Idaho Power
Lisa Grow is the CEO of Idaho Power.
Public Utilities Fortnightly's Paul Kjellander talked with two leaders on all issues pertaining to hydropower and what its future looks like. Bonneville Power Administration CEO John Hairston and Idaho Power CEO Lisa Grow have much to say on this important subject. Paul offers commentary too.
PUF's Paul Kjellander: Give a sense of hydropower's historic role with Idaho Power.
Lisa Grow: It's fascinating because the history of Idaho Power, hydropower, and Idaho's economy are highly correlated. They're intertwined.
In 1916 when Idaho Power became an entity, it was largely to support what was becoming the state's agricultural economy. Supporting Idaho's mines were part of it as well, but much of the load was based on pumping water to support farms and ranches.
At the same time, we were able to create this flexible, reliable, and — although they didn't know it at the time — clean source of power. For a good portion of our history, we were one hundred percent hydropower.
We're proud of that history and continue to support the growth of the economy of the state and its citizens in our service area, and hydropower is a cornerstone of that.
PUF: Hydropower at one point was a hundred percent of your generation resource. Now that has changed.