Wild Idaho Rising Tide

WIRT Comments on Idaho Power Company Peregrine & South Hills Gas Power Plants Certificates Application

The Wednesday, July 29, 2026, Climate Justice Forum radio program, produced by regional, climate activists collective Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT), features attorney Ben Otto, senior policy associate with the Northwest Energy Coalition, discussing two new methane plants proposed by Idaho Power Company and a possible Williams gas pipeline expansion in southern Idaho, decision-making criteria for Idaho Public Utilities Commission permitting of these projects, and best practices for oppositional public input.  We also share news, videos, and reflections on reducing use of products composed of fossil fuels and liable for carbon emissions, and Texas defendants together sentenced to hundreds of prison years by a retaliatory federal government, for protesting outside the Prairieland immigration detention facility.  Broadcast for fourteen years on progressive, volunteer, community station KRFP Radio Free Moscow, every Wednesday between 1:30 and 3 pm Pacific time, on-air at 90.3 FM and online at KRFP and the Pacifica Network AudioPort, the show describes continent-wide, grassroots, frontline resistance to fossil fuels projects, the root causes of climate change, thanks to generous, anonymous listeners who adopted program host Helen Yost as their KRFP DJ.

Why Are We Still Burning Carbon?, July 1, 2026 Alimcforever

Then They Came for the Anarchists: Prairieland Defendants Sentenced to 562 Years, July 7, 2026 Unicorn Riot

Oppose Two New Idaho Methane-Powered Plants by July 31, July 29, 2026 Wild Idaho Rising Tide

Northwest Energy Coalition on Idaho Power Company Gas Plants, July 23, 2026 Stop Northwest Gas Coalition (online presentation recording)

In mid-March 2026, Idaho Power Company (IPC) applied to the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity (case number IPC-E-26-04), to invest in and construct two new methane gas power plants and extra pipeline capacity in southern Idaho over the next few years [1-5].  IPC proposes to build the South Hills plant on the Snake River near Milner, Idaho, to generate 222 total megawatts of electricity from 12 reciprocating engines by June 2029 (enclosed concept picture), and the Peregrine plant between Boise and Mountain Home, to produce 430 megawatts from one massive, single-cycle combustion turbine by June 2030.  IPC claims that it needs to make investments now in these resources, to meet peak demands beyond its adequate, existing system, and due to the long lead times required to obtain gas generation equipment and additional pipeline capacity.  The company forecasts rapid load growth from committed industrial sites and predicted large-load users.

As the initial, formal step for any utility seeking approval for new infrastructure, IPC is requesting PUC permission to begin accounting for its spending on these gas plants.  If or when it brings these projects online, IPC will engage another PUC process to recover project costs from its customers.  In the present case, Northwest Energy Coalition and Renewable Northwest have intervened in opposition, while large-load users Idaho Irrigation Pumpers Association and computer memory and data storage manufacturer Micron Technology as well as PUC staff represent various interests [6].  Spring 2026 searches yielded little public information about these power plants, beyond the PUC site and industry articles.

As always with the climate-wrecking schemes of the oil and gas industry and its utility enablers, these facilities may manifest the covertly planned destinations for the 80 percent of additional Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN) pipeline methane pushed by TC Energy through the GTN Xpress expansion toward Idaho, and/or for the products of two Snake River Oil and Gas wells drilled near the Payette River, the Fruitland city water intake plant, and a dense residential/business area in June and July 2026.  Owner of the other interconnected, regional, methane pipeline network, Williams Companies announced in May the proposed Silver Spur expansion of its Northwest pipeline system from Opal, Wyoming, toward the Northwest, the first phase of its Rockies Columbia Connector ambitions to add a 90-mile transmission line into Idaho, which could impose 275 million cubic feet per day of methane by early 2030 [7].

Climate activists collective Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) noticed these developments in April and has been sharing news, articles, and reflections about the proposed South Hills and Peregrine methane power plants on our weekly Climate Justice Forum radio program, broadcast for fourteen years on progressive, volunteer, community station KRFP Radio Free Moscow [8, 9].  Throughout the last year and decades, we also continue to offer public process and direct action support to frontline, Payette County residents opposed to riverside and residential area gas well drilling.  This spring, we were further shocked to learn that a third methane power plant slipped under the Boise resistance radar, as the PUC permitted its construction in Mountain Home.  WIRT hopes that this overbuild of soon outdated and defunct fossil fuels infrastructure in the Idaho high desert does not fuel more remote data centers dreams or distant, urban electrification of utilities and transportation.

In late May, WIRT alerted the Stop Northwest Gas Expansion (SNGE) coalition of Idaho Power’s two-plant proposal, discussed the situation during our meeting, and suggested inviting attorney Ben Otto, the senior policy associate with the Northwest Energy Coalition, to talk with us about this PUC quasi-judicial proceeding, so SNGE coalition member organizations could more actively oppose this (yet another!) Idaho fossil fuels invasion [10, 11].  After contacting Ben, forwarding conversations to SNGE co-workers, and urging further organizer arrangements, Ben joined a regular coalition meeting on Thursday, July 23, and provided an extensive presentation.  Topics covered the two proposed, southern Idaho, gas power plants, insights on PUC decision-making criteria, and best practices for public input from citizens and organizations.

