WIRT Comments on Idaho Power Company Peregrine & South Hills Gas Power Plants Certificates Application
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Author Archives: WIRT
Climate Justice Forum: Ben Otto on New Idaho Power Methane Plants, Williams Gas Pipeline Expansion, & Opposition, Texas ICE Prairieland Protest Prison Sentences, Fossil Fuels Reduction 7-29-26
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The Wednesday, July 29, 2026, Climate Justice Forum radio program, produced by regional, climate activists collective Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT), features attorney Ben Otto, senior policy associate with the Northwest Energy Coalition, discussing two new methane plants proposed by Idaho Power Company and a possible Williams gas pipeline expansion in southern Idaho, decision-making criteria for Idaho Public Utilities Commission permitting of these projects, and best practices for oppositional public input. We also share news, videos, and reflections on reducing use of products composed of fossil fuels and liable for carbon emissions, and Texas defendants together sentenced to hundreds of prison years by a retaliatory federal government, for protesting outside the Prairieland immigration detention facility. Broadcast for fourteen years on progressive, volunteer, community station KRFP Radio Free Moscow, every Wednesday between 1:30 and 3 pm Pacific time, on-air at 90.3 FM and online at KRFP and the Pacifica Network AudioPort, the show describes continent-wide, grassroots, frontline resistance to fossil fuels projects, the root causes of climate change, thanks to generous, anonymous listeners who adopted program host Helen Yost as their KRFP DJ. Continue reading
Oppose Two New Idaho Methane-Powered Plants by July 31
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In mid-March 2026, Idaho Power Company (IPC) applied to the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity (case number IPC-E-26-04), to invest in and construct two new methane gas power plants and extra pipeline capacity in southern Idaho over the next few years [1-5]. IPC proposes to build the South Hills plant on the Snake River near Milner, Idaho, to generate 222 total megawatts of electricity from 12 reciprocating engines by June 2029 (enclosed concept picture), and the Peregrine plant between Boise and Mountain Home, to produce 430 megawatts from one massive, single-cycle combustion turbine by June 2030. IPC claims that it needs to make investments now in these resources, to meet peak demands beyond its adequate, existing system, and due to the long lead times required to obtain gas generation equipment and additional pipeline capacity. The company forecasts rapid load growth from committed industrial sites and predicted large-load users.
As the initial, formal step for any utility seeking approval for new infrastructure, IPC is requesting PUC permission to begin accounting for its spending on these gas plants. If or when it brings these projects online, IPC will engage another PUC process to recover project costs from its customers. In the present case, Northwest Energy Coalition and Renewable Northwest have intervened in opposition, while large-load users Idaho Irrigation Pumpers Association and computer memory and data storage manufacturer Micron Technology as well as PUC staff represent various interests [6]. Spring 2026 searches yielded little public information about these power plants, beyond the PUC site and industry articles.
As always with the climate-wrecking schemes of the oil and gas industry and its utility enablers, these facilities may manifest the covertly planned destinations for the 80 percent of additional Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN) pipeline methane pushed by TC Energy through the GTN Xpress expansion toward Idaho, and/or for the products of two Snake River Oil and Gas wells drilled near the Payette River, the Fruitland city water intake plant, and a dense residential/business area in June and July 2026. Owner of the other interconnected, regional, methane pipeline network, Williams Companies announced in May the proposed Silver Spur expansion of its Northwest pipeline system from Opal, Wyoming, toward the Northwest, the first phase of its Rockies Columbia Connector ambitions to add a 90-mile transmission line into Idaho, which could impose 275 million cubic feet per day of methane by early 2030 [7].
