20250905Application.pdf

-NIQAW POWER,
DONOVAN WALKER RECEIVED
Lead Counsel September 05, 2025
dwal ker(@j da h o power.corn IDAHO PUBLIC
UTILITIES COMMISSION
September 5, 2025
VIA ELECTRONIC FILING
Commission Secretary
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
11331 W. Chinden Blvd., Bldg 8,
Suite 201-A (83714)
PO Box 83720
Boise, Idaho 83720-0074
Re: Case No. IPC-E-25-27
Application of Idaho Power Company for Approval of a Power Purchase
Agreement with Blacks Creek Energy Center, LLC
Dear Commission Secretary:
Attached for electronic filing is Idaho Power Company's ("Idaho
Power") Application and the Direct Testimonies and Exhibits in the above matter.
Word versions of the testimonies will be sent in a separate email for the Reporter.
Also attached is a Protective Agreement. The confidential documents will be sent
to the parties who execute the Protective Agreement.
If you have any questions about any of the aforementioned documents, please do
not hesitate to contact me.
Very truly yours,
Donovan E. Walker
DEW:sg
Enclosures
1221 W. Idaho St(83702)
P.O. Box 70
Boise, ID 83707

CERTIFICATE OF ATTORNEY
ASSERTION THAT INFORMATION CONTAINED IN AN IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES
COMMISSION FILING IS PROTECTED FROM PUBLIC INSPECTION
Application of Idaho Power Company for Approval of a Power Purchase
Agreement with Blacks Creek Energy Center, LLC
Case No. IPC-E-25-27
The undersigned attorney, in accordance with Commission Rules of Procedure 67,
believes that the Direct Testimony of Eric Hackett and Exhibit Nos. 2, 3, and 4 to the
Direct Testimony of Eric Hackett, dated September 5, 2025, may contain information that
Idaho Power Company and a third party claim is a confidential trade secret, business
records of a private enterprise required by law to be submitted or to be inspected by a
public agency, and/or public records exempt from disclosure by state or federal law
(material nonpublic information under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Regulation FD) as described in Idaho Code § 74-101, et seq., and/or § 48-801, et seq.
As such, it is protected from public disclosure and exempt from public inspection,
examination, or copying.
DATED this 5t" day of September 2025.
Donovan Walker
Counsel for Idaho Power Company

DONOVAN E. WALKER (ISB No. 5921)
Idaho Power Company
1221 West Idaho Street (83702)
P.O. Box 70
Boise, Idaho 83707
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
dwalker(o-)idahopower.com
Attorney for Idaho Power Company
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF IDAHO POWER )
COMPANY'S APPLICATION FOR ) CASE NO. IPC-E-25-27
APPROVAL OF A POWER PURCHASE )
AGREEMENT WITH BLACKS CREEK ) APPLICATION
ENERGY CENTER, LLC. )
Idaho Power Company ("Idaho Power" or "Company"), in accordance with Idaho
Code §§ 61-501, 61-502, and 61-503 as well as Rules of Procedure ("RP") 52 and 201
hereby respectfully makes application to the Idaho Public Utilities Commission
("Commission") for an order: (1) approving the 25-year Power Purchase Agreement
("PPA") between Blacks Creek Energy Center, LLC and Idaho Power Company supplying
80 megawatts ("MW") of output from the solar powered generation facility to the Company
("Blacks Creek Project"), and (2) acknowledging that the resulting expenses associated
with the PPA are prudently incurred for ratemaking purposes. Approval of this request is
APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF A PPA- 1

