Idaho Power 10-year plan gets panel”s approval

BOISE – The commission that oversees Idaho Power approved the utility’s long-term energy plan Friday, but added the document could be improved.

Idaho Power’s 2004 Integrated Resource Plan, which outlines the utility’s 10-year growth strategy, was submitted to the Idaho Public Utilities Commission for review last August. Electric and gas utilities must submit such forecasts every two years.

In the plan, Idaho Power said it expects to generate an additional 350 megawatts of electricity, or about 5 percent of its total, from wind turbines over the next decade. Another 500 megawatts of new capacity will come from coal.

Commissioners told the utility to do more to slash customers’ electricity use during peak summer hours and try harder to wean itself from expensive natural gas turbines.