Idaho PUC sets rules for alt energy projects
BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- State regulators ruled against Idaho Power Co. and other utilities, refusing to expand their authority to suspend electricity purchases from wind farms and awarding valuable environmental credits from small renewable projects to their developers.
The Idaho Public Utilities Commission Tuesday issued a 69-page ruling meant to establish new ground rules for renewable power projects and regulated utilities as they negotiate agreements.
It follows months of negotiations and tense hearings over the summer in Boise where utilities, renewables developers and environmental groups tussled over the details.
Developers have blamed uncertainty over the rules for scaring off financiers.
Elsewhere in Tuesday's decision, the PUC maintained size restrictions on wind and solar projects eligible for federally-mandated power contracts.
And it tinkered with how it sets prices developers can get for their renewable power.
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