BOISE — Utah Power has proposed the Blue Sky wind power program for its customers in Idaho, in a filing submitted to the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (IPUC). Utah Power serves 46,980 residential customers and 12,085 nonresidential customers in Idaho.

The program is designed to allow customers who support renewable energy sources to put that support into action by purchasing Blue Sky wind energy for just $1.95 per 100 kilowatt-hour (kwh) block, in addition to their monthly power bill. A 100-kwh block represents approximately 10 percent of the energy the average Idaho household uses each month. There is no limit on the number of blocks a customer can purchase.  

Blue Sky purchases are made in addition to the renewable energy Utah Power already brings into its system. Utah Power has announced that it plans to bring an additional 1,400 megawatts of renewable energy, mostly wind, in the next 10 years.

The proposal must be approved by the IPUC before it can be made available to Idaho customers of Utah Power.

Utah Power launched Blue Sky in 2000 to give customers a choice in how their energy is produced, and to allow them a part in creating demand for renewable energy resources. The program provides Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming customers the opportunity to buy renewable energy in 100 kilowatt-hour block increments, in addition to their regular monthly electric bill.

More than 11,540 Utah Power and Pacific Power customers support renewable power by purchasing Blue Sky.

Utah Power cannot guarantee that electricity from a particular facility will flow directly to a customer’s home or business. However, the company will deliver to the regional grid an amount of renewable energy equal to the amount of a customer’s block purchase. All Blue Sky purchases help support renewable energy generation. Utah Power purchases power or certificates associated with power from renewable power plants.

The success of the program allowed the company in May to reduce the price of Blue Sky to its current $1.95 per 100 kilowatt-hour block.

Buying just one 100-kwh block of Blue Sky each month for a year has the same positive environmental impact as planting a third of an acre of trees or not driving a car for 1,800 miles.* Renewable energy, such as wind, solar and geothermal, has little-to-no emissions. Wind power produces no air pollutants, wastewater, smog or acid rain. It also helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

*Calculations based on an independent analysis completed by the Northwest Power Planning Council and EPA data.

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