necessary to position the Company to meet its obligation to provide safe, reliable service
to its customers.
Accompanying this Application are two sets of testimony. The Direct Testimony of
Jared L. Ellsworth presents the Company's need for new resources to meet an identified
capacity deficit in 2027 as informed by the 2023 Integrated Resource Plan ("IRP") and
subsequently further enhanced through system reliability evaluations, which led to the
solicitation through a Request for Proposals ("RFP") seeking to acquire energy and
capacity necessary to address the identified near-term capacity needs. Mr. Ellsworth then
describes the most recent assessment of system reliability and its impact to the capacity
deficit identified in the previous system reliability assessment, supporting the acquisition
of resources to address the identified near-term capacity needs.
The Direct Testimony of Eric Hackett provides an overview of the procurement
process undertaken to meet Idaho Power's identified capacity deficiency in 2028, and the
resulting fair and competitive RFP process that was fully compliant with the required
resource procurement rules, leading to the selection of least-cost, least-risk resources
necessary to meet the Company's electric energy needs in 2028, including the Blacks
Creek Project for which Idaho Power is requesting the Commission approve the PPA in
this proceeding. Mr. Hackett then describes the Blacks Creek Project developer's ability
to advance the commercial operation date from April 1, 2028, to June 1, 2027, contributing
to Idaho Power's remaining 2027 capacity deficit.
I. BACKGROUND
1. The Company's annual capacity positions developed to inform the 2023 IRP
identified deficits of 138 MW of incremental capacity needs in 2028 and 555 MW of
supply-side resource additions in the Preferred Portfolio in 2028. Further, the 2023 IRP
identified incremental capacity needs of 142 MW in 2029 and growing to over 1,150 MW
APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF A PPA- 2

by 2038. As described more completely in the Direct Testimony of Mr. Ellsworth, the
Company recognizes that during the near-term resource decision-making phase, the
annual capacity positions can be very fluid and therefore regularly performs system
reliability assessments. Idaho Power constantly monitors resource needs, and in the face
of growing loads and deficits has responded with added and appropriate urgency to
acquire additional low-cost, reliable sources of generation and capacity, as evidenced by
the Company's consecutive requests to acquire resources to be online in 2023,' 2024,2
2025,3 2026,4 and 2027.5 Idaho Power expects to acquire additional resources each year
thereafter through 2028 and beyond. See, OPUC Case No. UM 2317, In the Matter of
Idaho Power Company's Application for Approval of 2028 All-Source Request for
Proposals to Meet 2028 Capacity Resource Need.
2. Under Idaho law, Idaho Power has an obligation to provide adequate,
efficient, just, and reasonable service on a nondiscriminatory basis to all those that
request it within its service area. Idaho Power has experienced and expects sustained
load growth, thereby requiring the addition of new resources. To meet its obligation to
reliably serve customer load and fill capacity deficiencies identified in 2028, the Company
conducted a competitive solicitation through the issuance of an All-Source RFP seeking
to acquire a combination of energy and capacity resources. Idaho Power did not define
the type of resource (i.e., wind, solar, gas, or battery storage) desired; however, the
Company outlined that the deficit identifies 138 MW of incremental peak capacity needs
Case Nos. IPC-E-22-06 and IPC-E-22-13.
2 Case Nos. IPC-E-23-05 and IPC-E-23-20.
s Case Nos. IPC-E-22-29 and IPC-E-23-20.
4Case Nos. IPC-E-24-01, IPC-E-24-16 and IPC-E-24-45.
s Case Nos. IPC-E-24-42, IPC-E-24-46, and IPC-E-25-10.
APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF A PPA- 3

