🏛️ Issues and Advocacy Training
Courses › Western Grid Projects: CAISO, Markets, SWIP-N and Hemingway

Lesson 8 of 9 · about 15 minutes

The Companies and Agencies Behind the Lines

You'll be able to

  • Identify the parent companies and affiliates behind SWIP-N, B2H and Gateway West
  • Match each company to its market choice and its regulator
  • Find a company's public filings with the SEC, FERC or a state commission
  • Convert an ownership percentage into megawatts and dollars

Big transmission projects are rarely owned by one company. They are split among utilities, holding companies and project affiliates set up for a single line, with federal agencies and market operators holding pieces of the rights. Knowing who is who saves time: it tells you which regulator has the records, which annual report to read, and which name to search in a docket.

Utilities

CompanyParentIdaho roleStakes in the big linesMarketMain regulators
Idaho PowerIDACORPServes southern and southwest Idaho; owns the Midpoint and Hemingway substationsSWIP-N: 11.415 percent ownership (250 MW) plus 250 MW leased for 40 years with an option to buy. B2H: about 45.45 percent. Gateway West: joint owner of several segmentsWEIM since 2018; leaning EDAMIdaho PUC, Oregon PUC, FERC
PacifiCorp (Rocky Mountain Power in Idaho)Berkshire Hathaway EnergyServes eastern IdahoB2H: about 54.55 percent. Gateway West: owner or joint owner of the Idaho segmentsWEIM since 2014; EDAM since 2026Six state commissions including Idaho's; FERC
NV Energy (Nevada Power, Sierra Pacific Power)Berkshire Hathaway EnergyNone directly; the Nevada end of SWIPOwns 25 percent of the One Nevada line; will be operator and balancing authority for SWIP-N under its agreement with Great Basin, per Idaho Power's FERC filing; party to a 2026 SWIP-N consent agreement FERC accepted effective Sept. 1, 2026; covers One Nevada line costs while LS Power covers SWIP-N, per the developerWEIM since 2015; EDAM planned 2028Nevada PUC; FERC
AvistaAvista Corp, a public company that files its own SEC reportsServes north IdahoNone of the projects in this courseWEIM since 2022Idaho PUC, Washington UTC; FERC

The parent relationships come from SEC filings. IDACORP and Idaho Power file combined reports. Berkshire Hathaway Energy's 2025 annual report, filed March 2, 2026, is a combined filing that includes PacifiCorp, Nevada Power and Sierra Pacific Power. That means the majority owner of B2H and the utility at SWIP's Nevada end share a parent.

Developers and builders

CompanyWhat it isProject role
LS PowerPrivate energy infrastructure developerParent of the SWIP affiliates and of Magic Valley Energy. FERC filings say all Great Basin and GBT Northbound membership interests are indirectly owned by LS Power Associates, L.P., managed by LS Power Development, LLC. Its CEO, Paul Segal, spoke at the SWIP-N groundbreaking
Great Basin TransmissionLS Power affiliateDevelops and owns SWIP-N and will maintain it; holds the 1994 BLM right-of-way; CAISO participating transmission owner for the 77.169 percent CAISO block, with a FERC formula rate accepted October 31, 2025. LS Power built the One Nevada line, with NV Energy, and DesertLink
GBT NorthboundLS Power affiliate, a special purpose companyReceives a passive 22.831 percent interest and the 500 MW northbound block once construction starts; sells 11.415 percent and 250 MW to Idaho Power and leases it the other 250 MW, under PUC Order 36874 and FERC docket ER25-3372
Great Basin Transmission SouthLS Power affiliateOwns 75 percent of the One Nevada line and co-owns Robinson Summit substation with NV Energy's utilities, per Idaho Power's FERC filing
Magic Valley EnergyLS Power affiliateDeveloper of the Lava Ridge wind project, whose federal approval Interior moved to cancel on August 6, 2025
Quanta Infrastructure Solutions GroupConstruction contractorBuilding B2H, per Oregon's June 2026 update

Market operators and governance

OrganizationWhat it isRole here
CAISOCalifornia's nonprofit grid operatorRuns WEIM and EDAM; holds most SWIP-N capacity through Great Basin; board appointed by California's governor
ROWENew nonprofit, board seated September 30, 2026Will govern WEIM and EDAM rules if the transfer is completed; target January 1, 2028
Southwest Power Pool (SPP)RTO based in the central U.S.Building Markets+, target October 2027; BPA is a funder

