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Idaho Power warns of rapid load growth, cautions on data-center interconnection timelines
Summary
Idaho Power officials told commissioners the utility projects 8.3% system load growth over five years and cautioned that large customers such as data centers typically face multi-year, multimillion-dollar interconnection processes requiring customer-funded upgrades and PUC oversight.
Idaho Power representatives Leon Letson and Taylor Dunn briefed Washington County commissioners on the utility's system, expected load growth and the interconnection process for large customers such as data centers.
Letson said Idaho Power projects 8.3% system growth over the next five years, describing this pace as roughly equivalent to 40 years of historical growth compressed into a single five-year period. He emphasized the utility's generation mix — substantial hydroelectric capacity supplemented by natural gas, solar, wind, battery storage, coal and purchased power — and said the company currently imports about 11% of its needs from regional markets (SEGS 065-069).
On the county's pending data-center ordinance, commissioners asked about a proposed 25-megawatt cap. Letson and Dunn said 25 MW is on the low end of data-center demand and that some facilities exceed 200 MW. They reiterated that interconnection for a large load can take five or more years, requires extensive infrastructure studies and usually obligates the customer to fund off-site upgrades and take-or-pay commitments subject to Idaho Public Utilities Commission approval. Letson recommended retaining conditional-use permit pathways in zoning rather than blanket exclusions and offered to provide a written letter with comments on the county's draft code (SEGS 070-074).
"Idaho Power projects 8.3% system growth over the next 5 years," Letson told the Board (SEG 069).