To raise broad Northwest awareness, outreach, and action against this Idaho Power proposal, SNGE posted a recording and slides of Ben’s presentation and question-and-answer session [12, 13].  WIRT features this discussion on the Wednesday, July 29, Climate Justice Forum show, between 1:30 and 3 pm Pacific time, on-air at 90.3 FM and online and archived for two weeks on KRFP [8].  On all of our broadcasts, thanks to generous, anonymous listeners, we typically describe continent-wide, grassroots, frontline resistance to fossil fuels projects, the root causes of climate change.  WIRT greatly appreciates Ben Otto’s ongoing, important work to represent Northwesterners’ best interests to the PUC, and we encourage you to email your questions to them at ben@nwenergy.org.

Please get involved in Northwest efforts to stop ALL fossil fuels infrastructure expansions, by sending a brief comment through the linked PUC form, based on the following suggestions for possible responses, graciously shared by Ben [14].

* The Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is accepting written comments until July 31, 2026, but has not currently scheduled a public hearing.  In your comments, refer to case number IPC-E-26-04, and politely ask for a planned hearing and an extended comment period, due to the summer vacation timing of this public (non-)participation.  If enough, especially Idaho Power customers request these items, the PUC could host both.

* In its decisions, the PUC is primarily concerned with assessing the necessity and public costs of these Idaho Power projects.  Ask the PUC if the utility has a verifiable need for more gas resources, and if the scale and scope of these methane power plants fit energy needs in the most cost-effective and reliable ways to achieve output.  Most significantly, how does IPC intend to finance this proposal?  Idaho Power has not publicly disclosed the huge costs of these projects or their probably cheaper alternatives.

* As IPC stated in other documents, some of its forecasted power needs for these gas plants speculates that new customers will arrive and that new large-load users will pay for the infrastructure and resources that they require.  IPC and/or big electricity users — not later, Idaho Power, residential and small business customers — should carry the risk of investing in projects that may prove unnecessary, if new demands do not materialize.

* IPC’s gas power plan imposes multiple risks on Idaho customers, which neither the PUC nor Idaho Power have adequately, directly analyzed.  International conflicts and economies cause fluctuating methane prices and could inflict rising costs on later IPC customers, raising serious questions about the cost-effectiveness of gas.  Because the regional methane pipeline network is currently running full, IPC must depend on outside actors Gas Transmission Northwest and specifically Williams Companies, to build and/or expand pipelines into Idaho to supply its proposed plants.  Of most concern, pipelines, compressors, and structures with volatile gas chemicals could explode, and they routinely release dangerous emissions that pollute local air and water quality and communities and damage the global climate.

* In this application, absent a full Request for Proposals, and during recent, biannual Integrated Resource Plan processes, Idaho Power and the PUC have not adequately examined these IPC power plant projects or considered available, alternative, clean energy options for sufficient and affordable fuel supplies.  In previous resource plans, IPC showed that batteries could meet peak electricity demands, but has since claimed that batteries are no longer cost-effective, despite federal tax incentives that reduce expenses.  Instead of gambling on gas plants during an accelerating energy transition, IPC could increase investments in implementing solutions such as improved customer energy efficiency and load flexibility, rooftop solar electricity generation, and battery power storage.

* Ask the Idaho Public Utilities Commission to deny IPC’s request for Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity (case number IPC-E-26-04) for the Peregrine and South Hills methane power plants.  If this regulatory agency approves these certificates, it should insist that Idaho Power Company bears the risks of this infrastructure soon becoming cost-ineffective, stranded assets possibly lacking access to inexpensive or any fuel.  Thanks for your climate activism!

[1] Idaho Power Company — Application for Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity for the South Hills and Peregrine Power Plants and for an Associated Accounting Order, March 11, 2026 Idaho Public Utilities Commission

[2] Idaho Power Proposes More Gas Plants to Meet Capacity Needs, May 4, 2026 NewsData

[3] Idaho Power Wants to Build Two Natural Gas Power Plants. Here’s Where and Why, May 7, 2026 Idaho Statesman

[4] Peregrine Energy Center — Proposed Site, 2026 Idaho Power Company

[5] South Hills Power Plant, 2026 Idaho Power Company

[6] Micron’s Plans to Bring Leading-Edge Memory Manufacturing to Idaho, 2026 Micron

[7] Quarter 1 Earnings Recap: Data Centers Accelerate New Growth Paths for Williams, May 5, 2026 Williams Companies

[8] KRFP Radio Free Moscow

[9] Wild Idaho Rising Tide on AudioPort

[10] Northwest Energy Coalition advances clean, equitable, and affordable energy policies by leveraging our analytic expertise and convening a broad alliance of people and organizations.

[11] Stop Northwest Gas Expansion Coalition protects our communities in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington from the health, safety, and climate threats of methane gas.  We are an alliance of public health, faith, and environmental organizations as well as community members committed to: 1) exposing the truth about the harms to our health and safety caused by toxic and explosive “natural” gas, 2) stopping the expansion of gas supply, including increases in gas pipeline pressure, to prevent harm, 3) uniting impacted communities to hold industry and government accountable.

[12] Northwest Energy Coalition on Idaho Power Company Gas Plants, July 23, 2026 Stop Northwest Gas Expansion Coalition (online presentation recording)

[13] Idaho Power Application for New Gas Generation, July 23, 2026 Northwest Energy Coalition (online presentation slides)

[14] Case Comment or Question Form, Idaho Public Utilities Commission