Windmill developers decry pricing change

BUHL, Idaho – Some Magic Valley wind power developers say their business took a blow from a decision by state regulators to reduce the size of windmill generators eligible to get a special price for their electricity from utilities.

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission decided Thursday to decrease the size of wind projects that can receive a $60 per megawatt hour rate from utilities, which are required by federal law to buy renewable power from small power producers at a fixed price.

The commission ordered that only wind power plants producing 100 kilowatts or less are eligible for the rate, rather than the previous cut off size of 10 megawatts.

Idaho Power, the state’s largest utility, asked regulators in June to suspend their obligation to buy electricity from small wind power producers at the fixed price until studies can be done to determine whether windmills will affect reliability of service to customers. Since the utility says it must have backup sources of power available to maintain capacity when the wind generators are not operating, Idaho Power has asked to evaluate whether the small wind farm contracts will increase the utility’s total power costs.