Variable Energy Resource Integration Studies
Installed wind and solar generation capacity continues to expand in the Pacific Northwest, including eastern Oregon and southern Idaho. Idaho Power currently integrates 725 megawatts (MW) of wind and 780 MW of solar energy on its system. Additional solar and wind resources are expected to come online over the next few years, as outlined in the 2025 Integrated Resource Plan. Looking to the future, Idaho Power set a goal to reach 100% clean energy by 2045.
Idaho Power completed its first Variable Energy Resource (VER) Integration Analysis in 2018, focused on wind, and a Solar Integration Study in 2016. The company has since revisited these studies, and our most recent VER Integration Study was approved by the Idaho Public Utilities Commission in July 2025.
The objective of VER integration studies is to assess how operations of dispatchable generating resources must be modified to integrate increasing levels of variable energy while ensuring the reliable delivery of electrical power.
Idaho Power considers the assessment of costs and benefits associated with variable energy resources an important part of efforts to ensure the price it pays for energy is fair to generators and customers alike. The estimation of these integration costs is used by the company to inform other planning and cost assessments including:
- Integrated Resource Plan – Integration costs provide a comparative evaluation of variable generation resources to other resource option
- Qualifying Facilities defined under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978
- Value of distributed energy resources
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