🏛️ Issues and Advocacy Training
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Lesson 1 of 8 · about 16 minutes

The Southern Idaho Build-Out at a Glance

You'll be able to

  • Name the major southern Idaho energy and data center projects and their status as of October 2026
  • Sort a project by stage, from announced idea to operating plant, and say what each stage means
  • Match each kind of project to the body that approves it: a county, the Idaho PUC, the BLM or FERC
  • Add up proposed megawatts and compare them to Idaho Power's own forecast of peak growth

Southern Idaho has more energy and data center proposals in motion right now than at any point in its history, and they are all at different stages. Some are signed orders. Some are a line in a securities filing. One is a cancelled federal approval that its developer has never publicly given up on. Treating them as the same kind of thing is the fastest way to lose an argument at a public hearing.

This lesson is the map. The rest of the course takes each piece in turn. Every status below is dated, because these change month to month, and a status that was right in July can be wrong by October.

Stages, from idea to steel

A project's stage tells you who can still change it and how.

Announcedpress, filings Appliedcase number In reviewNEPA, hearings Approvedorder, permit Construction,then operating Paused, suspended or cancelled(can restart if the cause changes)
The public has the most influence in the review stage, when a record is open and deadlines are set.

Announced projects have no record to comment on. Applied projects have a case number and, usually, a deadline. Projects in review have a hearing or an environmental analysis where evidence goes in. Approved projects can still be appealed for a short window, and they can still fail for money reasons. Paused and cancelled projects belong in their own box, because the reason they stopped decides whether they can start again.

The map, as of October 2026

ProjectWhat and whereSizeStatus (date)Who decides
SWIP-North500 kV line, Midpoint Substation near Twin Falls to Robinson Summit near Ely, Nevada285 miles; 500 MW northbound for Idaho PowerPUC certificate Dec. 12, 2025 (Order 36874); groundbreaking Sept. 3, 2026; service expected 2028BLM (federal land), PUC (Idaho Power's share), counties (private land)
Lava Ridge WindMagic Valley Energy (LS Power), BLM land in Lincoln, Minidoka and a third Magic Valley countyUp to 231 turbines, about 1,000 MWApproved Dec. 2024; frozen Jan. 20, 2025; Interior announced reversal Aug. 6, 2025BLM and Interior
South Hills gas plantIdaho Power, Twin Falls County222 MWPUC case IPC-E-26-04 open, no final order as of Sept. 25, 2026; target June 1, 2029PUC; county for land use
Peregrine gas plantIdaho Power, Elmore County430 MWSame PUC case; county findings on CUP-2025-32 on the April 30, 2026 P&Z agenda; target June 1, 2030PUC; Elmore County
Taurus Wind and Snake River Energy SolarArevia Power, BLM land in Gooding, Lincoln and a neighboring county500 MW wind, 400 MW solar, 550 MW storageBLM scoping forum Jan. 28, 2025; no later decision foundBLM
Rhea Data centerArevia Power subsidiary, BLM land in southern Ada County, rights-of-way into Elmore CountyAbout 3,750 acres; MW not disclosedBLM pre-planning; notice of intent planned before end of 2026BLM; PUC for any power contract
TerraVolt campusSoutheast Idaho on a gas pipeline; a third-party tracker places it in Cassia County200 to 240 MW first phaseNo land secured as of June 30, 2026, per SEC filingCounty zoning; state air permit
Soles Rest SolarWestern Elmore County, leased private landUp to 149 MW on about 981 acresStaff recommended approval; workshop July 23, 2026Elmore County; PUC for the power contract

The table leaves out older and smaller items covered later: Crimson Orchard Solar and storage in Elmore County, the long-suspended Salmon Falls Wind request near Rogerson, Desert Ridge Winds in eastern Elmore County, and data center proposals in Kuna and Pocatello.

Who decides what

Residents reach each of these decision-makers through a different door.