Climate activists collective Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) noticed these developments in April and has been sharing news, articles, and reflections about the proposed South Hills and Peregrine methane power plants on our weekly Climate Justice Forum radio program, broadcast for fourteen years on progressive, volunteer, community station KRFP Radio Free Moscow [8, 9]. Throughout the last year and decades, we also continue to offer public process and direct action support to frontline, Payette County residents opposed to riverside and residential area gas well drilling. This spring, we were further shocked to learn that a third methane power plant slipped under the Boise resistance radar, as the PUC permitted its construction in Mountain Home. WIRT hopes that this overbuild of soon outdated and defunct fossil fuels infrastructure in the Idaho high desert does not fuel more remote data centers dreams or distant, urban electrification of utilities and transportation. Continue reading
Climate Justice Forum: Ryan Calbreath, Jess Conard, Mark Lopez, Tabitha Tripp, & Andrea Vidaurre on Electrified Public Railways, Enbridge Line 5 River Blasting, Idaho Forced Leased Gas Well Objections 5-13-26
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The Wednesday, May 13, 2026, Climate Justice Forum radio program, produced by regional, climate activists collective Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT), features an Earth Day panel discussion facilitated by Bill Moyer of Solutionary Rail, with environmental justice and labor organizers Ryan Calbreath of the UE Union Green Locomotive program, Jess Conard of Rail Watch, mark! Lopez of East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, Tabitha Tripp of Public Rail Now, and Andrea Vidaurre of People’s Collective for Environmental Justice, talking about shifting harmful, private, Wall Street-extractive, Class 1 railroads into beneficial, public, electrified, rail and transmission infrastructure systems that could provide better accountability and community safety and services. We also share news, videos, and reflections on the proposed, unpermitted, bedrock blasting under rivers for construction of the Enbridge Line 5 tar sands pipeline, rerouted around a Wisconsin indigenous reservation near the Great Lakes, and Idaho citizen objections to Snake River Oil and Gas plans to drill the Miller 1-15 methane well and extract their privately-owned resources via forced leasing, close to hundreds of Fruitland residences, businesses, and water wells. Broadcast for fourteen years on progressive, volunteer, community station KRFP Radio Free Moscow, every Wednesday between 1:30 and 3 pm Pacific time, on-air at 90.3 FM and online at KRFP and the Pacifica Network AudioPort, the show describes continent-wide, grassroots, frontline resistance to fossil fuels projects, the root causes of climate change, thanks to generous, anonymous listeners who adopted program host Helen Yost as their KRFP DJ.
Continue readingClimate Justice Forum: George Price on Overshoot & Solutions, Actions Stopping Black Hills Drilling, May Day Protests, Global Renewable Electricity, Idaho Forced Leased Gas Well Objections 5-6-26
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The Wednesday, May 6, 2026, Climate Justice Forum radio program, produced by regional, climate activists collective Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT), features George Price, a Native and African American, organic farmer, history educator, writer, and eco-socialist advocate in Montana, talking about the critical planetary boundaries of human existence, destructive activities causing current ecological overshoot, and solutions that replace industrial capitalism with cooperative, alternative, societal and economic structures. We also share news, videos, and reflections on indigenous direct actions and a federal lawsuit and injunction stopping exploratory graphite drilling at the Pe’ Sla sacred site near the South Dakota Black Hills, thousands of May Day strikes, blockades, and demonstrations across the U.S., growth of global electricity capacity from renewable energy sources to almost fifty percent during 2025, and Fruitland city and Idaho citizen objections to Snake River Oil and Gas plans to drill the Miller 1-15 methane well and extract their privately-owned resources via forced leasing, close to hundreds of residences and water wells. Broadcast for fourteen years on progressive, volunteer, community station KRFP Radio Free Moscow, every Wednesday between 1:30 and 3 pm Pacific time, on-air at 90.3 FM and online at KRFP and the Pacifica Network AudioPort, the show describes continent-wide, grassroots, frontline resistance to fossil fuels projects, the root causes of climate change, thanks to generous, anonymous listeners who adopted program host Helen Yost as their KRFP DJ. Continue reading
Climate Justice Forum: George Price on Ecological Overshoot, International Labor Day, Bridger Tar Sands Pipeline, Atlantic Ocean Current Collapse 4-29-26