in 2028 and 555 MW of supply-side resource additions in the Preferred Portfolio in 2028
("2028 RFP"). The procurement process resulted in the identification of least-cost, least-
risk resources necessary to fill the most recently identified 2027 capacity deficiency of
143 MW. The proposed acquisition, as described herein, is necessary and required in
order to continue to provide reliable and adequate electric service to Idaho Power's
customers starting in the summer of 2027 and into the future.
II. OREGON PROCUREMENT RULES
3. The Commission, in Case No. IPC-E-10-03, initiated a case seeking to
establish competitive bidding guidelines for the RFP process. In 2013, the Commission
closed Case No. IPC-E-10-03 without establishing Idaho-specific resource procurement
guidelines, but rather directing Idaho Power to follow the RFP guidelines applicable to its
Oregon service territory. The Oregon RFP guidelines to which the Commission referred
were later codified into the administrative rules of the Public Utility Commission of Oregon
("OPUC") resource procurement rules. The OPUC resource procurement rules impose
competitive bidding requirements upon an electric utility for the "acquisition of a resource
or a contract for more than an aggregate of 80 MWs and five years in length," among
other requirements. Idaho Power initiated the rule compliant RFP process on February
29, 2024, to acquire resources to be online in 2028. Following feedback from
stakeholders, the Company updated the 2028 RFP to consider bids with later commercial
operation dates, bifurcating the evaluation of the bids, with prioritization of bids with a
commercial operation date by April 1, 2028, ("2028 Bids") followed by bids that could not
meet the April 1, 2028, commercial operation date ("Beyond April 2028 Bids"). Idaho
Power's discussion in this case is specific to the evaluation of the 2028 Bids for which the
Company ultimately received approval of the final shortlist of 2028 Bids to meet the
APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF A PPA-4

identified capacity deficits. The OPUC found that Idaho Power conducted a fair and
competitive resource acquisition procurement process in accordance with the OPUC
competitive bidding rules. OPUC Order No. 25-128, Docket UM 2317, Mar. 31, 2025.
III. RESOURCE PROCUREMENT PROCESS
4. On February 29, 2024, Idaho Power commenced the competitive bidding
process, filing a request with the OPUC to (1) approve the selection of London Economics
International LLC ("LEI") as the Independent Evaluator ("IE") for the 2028 RFP, (2)
approve the proposed 2028 RFP scoring and modeling methodology, (3) approve the
draft 2028 RFP, and (4) waive certain competitive bidding rules to allow expedited review
and approval of the 2028 RFP. On April 30, 2024, in a public meeting, the OPUC
approved the Company's use of LEI as the IE again for Idaho Power's 2028 RFP and
evaluation of 2028 resources. The OPUC also approved the concurrent review of both
the scoring and modeling methodologies and the draft 2028 RFP.
5. The Company worked with OPUC Staff and stakeholders to finalize the draft
2028 RFP and on August 16, 2024, Idaho Power formally issued the 2028 RFP, soliciting
bids for (1) energy market purchases and (2) new or existing resources. The 2028 RFP
was well received; the 2028 Bids included 95 proposals from 19 different bidders, with a
total of 147 resource bids summing to more than 27 gigawatts of resources. The bids
included a variety of ownership structures, including many bids that would result in bidder-
owned resources (i.e., PPA's, and Battery Storage Agreements), as well as four
benchmark bids across three sites, submitted by Idaho Power's Power Supply
department.
6. The direct testimony of Mr. Hackett details the 2028 Bids evaluation process
which was consistent and prescriptive as described in the 2028 RFP, ultimately identifying
APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF A PPA- 5

the final shortlist of 2028 Bids which are presented in Confidential Exhibit No. 2. As
required under the OPUC competitive bidding rules, the OPUC approved Idaho Power's
final shortlist of 2028 Bids on March 31, 2025. Once the most cost-effective 2028 Bids
were identified, the Company began negotiations with developers for procurement of the
resources necessary to meet Idaho Power's 2028 capacity deficit.
IV. RESOURCE DESCRIPTION
7. The bid evaluation process of the project proposals submitted through the
2028 RFP is designed to identify the combination and size of the proposed resources that
will maximize customer benefits while ensuring Idaho Power meets its energy and
capacity needs. Upon conclusion of the approximately 13-month mandated competitive
bidding rule-compliant process, the Company began negotiations with developers for
procurement of the resources necessary to meet the identified 2028 capacity deficit.
Through successful negotiations, Idaho Power and Blacks Creek Energy Center, LLC,
have executed the PPA associated with the Blacks Creek Project, an 80 MW solar
photovoltaic ("PV") facility that supplies energy to the Company's system.
8. The Blacks Creek Project was selected on the final shortlist of 2028 Bids
with a commercial operation date of April 1, 2028. The developer, who also has an
existing 320 MW solar project that is subject of a Clean Energy Your Way PPA under the
Brisbie special contract, had latent capacity under the existing Generator Interconnection
Agreement ("GIA") and therefore bid the 80 MW Blacks Creek Project into the 2028 RFP.
Because of the existing, executed PPA for the 320 MW solar PV facility, and the existing
GIA, contract negotiations for the Blacks Creek Project progressed quicker than those of
other 2028 Bids on the final shortlist. It was during these initial contract negotiations that
APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF A PPA- 6

