Idaho
Overview
Idaho has the fastest growing population in the country and leads the way nationally in wage growth, making Idaho home to the fastest growing energy demand in America. Historically, Idaho has benefited from an energy mix dominated by hydroelectric power. While hydroelectric power remains the cornerstone of Idaho’s power generation, as conditions change and demand soars, the gap between Idaho’s electricity needs and hydroelectric capacity is rapidly widening. This has opened the market to other energy sources in the state, including renewables.
Energy Landscape
Idaho's largest utility, Idaho Power, expects electricity demand to grow 8.3% every year through 2030 – enough new demand to match its customers’ electricity use over the previous four decades combined, according to its 2025 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). The state is rich in renewable potential, from hydropower and wind to solar, biomass, and geothermal. Support for renewables like wind and solar has been challenging due to Idaho's political landscape, but sentiment is slowly shifting due to more and improved industry engagement with local communities and elected officials.
Transmission Landscape
All three of Idaho’s investor-owned utilities are projecting significant demand growth in their current IRPs, making Idaho a state in need of significant new generation and transmission development. A regional study flagged two new interstate transmission lines connecting to Idaho as critical for Idaho and the Western grid, adding to major projects already underway like Boardman to Hemingway, the Southwest Intertie Project-North, and the expanding Gateway West system.
Building in Idaho
Idaho is widely seen as business-friendly territory for energy development, with state agencies acting as constructive partners rather than roadblocks. Siting authority varies by land type: counties, a revenue-focused State Board of Land Commissioners, or other state/federal agencies. The most significant challenges are often found in county commissions who have the exclusive jurisdiction over siting energy development on private property. RNW engages at all levels in Idaho, including working with counties to adopt good ordinances.
Where RNW Comes In
RNW is working to reset the narrative around renewable energy in Idaho, helping people across the political, business, and civic spectrum see that renewables are uniquely positioned to meet the state's rapid demand growth. We engage policymakers at every level, from the Statehouse to county commissions, and work to bring more voices and stakeholders into the rooms where energy decisions get made. Our advocacy is a major reason why in 2026 the industry faced zero pieces of legislation it had to defeat when the year before, in 2025, it had to defeat over a dozen anti-renewable bills.