67-8902. DECLARATION OF NECESSITY AND PURPOSE. (1) It is hereby deter-
mined and declared that:
(a) Industrial, irrigation, commercial and residential consumers
in the state of Idaho receive electric service from various in-
vestor-owned, cooperative and municipal utilities and the ability of
these utilities to provide reliable and economic electric services at
stable prices is essential to the economy and the economic development
of the state of Idaho and to the health, safety and welfare of its
people;
(b) The regional interconnection of electric utilities causes events
and conditions in other western states to have a significant impact on
the operations of utilities in the state of Idaho and the restructuring
of the electric industry in recent years by the federal government and
in other states has exposed all utilities in Idaho, and the consumers
served by them, to volatile market prices, reliability concerns and
other adverse conditions;
(c) It is in the best interest of the state of Idaho and its people that
sufficient and reliable electric generation and transmission resources
are developed and made available at cost-based rates in order to enable
these utilities to meet existing and future demands for electric ser-
vices, to provide adequate reserves and to promote reliability at the
most stable rates practicable;
(d) The electric utility and energy industries are and will continue to
be capital-intensive industries and the availability of cost-effective
financing to investor-owned, cooperative and municipal utilities will
enhance the ability of these utilities to provide and promote economic
electric services to consumers in the state;
(e) Coordination, cooperation and joint ventures between and among
such utilities with one another and with the private, cooperative,
federal, state and municipal utilities and agencies that provide whole-
sale and retail electric services in the western states will promote
regional electric reliability and stability and will provide economies
of scale;
(f) It is the intent of the legislature to create the Idaho energy re-
sources authority to promote the development and financing of facili-
ties for the benefit of participating utilities and to accomplish the
purposes stated above, and to authorize the authority to exercise all
such powers as are necessary to enable it to achieve such purposes and
to thereby promote and protect the economy of the state of Idaho and the
health, safety and welfare of its people; and
(g) It is in the best interest of the state of Idaho and its people
to encourage and promote the development of clean energy resources in
order to develop reliable, economic, and long-term sources of energy
supply, promote efficiencies in the generation, storage, transmission,
and utilization of electric energy, and enhance the long-term stability
of the energy resources and requirements of the state.
(2) Nothing contained herein is intended or shall be construed to limit
or restrict the authority of the Idaho public utilities commission with re-
spect to the regulation of electric corporations and public utilities pur-
suant to title 61, Idaho Code.
[67-8902, added 2005, ch. 53, sec. 1, p. 192; am. 2005, ch. 311, sec.
1, p. 964; am. 2023, ch. 24, sec. 1, p. 134.]