A Boise wind-farm developer plans to build a number of new farms this year in southern Idaho - a sign that the winds seem to still favor Idaho's renewable-energy industry. Boise-based Exergy Development Group's last Idaho project - Fossil Gulch - was the state's first "utility-scale" wind farm when it was built near Hagerman in 2004.

A Boise wind-farm developer plans to build a number of new farms this year in southern Idaho - a sign that the winds seem to still favor Idaho's renewable-energy industry.

Boise-based Exergy Development Group's last Idaho project - Fossil Gulch - was the state's first "utility-scale" wind farm when it was built near Hagerman in 2004. Now, the company plans to start construction this summer on 152 wind turbines providing a combined 228 megawatts of electricity, scattered in 14 wind parks across five southern Idaho counties.

In the Magic Valley, the wind farms are tabbed for the Bell Rapids area, as well as near Burley and Shoshone, said Holli High, Exergy's director of community and government affairs. Exergy is partnering with local landowners for each project, she said. All 14 parks should qualify under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, which sets forth payment rates for small-power developers.

"We've been working on it for a very long time, so we're very excited," High said Monday afternoon. "And the wind down there is great. The landowners down there are fantastic."

The projects are expected to take seven months to complete. When finished, the company claims they'll put Idaho into the top 20 states in terms of installed wind capacity.

But the benefits are broader than that, Exergy officials said. They intend to hire local contractors for much of the work, creating more than 275 estimated jobs during construction. The parks will need 22 people for operations and maintenance. And the company claims the work will represent the largest energy construction project to date in Idaho, when measured in 2009 dollars.

Company officials, who also have a project near Great Falls, Mont., no longer own Fossil Gulch but are excited to return to work in Idaho, High said. They'll certainly have plenty of company in the state.

Idaho Power Co. recently called for proposals for an additional 250 megawatts of wind power for its system.

Locally, proposed projects range from more small-scale ones by local landowners to the massive 185-turbine China Mountain project planned for southwest of Rogerson.

A recent report from the Pew Research Center found that Idaho led the nation in percentage of job growth in the green energy industry between 1998 and 2007.

Web link: http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2009/06/30/new...