posted 10/14/11 04:00 PM | updated 10/14/11 04:00 PM
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Idaho Electric Utilities' Affair With King Coal

Many Idahoans are unaware that nearly half of our state’s electricity comes from dangerously dirty and increasingly expensive coal plants in surrounding states.

Reliance on these energy relics places Idaho and its three major electric utilities – Idaho Power, Rocky Mountain Power, and Avista - in the awkward position of throwing their lot in with coal in an era when states and utilities elsewhere are decommissioning coal plants for environmental, health, and economic reasons. Already, coal plants in Oregon and Washington have been scheduled for early retirement in 2020 rather than 2040 or beyond. Utilities across the United States are accelerating retirements of their coal fleets, replacing coal power first with enhanced energy efficiency and also with renewables and, as a last resort, limited amounts of natural gas

Adding insult to injury, Idaho’s Big Three electric utilities own or partly own 29 coal plants, some built during the Eisenhower Administration, in states across the West. We have no coal generation for electricity in Idaho, yet we export the myriad environmental, health, and economic risks associated with these coal plants to our neighbors. How would Idahoans react if companies in Oregon were to build pollution-spewing smelters across Idaho to feed industrial factories back home?

Rather than join the U.S. utilities that are planning to reduce and eliminate coal in their energy portfolios, Idaho utilities are actually pouring billions of additional ratepayer dollars into these energy artifacts just to comply with anti-pollution regulations rather than position themselves for a cleaner, more efficient energy future.

In committing themselves - and you as utility customers who end up paying to keep these outrageously expensive energy throwbacks huffing and puffing - our utilities are saddling us with ever-escalating environmental costs and risks. These three utilities must begin to seriously plan for life after coal, and the sooner the better for ratepayers, utility shareholders, and the health and safety of those unfortunate enough to live near our coal plants.

The Snake River Alliance recently issued a report on Idaho’s excessive reliance on coal-fired power plants. That report can be downloaded at www.snakeriveralliance.org.

Ken Miller

Clean Energy Program Director, Snake River Alliance

Boise, ID

208 344-9161

www.snakeriveralliance.org

kmiller@snakeriveralliance.org

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