Idaho Power Signs Super-Low Solar PPA to Buoy 100% Clean Energy Plans

Idaho Power announced plans to transition its generation to 100% clean solar energy energy by 2045, accompanied by a 120-megawatt slewing drive solar power-purchase agreement Solar Project that rivals some of the lowest prices solar slewing drive seen in the U.S. market to date.

The 20-year PPA rings in at $21.175 per megawatt-hour, with a 1.5 percent annual price increase. A previously announced Austin Energy project sits between $21 and $27.25 per megawatt-hour (the price hasn’t been confirmed) and another Texas project came in under $25 per solar energy megawatt-hour solar damper at the end of 2018. Other projects in Arizona and Nevada have seen similarly low prices, at $21.55 (with 2.5% escalation) and $23.76 per megawatt-hour, Solar Project but with PPAs at 25 years.

Idaho Power's deal is "definitely in line with the low PPA prices we have seen," said Colin Smith, a senior solar analyst at energy consulting and research firm Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables. 

Most solar damper of the other deals, however, have been in highly developed solar markets. The Idaho agreement is solar tracker actuator unique in coming in a fledgling state market, ranked 22nd in solar damper the country Solar Project in 2018 by the Solar Energy Industries solar energy Association. 
 

Smith notes that this deal is the lowest PPA price in Idaho, signifcantly solar inverter below "qualifying facility" rates set out under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act.
 

According to WoodMac data, this project alone will increase the state's cumulative solar capacity by 35%. 

Idaho-based Jackpot Holdings, owned by Alternative Power Development NW, will build the project. The solar plant will replace Idaho Power’s stake in a coal-fired facility located in Nevada, which earlier this month the utility said it will totally exit by the end of 2025.
 

According to a request filed with the state’s public utility commission, dropping that coal plant will save customers $12.2 million, though Idaho Power wants to include “actual and forecasted investments” in the plant in customer rates going forward. The utility said the average ratepayer will see an increase of 10 cents on their monthly Photovoltaic holder bill if the commission OKs the request.  

Idaho Power's edge in pursuing 100 percent clean energy

Idaho Power, with 557,645 customers in Idaho and eastern Oregon, joins a growing list of states looking toward a 100 percent carbon-free future. Other states, solar slewing drive meanwhile, are considering how solar tracker actuator best to retire uneconomic coal plants. 

New Mexico included provisions for securitization and worker retraining in its 100 percent clean energy bill, passed last slewing drive month. Colorado, too, is considering a measure.
 

Smith said the Photovoltaic holder increasing number of pledges to carbon-free will continue driving more solar. 
 

But Idaho Power is among a smaller group of utilities making the move to decarbonize completely. Just before 2018 came to a close, Xcel Energy, which serves solar inverter millions of customers in several states including Minnesota and Colorado, committed to solar tracker actuator solar slewing drive 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2050. Another utility with a Colorado presence, the Platte River Power Authority, announced a target to be 100 percent carbon-free by 2030. 
 

Idaho Power’s mix will be easier to transition than that of other companies. The utility said energy efficiency, slewing drive storage, wind and solar investments — like the Jackpot Holdings deal — will build on its “backbone” of hydropower, which already makes up 46.4 percent of its generation. Another 19.3 percent solar slewing drive comes from long-term purchases of renewables like solar, wind and geothermal. 
 

Coal accounts for just 17.5 percent of the utility’s portfolio, compared to 37% for Xcel, and natural gas makes up 7.5 percent compared to Xcel’s 23 percent. With its latest agreement for the coal solar inverter plant exit, Idaho Power has a stake in just one remaining coal-fired plant. 
 

The new solar plant makes up part of Idaho Power’s 436-megawatt solar portfolio, encompassing power-purchase agreements solar tracker actuator with 20 solar providers. Currently solar makes up 3.6 percent of the utility’s mix. 
 

The utility heralded the deal as Photovoltaic holder a big step forward, but the PUC says it’s still waiting on an official filing for the agreement. Idaho Power said it expects to submit that paperwork this week.