Energy Holds Significant Job Potential for Idaho

With policy makers focused on creating new jobs to lift Idaho out of the recession, renewable energy appears to be a sector where the state could make gains.

In 2008, the U.S. Energy Information Agency ranked Idaho seventh nationally in its renewable energy generating capacity, and an Idaho Department of Labor analysis found energy sector employers paying $2.6 billion to over 49,000 workers, 12 percent of total wages and 7.5 percent of total jobs.

A $1.25 million federal grant awarded earlier this week to the Idaho Department of Labor will be used to develop detailed information on the current and future potential of jobs in the state's power and energy industry, and in particular jobs in the area of efficient and renewable energy, also known as "green jobs."

The Energy Information Agency profile of Idaho identifies its vast hydropower resources – the sixth largest in the nation – as the source of nearly all the state’s renewable energy capacity. Wind and wood or wood waste accounted for less than 7 percent combined.

But researchers at the Idaho National Laboratory have identified 6,700 additional hydropower sites that could potentially produce another 2,100 megawatts of electricity. That would boost Idaho’s hydro capacity by another 22 percent. A megawatt hour of electricity is enough to power 1,000 average homes in the Intermountain West for a month, according to UtiliPoint International, an energy research firm.

Wind remains the most likely alternative resource for development. In 2004, the federal energy agency found no notable wind generation in Idaho. Today, Idaho has wind projects with a generating capacity of 105 megawatts with a marked potential for growth, particularly in southeastern Idaho. 

Over half that total, 64.5 megawatts, is being generated by the Wolverine Farm in southeastern Idaho’s Bingham County. Recent wind mapping indicates Idaho has about 18,000 megawatts of generation potential, the 13th highest in the United States. The southeastern part of the state has been identified as having several locations with nearby transmission lines that could support viable wind farms. Most developers require a wind classification of three or higher, and of the 75 sites in Idaho at that rating a third are in the southeast. Only preliminary assessments have been made on most, but development is being sought for sites on Goshen Ridge, Windland, the Lava Beds and Rockland/Ridgeline.

Idaho’s federal energy profile, however, is limited to hydro, wind and wood. It does not include any existing capacity for solar, geothermal or biomass other than wood, and there are developments, especially in southeastern Idaho, on these fronts.  

The natural hot springs that mark the southeastern part of the state have called attention to geothermal resources. Some homes and several small-scale hydroponic greenhouses use the earth’s hot water for heating. And the Northwest’s first geothermal electric plant is near Raft River. Operated by U.S. Geothermal Inc., it produces about 13 megawatts of electricity with a maximum capacity estimated at 110 megawatts.

Generating costs are relatively high, but technological improvements offer prospects of developing one or more of the other 24 geothermal sites in Idaho identified by researchers Ken Neely and Gerry Galinato for the Governor’s Geothermal Task Force in 2007.

Recently the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation announced plans for a 100-megawatt geothermal plant near Preston, adding credence to the viability of geothermal generation in the region.

Biomass – wood products, cellulosic feedstock and byproducts from grain crops – is being evaluated throughout the state to include gases containing carbon from decomposing landfill material. But timber and grain are the focus, and the interest fluctuates with commodity prices. When prices decline, so does production and with it the byproducts used in power generation. Technology is being developed to make conversion more economical.

While solar power is often the focus of the alternative energy debate, the technology for large scale projects is still being developed. Most solar generation is occurring at individual homes or businesses. But with technology changing rapidly, the large number of cloudless days in southern Idaho seems to make solar generation viable.