An electrical system must always be in balance. That means the amount of energy we generate or buy must meet but not exceed customer demand, also known as load.

Demand for electricity is not constant. It changes moment to moment, every time a customer flips a light switch, turns on an irrigation pump or shuts down a factory’s conveyor belt for the night.

Idaho Power has a responsibility to meet customers’ needs, no matter how they change, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

We also buy energy, often at greater cost than our own generation or market purchases, from certain wind farms, solar arrays and other clean energy sources whose output can change quickly and unexpectedly. Integrating these intermittent resources to match customer demand requires us to increase or decrease energy from our own power plants and buy or sell energy on the market.

Hydropower is the backbone of Idaho Power’s energy mix, generating more energy than any other source. For more details, see Energy Sources.