The existing transmission system from southwest Idaho to the Pacific Northwest has been at full capacity during recent high-demand periods. Transmission paths are key to utilities like Idaho Power for bringing electricity into and through our service area. To meet the need for more transmission capacity, Idaho Power plans to build a 298-mile, 500 kilovolt (kV) transmission line from northeast Oregon to southern Idaho.

Take a look at this video to highlight our need for more capacity:

The proposed line will connect the power plant near Boardman, Oregon with the proposed Hemingway substation in southwest Idaho. An additional substation will be located northwest of Caldwell to improve performance of the long-distance transmission line.

The proposed Boardman-to-Hemingway project, where possible, will use corridors identified in the West-wide Energy Corridor Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS). The PEIS identifies potential energy corridors on federal land in the eleven western states. In addition, corridors for the Boardman to Hemingway Project will be developed or modified based on studies of the area, comments from federal agencies and land owners, topography, access, and other factors.

Idaho Power's 2006 Integrated Resource Plan (PDF), also known as the Energy Plan for the Future is a biennially-produced 20-year integrated resource plan for meeting our electric service obligation, identifies energy produced in the Pacific Northwest as a component of the company's energy portfolio. Requirements of Idaho Power's wholesale transmission customers are also increasing.

Idaho Power will work with the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service during their environmental review and analysis, and with the Oregon Department of Energy's Energy Facility Siting Council to permit and construct this project in Oregon.

This Web site is the joint Boardman to Hemingway Transmission Line Project site. Information contained on this site is approved for posting by Idaho Power. Visit the Idaho Power Web site.