve the energy needs of roughly 24,000 homes.

The facility will bump up Idaho’s total solar power production, which accounted for 4% of the state’s net generation in 2022.

As a technician for Duke Energy, Sam Kendrick monitors the status and operation of close to 700,000 solar panels. Kendrick, who is from Twin Falls, monitors the facility and makes sure the auto-trackers keep the panels facing the sun. He also makes sure voles don’t chew the cables.

Trackers monitor the position of the sun and orient the panels to catch maximum sun. The facility also has a mini weather station, stowing the panels during periods of high wind.

“I wrestle with these trackers a lot — that’s a lot of my job,” Kendrick said.

Kendrick started off pursuing wind technician jobs, but solar was what was hot, so he started working in residential solar before moving to large-scale commercial production. He spent time all over the West, and when he got a chance to work at one site just outside his hometown, he jumped at it.

“When I left my last company I was traveling so much, because we had little sites all over Oregon, so I was constantly on the road,” Kendrick told the Times-News.

Duke Energy has begun construction of a sister project next to Jackpot, Nevada, called Franklin Solar, which will add an additional 800 acres to the footprint, with added capacity of 100 megawatts, as well as a battery storage facility.

The pause would give the county time to address large-scale commercial energy development land use ordinances.

In February, dozens of residents from Rogerson packed the Planning and Zoning Commission hearing on adjustments to Franklin Solar’s permit. They wanted to describe the impact of Jackpot’s construction on their town.

Residents said they could feel and hear the incessant pounding of pile drivers for the whole summer of 2022, as well as had impacts from construction traffic.

Rancher Josh Williamson told the planning and zoning that, although he had been assured that construction would not affect his property, a summer of the pounding pile-driving for the facility had jeopardized a water source on his ranch.

“I had a 55-gallon barrel sitting there on the side of the shop, and it had a little water on top, and you could see the rippling from the hammering from this project,” Williamson told the commission during the hearing. Looking back, I can say that I believe the hammering could be leading to the cave-in of my spring.”

Jackpot Solar panels soak up some rays on a windy day north of Jackpot on April 27.

Geothermal

Idaho is a hot spot of geothermal activity and one of seven states identified with the potential to harness that heat for geothermal energy production.

A legacy of volcanic activity and abundant hot springs should make Idaho an ideal place to harness the power of geothermal electricity production.

There are numerous instances, from Hagerman to Boise, where hot water from the ground has been used for decades used to heat homes and structures.

Despite the seemingly favorable conditions, there is only a single geothermal electric plant in the state.

Raft River Geothermal sits in Cassia County near Malta, not far from the Nevada border.

The Raft River plant was first started by the U.S. Department of Energy in the 1970s to test a concept. They built the facility using equipment made by Ormat Technologies and demonstrated it worked, and ran the plant to generate power for several months.
The Raft River Geothermal plant steadily produces 10 megawatts of power for Idaho's energy grid.

After the test project ended, the plant was mothballed for decades.

In 2006, a geothermal startup called U.S. Geothermal acquired the property and the following year turned the power back on. Ormat Technologies, bought the property in 2018.

Scott Nichols is the manager of regulatory affairs for Ormat Technologies Inc. Nichols told the Times-News that one advantage to geothermal is its smaller footprint than other renewables, with a footprint of about 1 acre per megawatt.

“In geothermal energy, we can produce more power on a smaller unit of area than any other renewable technology that’s available to us today,” Nichols told the Times-News in a phone call.

Compare that with solar, which requires around seven acres per megawatt. Wind can require anywhere from two to 50 acres per megawatt.

While there is a lot of exploration and a lot of interest in other geothermal projects in the state, the tricky part is finding a resource hot enough for electricity — about 270 degrees.

“The industry has yet to be able to find another resource that is ... hot enough to be able to develop commercially for electric generation,” Nichols told the Times-News.

Wind

In 2022, wind accounted for 17% of the electricity produced in the state. All wind-energy generation in Idaho takes place on private land, but in recent years there has been a flood of applications for permits to put wind turbines on public lands.
Windmills can be seen near Milner Butte on April 13, 2023, by Burley.