the developer indicated the ability to advance the commercial operation date of the Blacks
Creek Project from April 1, 2028, to June 1, 2027.
9. The Blacks Creek PPA is a 25-year PPA between Idaho Power and Blacks
Creek Energy Center, LLC, who, under the terms of the PPA, will construct, own, operate
and maintain a solar powered generation facility located in Ada County, Idaho, with an
expected nameplate capacity of 80 MW, supplying the output to the Company for the
period of 25 years from a commercial operation date of June 1, 2027. An executed copy
of the PPA is attached as Confidential Exhibit No. 4 to Mr. Hackett's Direct Testimony.
The PPA contains levelized, fixed pricing for the 25-year term and provides that it will not
become effective unless the Commission approves all of the PPA's terms and provisions
and declares that all payments the Company makes for purchases of energy will be
allowed as prudently incurred expenses for ratemaking purposes. Exhibit 5 to the PPA
sets forth the Contract Price for Contract Years 1 through 25 on a dollars per megawatt-
hour ("MWh") basis. The PPA is similar in many ways to the numerous energy sales
agreements approved by the Commission pursuant to the Company's obligations under
the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 ("PURPA"), but also contains additional
other terms and conditions consistent with industry standard, non-PURPA power
purchase agreements including pricing, security, and other terms of service.
APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF A PPA- 7

V. COMMUNICATIONS AND SERVICE OF PLEADINGS
10. Communications and service of pleadings with reference to this Application
should be sent to the following:
Donovan E. Walker Tim Tatum
Lead Counsel Vice President, Regulatory Affairs
Idaho Power Company Idaho Power Company
1221 West Idaho Street (83702) 1221 West Idaho Street (83702)
P.O. Box 70 P.O. Box 70
Boise, Idaho 83707 Boise, Idaho 83707
[e-mail] ttatumC@_idahopower.com
dockets(o-)idahopower.com
VI. MODIFIED PROCEDURE
11. The Company believes that a hearing is not necessary to consider the
issues presented herein, and respectfully requests that this Application be processed
under Modified Procedure; i.e., by written submissions rather than by hearing. RP 201,
et seq. If, however, the Commission determines that a technical hearing is required, the
Company stands ready to present its testimony and support the Application in such
hearing.
12. Additionally, the PPA contains provisions that it will not become effective
unless the Commission approves all of the PPA's terms and provisions and declares that
all payments the Company makes for purchases of energy will be allowed as prudently
incurred expenses for ratemaking purposes. The PPA also contains provisions that in
the event Idaho Power has not received all regulatory approvals withing six months of
filing the PPA for approval, then the Commercial Operation Date and Guaranteed
Commercial Operation Date may be extended on a day-for-day basis until approval is
obtained, and if approval is not obtained within one-year of filing the PPA for approval
then it may be terminated. Consequently, Idaho Power respectfully requests that the
APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF A PPA- 8

Commission set a procedural schedule that would provide for a final Order on or before
March 5, 2026.
VII. REQUEST FOR RELIEF
13. Idaho Power respectfully requests that the Commission issue an order (1)
approving the 25-year PPA between Blacks Creek Energy Center, LLC and the Company
supplying the 80 MW output to the Company, and (2) acknowledging that the resulting
expenses associated with the PPA are prudently incurred for ratemaking purposes.
Approval of this request is necessary to position the Company to meet its obligation to
provide safe, reliable service to its customers.
DATED at Boise, Idaho this 5t" day of September 2025.
C)eek,
DONOVAN E. WALKER
Attorney for Idaho Power Company
APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF A PPA- 9