Data centers and energy
🗼 Western Grid Projects: CAISO, Markets, SWIP-N and Hemingway
Learn who runs the Western grid, how CAISO's markets and the new independent board over them work, which market Idaho's utilities chose, how transmission costs reach a bill, and where SWIP-N, Boardman to Hemingway and Gateway West stand as of October 2026, with the companies, the advocacy groups and the Idaho decisions behind each.
- 1Three Grids, Seven Market Operators, and a West That Never JoinedPlace Idaho on the national map: the three U.S. interconnections, the seven RTOs and ISOs, and the balancing authorities and transmission owners that actually run the grid in Idaho as of October 2026.16 min
- 2CAISO, How It Pays for Lines, and the New Board Above Its MarketsWhat the California ISO is and who governs it, how its planning process and Transmission Access Charge pay for lines like SWIP-N, and how the Pathways Initiative and AB 825 led to the Regional Organization for Western Energy (ROWE), as of October 2026.26 min
- 3EDAM, Markets+ and Which Way Idaho WentWhere each utility serving Idaho stands in the West's market split as of October 2026, how market results reach an Idaho bill, and what the Idaho PUC can and cannot do about a utility's market choice.17 min
- 4How a Transmission Line Gets Into Your BillFollow a transmission dollar from a certificate to a rate case to a residential bill, sort out what FERC and the Idaho PUC each decide, and work the arithmetic of a line's annual revenue requirement.21 min
- 5SWIP-N: Who Owns It, Who Runs It, Who PaysThe Southwest Intertie Project-North as of October 2026: route, the 1994 BLM Record of Decision, the CAISO and Idaho Power capacity split, the FERC orders of 2025 and 2026, the Idaho PUC certificate case, the Lava Ridge connection, and construction status.23 min
- 6SWIP-N in Jerome County: A Permit Fight, Step by StepHow SWIP-N's special use permit moved through Jerome County in 2025, what the appeals argued, what the county commission decided and remanded, and what the case teaches about local power over a federally approved line.19 min
- 7Hemingway: Boardman to Hemingway and Gateway WestThe Hemingway substation near Melba and the lines converging on it as of October 2026: the Boardman to Hemingway 500 kV line under construction, its owners, cost protections and opponents, and the Gateway West segments planned across southern Idaho.19 min
- 8The Companies and Agencies Behind the LinesA reference table of the utilities, developers, market operators and federal agencies involved in Idaho's big transmission projects as of October 2026: who owns whom, what each holds, who regulates it and where its records are.15 min
- 9The Advocacy Groups and How They Work Idaho GovernmentWho lobbies, intervenes and testifies on Idaho's big grid projects, on every side, and the documented record of how they have engaged the Idaho PUC, the Legislature, the governor, the attorney general and county commissions through October 2026.19 min