Most notably, large international corporations have proposed massive wind turbine installations at Lava Ridge, Salmon Falls Dam, and Taurus energy projects, prompting substantial public outcry and resolutions in opposition to the projects from lawmakers at the county and state levels.

The U.S. Wind Turbine Database shows 541 turbines capable of producing 996 megawatts across the southern half of Idaho, from Mountain Home to Rigby.

Hydro

The oldest form of renewable energy, hydroelectric, has been used in Idaho for more than a century. Hydroelectric plants produced 51% of the state’s total energy in 2022.

Previously, harnessing the energy of water accounted for a bigger share of electricity production, but since 2012, an increased frequency of droughts has drawn that number down.

Idaho Power operates 17 hydroelectric plants on the Snake River and its tributaries, with 70% of total hydroelectricity produced coming from the three-dam complex in Hell’s Canyon, near the border between Idaho and Oregon.
Idaho Power Co.’s diversion dam for its Upper Malad hydroelectric plant is shown in this July 2016 file photo in a tight, narrow bend of the Malad River canyon, between steep walls.

In southern Idaho, an array of hydropower plants make use of irrigation water, reservoirs, and seasonal production opportunities in places like Bliss, Mountain Home, Buhl, Hagerman, Milner and Twin Falls.

Biogas

Idaho has the second-highest potential for energy production from dairy manure in the country, as Boise State Public Radio reported, and although only 10 biodigesters had been built in the past 15 years, that number could triple in the next five years.

Biodigesters use a lagoon full of manure with a membrane over the top that captures the resulting methane. That gas can then be compressed and used for vehicles or injected into a natural gas pipeline and sent to market.

Construction on a new facility that will change dairy manure to natural gas will break ground next month in Wendell.

Shell Oil Corp. is operating a biodigester at the Bettencourt dairies in Wendell to make renewable compressed natural gas for vehicles.

Although a small number of U.S. vehicles use compressed natural gas — an estimated 175,000 vehicles in the country powered by natural gas, and approximately 800 CNG refueling stations in the U.S., according to the Department of Energy.

Worldwide, the use of natural gas in vehicles is more widespread; an estimated 3.5 million vehicles burn natural gas in Iran alone.
Maas Energy operates several southern Idaho bio digesters similar to the New Hope Dairy digester in Galt, Calif. Digesters can be incorporated into a dairy environment to make immediate use of readily-available manure, which produces methane, which is then processed and compressed for use or sale.

Another energy company, Maas Energy Works, has begun operating three new digesters in Cassia County.

Maas Energy got its start in 2007 when it built and operated five digesters in Oregon and Washington. They have since expanded to more than 58 operational digesters nationwide.

More energy at home would decrease dependence on imports

Technology for renewable energy production is always evolving, and considering the potential in southern Idaho, Rogers is optimistic that the region can play a role in meeting future energy needs and drawing new business.

But the growth shouldn’t come at the expense of the area’s character, Rogers said. Cities and counties have designed comprehensive plans to give growth some guidance, without letting development go off the rails.

“When you see the growth that we’ve had here, it’s sustainable,” she said. “We’ve planned for it.”

PHOTOS: Farming solar

Farming solar
Duke Energy’s Sam Kendrick talks about solar power on April 27 at Jackpot Solar.

Farming solar

Jackpot Solar panels soak up some rays on a windy day north of Jackpot on April 27.

Farming solar

Jackpot Solar panels soak up some rays on a windy day north of Jackpot on April 27.

Farming solar
Transmission lines stretch alongside Jackpot Solar panels north of Jackpot on April 27.

Farming solar
Heavy equipment sits near solar panels at the Jackpot Solar farm on a windy day north of Jackpot on April 27.

Farming solar

Duke Energy’s Sam Kendrick talks about solar power on April 27 at Jackpot Solar.

Farming solar
Views around Jackpot Solar on a windy Thursday, April 27, 2023, north of Jackpot.

Farming solar

Jackpot Solar panels soak up some rays on a windy day north of Jackpot on April 27.