JEROME, Idaho — A company is proposing to build small nuclear power generators in Jerome County, Idaho, on land near where the stalled Lava Ridge wind energy project was once planned.
Sawtooth Energy Development Corporation wants to install six small modular reactors that would generate 462 megawatts of power.
"The fact is that no matter where we look, everyone is talking about this is going to be a need for the electricity in the not too distant future," Dan Adamson of Sawtooth Energy Development Corporation said.
Adamson told me the reactors would produce enough electricity to power about 400,000 homes.
"They produce 77 MW of power. Our intention is to put six of them in and with that will be producing 462 MW of power," Adamson said.
HEAR MORE about the proposal for six small modular reactors in Jerome County
Energy interests in the Magic Valley have skyrocketed in recent years, with proposals for wind and solar development on public lands.
A key attraction is the power transmission infrastructure that intersects in Jerome County at the Midpoint Substation. From this location, energy could be delivered across the Western U.S., into Oregon, Wyoming, Nevada, and California.
The Lava Ridge Wind Energy Project received widespread opposition in the Magic Valley and was called out by name in President Trump's executive order halting approvals of wind energy projects in the first days of his second term.
Adamson said Sawtooth CEO Roy Prescott, a long-time Jerome resident, was actively involved in discussions about the proposed Lava Ridge wind project, which at its largest proposed footprint would have spanned almost 200,000 acres and produced 1,000 megawatts of power.
PUBLIC MEETINGS FOR NUCLEAR PROPOSAL
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"And if he said, once he said 50 times it's a shame that so much property would be utilized to produce such a small amount of electricity," Adamson said.
While the largest proposed Lava Ridge wind project would have produced 1,000 megawatts of electricity across nearly 200,000 acres, Adamson says Sawtooth's nuclear project would sit on about 40 acres while generating 462 megawatts.
Adamson said Sawtooth's project has been accelerated by utilizing studies done by LS Power in support of Lava Ridge.
"We have been piggybacking on their draft environment statement because it covered much of the ground where we are located," Adamson said.
Typically, energy project permits with the federal government have taken upwards of five years to complete.
"[Due to] the executive orders by President Trump and what was in the BBB, it could reduce that from five years to about two years," Adamson said.
The company is holding four public meetings beginning July 21. Three will be in Jerome at the courthouse, and one will be in Shoshone.
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