20100326Comment.pdf

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Jean Jewell
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Friday, March 26, 20106:09 AM
Jean Jewell; Beverly Barker; Gene Fadness
PUC Comment Form
A Comment from Kiki Leslie A. Tidwell follows:
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Case Number: IPC-E-09-33
Name: Kiki Leslie A. Tidwell
Address: P.o. Box 2919
City: Ketchum
State: ID
Zip: 83340
Daytime Telephone: [phone]
Contact E-Mail: ktinsv~cox.net
Name of Utility Company: Idaho Power
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Please describe your comment briefly:
There are the very real possibilities of rolling blackouts coming up in the next few years.
One only has to look at Idaho Power's own 2009 Integrated Resource Planning document on their
website www. idahopower. com to see what a pickle Idaho Power is in. te 8. Planning Criteria and
Portfolio Selection Peak Hour Planning CFigure 8.4 illustrates considerable peak-hour
deficits reaching in excess of 500 MW by 2012, and continuing to grow through the remainder
of the 20-year planning period.' (90th percentile water and 95th percentile load before
Langley Gulch and new demand response programs)"
Idaho Power has been late to the table to realize that coal plants are going to have a
limited future in a carbon constrained world. Until 2007 the company had planned to build or
buy coal fired power from a plant in Idaho but finally abandoned that plan when it was clear
that Idahoans wouldn't accept the mercury, NOx, and C02 pollution spewing into our blue
skies. But 53% of Idaho Power's owned power generation actually did come from coal plants in
recent years- all that mercury just happens to fallon other people's kids in Rock Springs,
Wyoming, Boardman, Oregon, and Winnemucca, Nevada. Because these emissions are so toxic,
the EPA is ready to adopt strict rules on limiting emissions and national legislation has
been crafted to curb carbon production. Idaho Power's partner in the Boardman plant,
Portland General Electric, recently decided that it will be retiring that 642 MW coal plant
rather than investing $700 million in emissions retrofits. So Idaho Power will be losing 64
MW of generation there.
At the same time, the west has been getting hotter and drier. Nine out of the last ten years
are what Idaho Power considers to be below- normal water years for hydro production. rr 5.
Planning Period Forecasts Hydro A review of Snake River Basin streamflow trends suggests that
persistent decline documented in the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer (ESPA) is mirrored by
downward trends in total surface water outflow from the river basin." Idaho Power has been
cloud seeding, buying more water rights, and has even tried to have farmers curtailed, trying
unsuccessfully to reverse in court long- standing agreements with farmers.
Idaho Power has also been trying to relicense existing hydro dams since 2003 with federal
agencies. te2. FERC Relicensing The relicensing process also has the potential to decrease
available capacity and increase the cost of a project's generation through additional
operating constraints and requirements for environmental protection, mitigation, and
enhancement measures imposed as a condition for relicensing."
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And then there is constrained transmission that restricts Idaho Power from purchasing more
power from other states. (C 7. Transmission Resources Boardman to Hemingway 'Idaho Power has
received more than 4,000 MW of requests to commence transmission service between 2005 and
2014 on the Idaho-Northwest transmission path. Of the 4,000 MW of service requests, only 133
MW were granted up through 2007 due to the limited available transmission capacity of the
existing system. i (C 8. Planning Criteria and Portfolio Selection Peak Hour Planning i At
times of peak summer load, Idaho Power is fully using all available transmission capacity
from the Pacific Northwest... If Idaho Power is unable to meet reserve requirements, then the
company is required to shed load by initiating rolling blackouts. i
To add to Idaho Power's dilemma, there is increasing load growth - especially peak. rr3. Idaho
Power Today Customer and Load Growth 'Since 1990, Idaho Power has added more than 195,00 new
customers... In June 2008, Idaho Power set a new peak-hour system load record of 3,214
MW...Idaho Power expects to add almost 10,000 customers per year through 2029 i i The expected-
case load forecast predicts that peak-hour load requirements are expected to grow at about 57
MW per year and average energy is forecast to grow at approximately 11 aMW per year. i
So with increasing load growth and historical power production capability reducing, Idaho
Power has been pushing hard to build new transmission lines and rushed through the Idaho
Public Utilities Commission a request to build a 300 MW natural gas power plant which will
have somewhat better emissions than a coal plant. The problem is that the plant won't be
finished until 2013 and the transmission line is bogged down in controversy and probably
won't be built until that year as well. Idaho Power is now rolling out demand side energy
efficiency programs to reduce power use, but they may not be enough. Their series of charts
in the IRP that detail potential shortfalls in handling load are alarming and these
shortfalls can start in 2010.
The form submitted on http://www.puc.idaho.gov/forms/ipucl/ipuc.html
IP address is 71.227.189.85
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