171116 Intermountain Gas IRP.pdf

Case No. INT-G-17-04
Contact: Matt Evans
[phone] office
[phone] cell
www.puc.idaho.gov

Comment deadline set for Intermountain Gas
Company’s Integrated Resource Plan
BOISE (Nov. 16, 2017) – The Idaho Public Utilities Commission is accepting public
comment through Jan. 12 on Intermountain Gas’ plan to meet customer demand through
2021.
The company, which serves approximately 345,000 customers across southern Idaho, is
required to file an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) with the Commission every two years.
An IRP is essentially a status report intended to demonstrate that the company has
considered all resource options available to meet customer demand for natural gas. It helps
to ensure that the company is able to provide reliable service while minimizing costs.
Intermountain’s IRP projects its customer base to grow at a faster rate (2.69 percent
annual growth rate in its Best Case scenario) than it has in recent years (2.2 percent
average over the last five years) due to the “continued resurgence of the housing market.”

Despite the growth, the company expects its existing resources to meet its forecasted peak-
day delivery requirements throughout the planning period.

Demand Side Management, or programs aimed at managing the demand for natural gas
rather than the supply, is expected to play a role in helping the company meet demand and
in lowering interstate transportation costs throughout the five-year planning period.
Additionally, a portable liquefied natural gas facility in Rexburg is expected to be called
upon to meet customer demand and supplement capacity during “peak day events” in
2021. Also, several industrial customers are equipped to use other nontraditional sources
on peak days, such as diesel/fuel oil, coal, wood chips and propane.
The 2017 IRP anticipates the impact of Intermountain’s DSM efforts to grow from 65,000
therms saved system-wide in 2017, which is the first year of its DSM programs, to 374,292
saved in 2021.
Examples of Intermountain’s DSM portfolio include rebates for customers who install
energy efficient natural gas equipment, increased communication with customers via bill
stuffers and tools to help customers better understand their energy usage.
The company also anticipates several pipeline projects throughout the state.
Intermountain Gas is served by the Williams Northwest Pipeline that enters southeast
Idaho from Wyoming.
The company has built several lateral lines off of that main pipeline, including the 104-mile
Idaho Falls Lateral from Pocatello to St. Anthony, the Sun Valley Lateral from Shoshone to
Sun Valley, Canyon County, the State Street Lateral in northwest Boise and the Central Ada
Area Lateral.
An upgrade is planned for the State Street Lateral, a 16-mile main line that runs from
Caldwell into northern Boise, and the IRP anticipates the replacement of a high-pressure
pipeline in the Canyon County area that will increase capacity and accommodate ongoing
residential and industrial growth.
Another project outlined in the IRP has been ongoing since 2013 and calls for the continued
gradual replacement of approximately 5 miles of pipeline on its distribution system that
was built with a polyethylene material that can crack. The sections of pipeline targeted for
replacement are identified annually.
Intermountain also plans to replace a pipeline that runs under the Snake River near
Rexburg in eastern Idaho.
The IRP indicates the company’s four storage facilities provide geographic and operation
diversity that benefit the company and its customers by providing efficiency, economics
and security not otherwise achievable.
Copies of Intermountain’s IRP and other documents related to the case are available on the
Commission’s website at www.puc.idaho.gov. To review them, click on “Open Cases,”
under the “Natural Gas” heading and scroll down to Case No. INT-G-15-01. Or go here.
The Commission is accepting comments on the IRP through Jan. 12, 2018. Go here to
comment. Please include the case number, INT-G-17-04.
Comments can also be mailed to P.O. Box 83720, Boise, ID 83720-0074 or faxed to (208)
334-3762.