Idaho Power


Idaho Power Company is a regulated electrical power utility. Its business involves the purchase, sale, generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in eastern Oregon and southern Idaho. It is a subsidiary of IDACORP, Inc. The company's service area generally follows the area around the Snake River and its tributaries.
Idaho Power owns and operates 17 hydroelectric dams and 3 natural gas power plants. IPC also owns shares of three coal-fired power plants.
In 2007, electricity sold by IPC was 33% hydroelectric, 39% thermal, and 28% purchased from other generation companies.

History

Idaho Power Company originally filed for incorporation in Maine on May 6, 1915. It was reincorporated in Idaho as a subsidiary of IDACORP, Inc on October 1, 1998.
This was followed by the purchase of the assets of five small southern Idaho power companies: Idaho-Oregon Light & Power; Great Shoshone and Twin Falls Water Power; Idaho Railway, Light & Power; Idaho Power & Light; and Southern Idaho Water Power Company.
In 2018 Idaho Power sponsored the annual "Drive Electric Week" car show event at the state capitol. At the show people can learn about electric vehicles. Interest in electric vehicles has increased because of changing gas prices, improvements in battery technology, concerns for the environment and federal tax incentives for buying electric vehicles. To respond to customer interest, Idaho Power added tools to its website to guide customers investigating purchasing an electric vehicle.

Hydroelectricity

IPC's 17 hydroelectric power plants have a generation nameplate capacity of 1,988,615 kilowatts, and it is one of the nation's few investor-owned utilities with a significant hydroelectric generating base. Four-fifths of Idaho’s electricity generation is from hydroelectric. Idaho Power built the majority of its hydroelectric facilities during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, culminating with completion of the three-dam Hells Canyon Complex in 1968.