Federal agencies

AgencyRole here
Bureau of Land ManagementGrants rights-of-way across federal land for SWIP-N, B2H and Gateway West; approved the Robinson Summit substation expansion in November 2025
Bonneville Power AdministrationFederal power marketer; left B2H when Idaho Power took its share; heading to Markets+
Department of Energy, Grid Deployment OfficeSelected SWIP-N in April 2024 for Transmission Facilitation Program capacity contract negotiations; signed a facilitation agreement with Great Basin on September 13, 2024 to hold the 500 MW northbound block until Idaho Power won PUC approval or another buyer stepped in, per FERC's October 2025 order
FERCApproves transmission tariffs, the CAISO and Great Basin agreements, and market tariffs. SWIP-N dockets: ER25-543 (development agreement), ER25-2025 (tariff and incentives), ER25-3372 and ER25-3376 (joint ownership), EC25-143 (ownership transfers), ER26-3086 and ER26-3089 (2026 consent agreements)

What each company says, and where to test it

Every company in these tables has a public line on its project. None of those lines is a lie on its face, and none is the whole story. The useful habit is to pair each claim with the record that tests it.

CompanyPublic claimWhere to test it
Idaho PowerIts SWIP-N ownership "only allows us to import energy from south to north" and has nothing to do with Lava RidgeThe capacity terms in PUC Order 36874 (northbound only) and the future cost recovery case, where actual winter imports can be compared with the forecast
Great Basin TransmissionSWIP-N is a stand-alone project that does not rely on or trigger new generation in the area, as its representative told Jerome County commissionersCAISO's 2024 memo, which grounds CAISO's share in 1,000 MW of Idaho wind, and future interconnection requests near Midpoint
CAISOLarge transmission investment is essential to a more reliable Western grid, as its CEO said at the SWIP-N groundbreakingCAISO's annual transmission plan and the benefit studies behind each approved line
PacifiCorpLists Gateway West segments with target dates in its annual transmission reports, most at 2036 or laterIts integrated resource plan and each year's WECC progress report, to see whether the dates hold or slide

Quote the claim, cite the record, and let readers see the gap if there is one. That works the same whether you support the project or oppose it.

Example: turning percentages into megawatts and dollars

Ownership shares are only useful when you convert them.

  • SWIP-N: Idaho Power's 250 MW out of 2,190 MW total SWIP capacity: 250 / 2,190 = 0.114, the 11.4 percent in the order.
  • Its full 500 MW, owned plus leased: 500 / 2,190 = 0.228, the 22.83 percent block.
  • B2H: suppose, for the method only, installed cost of $1.2 billion. Idaho Power's 45.45 percent: $1,200,000,000 x 0.4545 = $545.4 million. PacifiCorp's 54.55 percent: $654.6 million. Check: 545.4 + 654.6 = 1,200.
  • Before BPA left, Idaho Power's 21.21 percent of the same $1.2 billion would have been $254.5 million. The 2023 change added 545.4 minus 254.5 = about $291 million of exposure at that cost.

Use the real installed cost when the recovery case is filed. The method stays the same.

Common mix-ups

  • Claim: LS Power, Great Basin and Magic Valley Energy are unrelated. What the evidence shows: Great Basin and Magic Valley Energy are both LS Power companies. Whether the projects depend on each other is a separate question, covered in lesson 5.
  • Claim: CAISO owns SWIP-N. What the evidence shows: Great Basin owns the line. CAISO controls most of its capacity through the participating transmission owner arrangement.
  • Claim: PacifiCorp and NV Energy are competitors on these projects. What the evidence shows: Both are Berkshire Hathaway Energy utilities that file a combined annual report.

Reporting angle

  • Ask NV Energy what it will charge, and to whom, for operating SWIP-N and acting as its balancing authority, and where those costs appear in Nevada and FERC filings.
  • Read the risk factors and transmission sections of IDACORP's and Berkshire Hathaway Energy's latest 10-K for B2H, Gateway and market statements.
  • Search each affiliate name, not just the parent, in FERC eLibrary and the Idaho PUC case search. Agreements are often filed under project-company names.
  • Ask LS Power which affiliate holds each federal right-of-way and capacity contract.
  • Track executives who testify or appear at county hearings, and which company they represent.
  • Numbers to check: ownership shares, MW entitlements, installed cost and each owner's share.

Research angle

Check yourself

1. Which LS Power affiliate is developing SWIP-N?

2. Which companies file a combined annual report with Berkshire Hathaway Energy at the SEC?

3. Idaho Power owns about 45.45 percent of B2H. If a line's installed cost were $1.2 billion, what would that share be?

4. Who is Idaho Power's parent company?

5. Which organization is a market operator but not a utility or line owner in Idaho?

Terms in this lesson

Holding company
A parent company that owns one or more operating utilities and often other businesses.
Affiliate
A company under common ownership with another, often set up for one project.
Form 10-K
The annual report public companies file with the SEC, including business descriptions, risks and financial statements.
Merchant transmission developer
A company that builds lines and earns revenue by selling capacity, rather than serving retail customers.

Full glossary

Sources