  • Counties and cities decide land use on private land through zoning and conditional use permits under Idaho's Local Land Use Planning Act, Idaho Code 67-6501 and following. Hearings are local and comment is open to anyone.
  • The Idaho Public Utilities Commission decides whether Idaho Power can build or buy a resource and charge customers for it, and sets terms for big customers. Anyone can file written comments in a case.
  • The Bureau of Land Management decides projects on federal land through right-of-way grants and National Environmental Policy Act review. Its decisions follow federal policy, which changes with administrations.
  • FERC regulates interstate transmission rates and hydropower licenses, such as pumped storage.

A county cannot set an electric rate. The PUC cannot zone land. The BLM does not answer to a county commission, though federal law requires it to coordinate with local plans. Knowing which door to knock on saves months.

Example: how much of the forecast do the gas plants cover?

Idaho Power's 2025 Integrated Resource Plan, acknowledged by the PUC on February 17, 2026, forecast peak demand rising about 1,700 MW over 20 years, with about 1,000 MW in the first five years.

  • Proposed gas plants: South Hills 222 MW + Peregrine 430 MW = 652 MW.
  • Share of five-year peak growth: 652 / 1,000 = 0.652, about 65 percent.
  • Add SWIP-N's 500 MW of northbound capacity: 652 + 500 = 1,152 MW, more than the five-year growth figure on its own.

That last line does not mean Idaho Power is overbuilding. Capacity ratings are not interchangeable: a transmission entitlement only helps if there is power to buy on the other end at the peak hour, and a gas plant's rating drops on hot days. But the arithmetic gives you a fair question for the PUC: how do the line and the two plants fit together in the utility's own capacity math, and what happens to the gas plant need if SWIP-N is late?

Common mix-ups

  • Claim: Lava Ridge is dead, so the transmission line is dead too. What the evidence shows: They are separate projects. SWIP-N got its PUC certificate in December 2025 and broke ground in September 2026.
  • Claim: A data center that is in the news has been approved. What the evidence shows: The Cassia County proposal had not secured land as of its June 30, 2026 filing, and the Rhea Data proposal was in BLM pre-planning in September 2026.
  • Claim: The county commission decides everything. What the evidence shows: Federal land goes through the BLM, and utility plants go through the PUC. The county decides land use on private land.

Reporting angle

  • Keep a dated status log for every project in the table. Write the date you checked next to each status.
  • For each project, find the case number: PUC case (IPC-E-26-04), county CUP number (CUP-2025-29, CUP-2025-32), or BLM serial number. No case number means no decision is pending.
  • Request county application files under the Idaho Public Records Act, Idaho Code 74-102. Under Idaho Code 74-103, agencies must respond within three working days or say they need more time, up to ten working days.
  • Ask Idaho Power how SWIP-N's 500 MW and the two gas plants are counted against the 2029 and 2030 capacity deficits in IPC-E-26-04.
  • Watch the Elmore County P&Z calendar; its October 2026 meeting moved to American Legion Post 26 on October 22.

Research angle

Check yourself

1. Which body decides whether Idaho Power may build the Peregrine and South Hills gas plants as utility investments?

2. As of October 2026, what is the status of the Lava Ridge Wind Project?

3. Idaho Power's 2025 IRP forecast about 1,000 MW of new peak demand in the first five years. The two proposed gas plants total 652 MW. What share of that five-year growth do they cover?

4. A developer has announced a project in a press release but filed nothing with a county, the BLM or the PUC. What stage is it in?

5. Which of these is the main reason the SWIP-N line matters to the rest of this course?

Terms in this lesson

CPCN
Certificate of public convenience and necessity: Idaho PUC permission for a utility to build a major plant or line as a utility investment.
Conditional use permit (CUP)
A county or city land-use approval for a use allowed in a zone only after a hearing and with conditions.
Right-of-way grant
BLM permission to use federal land for a road, line, pipeline or energy facility, issued under 43 U.S.C. 1761.
Interconnection queue
The utility's waiting list of generators asking to connect to its grid, with study milestones and a status for each request.
Nameplate capacity
The maximum output a plant is rated for, in megawatts, before accounting for weather, fuel or outages.

Full glossary

Sources