Energy

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

Soaring over the Snake River Birds of Prey NCA

Teepees at Idaho's Sacajawea Interpretive Center in Salmon

Idaho



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Energy

In managing the 256 million surface acres of the National System of Public Lands and 700 million sub-surface acres of Federal mineral estate nationwide, the BLM has a key role in developing and delivering energy to meet the needs of America's homes, businesses, and communities. Promoting dependable and environmentally sound energy production on Federal public lands can help the U.S achieve energy independence.

Idaho's abundant renewable energy resources will be essential in building a sustainable energy-future. By 2015, wind energy production in Idaho could provide enough electricity (625 megawatts) to power 150,000 homes, and the potential of geothermal energy may be even greater. Studies estimate that Idaho could generate as much as 850 megawatts of electricity from geothermal energy by 2015 - enough to supply the needs of 204,000 homes. Idaho is also a critical link in U.S. powerline and pipeline networks.

Energy

Transmission lines carry power generated at this geothermal energy facility to the surrounding region.

Toward the Future - Renewable Energy

A wind turbine at Cotterel Mountain Idaho's potential for producing wind energy is already being realized after the BLM’s approval in 2006 of the Cotterel Mountain wind energy project, administered through the Burley Field Office. With up to 98 wind turbines on BLM-managed lands in south-central Idaho, the Cotterel Mountain project will generate 200 megawatts of electricity.

The Jarbidge Field Office is leading the Environment Impact Statement (EIS) for a second wind energy project. Encompassing 30,700 acres of public, state and private lands in the Jarbidge Foothills, southwest of Rogerson in Twin Falls County, Idaho and west of Jackpot in Elko County, Nevada, the proposed China Mountain project is one of the largest wind energy developments yet proposed for public lands.

Geothermal generation facility in the Raft River Valley (Credit: U.S. Geothermal Corp.)

BLM-Idaho is also actively managing competitive leasing of federal geothermal resources under new leasing regulations finalized in 2007. In 2008, a total of 18 federal geothermal parcels in Idaho were nominated for leasing and sold at competitive auction. Future leasing will proceed under the recently completed Nationwide programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for geothermal energy development.

With site-specific environmental analysis complete, the BLM is preparing to issue a geothermal lease (non-competitive) for public lands in Sulphur Canyon.

The Burley Field Office continues working with proponents of geothermal projects in the Raft River Valley, approving resource exploration plans on non-leased parcels in the area. The Boise District Office is supporting existing leases in the Crane Creek field.

Linking Production and Use

Idaho is also an important geographic link between production facilities and energy markets. Natural gas pipelines and power transmission lines that cross southern Idaho deliver energy produced in the central Rockies to users in Idaho and the Pacific Northwest. BLM-managed lands in the state can play a key role in expanding pipeline and powerline capacity while protecting and conserving other resources found on the land.

In 2008 all milestones for energy transmission projects proposed for BLM-managed lands in Idaho were met or exceeded. These included work on right-of-way (ROW) applications for:

♦ the Gateway West transmission line (with BLM-Wyoming)
♦ the Southwest Intertie Project (SWIP, with BLM-Nevada)
♦ the Mountain States Transmission Intertie (MSTI, with BLM-Montana), and
♦ the Sunstone Pipeline (with U.S. Forest Service)

The BLM and the Department of Energy (DOE) in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service have also designated 6,100 miles of energy transport corridors on Federal lands in the 11 Western states. Of the 314 miles of these corridors located in Idaho, 296 are located on BLM-managed lands. More information about the West-wide Energy Corridor designation is available at http://corridoreis.anl.gov.