The Wednesday, April 29, 2026, Climate Justice Forum radio program, produced by regional, climate activists collective Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT), features George Price, an indigenous and African American, organic farmer, history educator, writer, and eco-socialist advocate in Montana, talking about the critical planetary boundaries of human existence, destructive activities causing current ecological overshoot, and solutions that replace industrial capitalism with cooperative, alternative, societal and economic structures. We also share news, videos, and reflections on the history and upcoming workers rights demonstrations of May Day as International Labor Day, public comment opportunities to resist the proposed Bridger tar sands pipeline from Canada across eastern Montana to Wyoming, and a crucial Atlantic Ocean current system that could soon collapse and bring catastrophic cold to northern Europe and sea level rise to the U.S. East Coast. Broadcast for fourteen years on progressive, volunteer, community station KRFP Radio Free Moscow, every Wednesday between 1:30 and 3 pm Pacific time, on-air at 90.3 FM and online at KRFP and the Pacifica Network AudioPort, the show describes continent-wide, grassroots, frontline resistance to fossil fuels projects, the root causes of climate change, thanks to generous, anonymous listeners who adopted program host Helen Yost as their KRFP DJ. Continue reading
Climate Justice Forum: Mary Stites on Zenith & Portland Disputes, Earth Day History, Militarism Film, Nuclear & Nicaragua Talks, New Idaho Gas Plants, Endangerment Finding Lawsuit 4-22-26
The Wednesday, April 22, 2026, Climate Justice Forum radio program, produced by regional, climate activists collective Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT), features attorney Mary Stites of the Northwest Environmental Defense Center, talking about current, legal wrangling between the City of Portland and the Zenith Energy oil train terminal and infrastructure, which have violated Oregon and city agreements on numerous occasions, while constructing and transporting its fossil and renewable fuels. We also share news, videos, and reflections on the climate-altering history of Earth Day, a second Spokane, Washington, screening of Abby Martin’s documentary about global U.S. militarism and its climate and environmental impacts, a nuclear energy informational session presented for Nez Perce tribal officials and members, a Spokane discussion about sustainable approaches to community needs, led by a Nicaragua advocate, two new, southern Idaho, methane power plants proposed by Idaho Power, and a lawsuit brought by 24 states and ten cities against federal agency repeal of the endangerment finding central to climate regulations. Broadcast for fourteen years on progressive, volunteer, community station KRFP Radio Free Moscow, every Wednesday between 1:30 and 3 pm Pacific time, on-air at 90.3 FM and online at KRFP and the Pacifica Network AudioPort, the show describes continent-wide, grassroots, frontline resistance to fossil fuels projects, the root causes of climate change, thanks to generous, anonymous listeners who adopted program host Helen Yost as their KRFP DJ. Continue reading
WIRT Comments & CAIA Objection with Attachments Opposing Snake River Oil & Gas Miller 1-15 Methane Well Drilling Application
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Comment by April 17 against Idaho Force-Pooled Gas Well Drilling Permit!
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Climate activists collective Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) is again rallying support for Citizens Allied for Integrity and Accountability (CAIA) and especially citizens of Payette County, southern Idaho, one of the few Columbia Basin communities directly suffering the impacts of fossil fuels extraction. We encourage you to comment by the deadline of 5 pm MDT on Friday, April 17, against the second application for a methane gas well drilling permit in 2026, filed in late March by Snake River Oil and Gas (SROG) and posted for public review on April 3 by the Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) and Idaho Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (IOGCC), as required by Idaho Code §47-316(1)(c) [1, 2]. These state agencies have opened the comment period for only ten business days. Please send your written opposition to this egregious drilling plan to comments@idl.idaho.gov or through the online contact form, with a subject line mentioning the SROG Miller 1-15 drilling application and permit [3].
Our regional allies organizing in the Treasure Valley urgently need your support to help stop this dangerous, impending, oil and gas well drilling located incredibly close to Fruitland residents, whom the state is forcing to lease their privately owned mineral resources to SROG. Although IDL and IOGCC have yet to respond to any public comments sent by citizens and groups about past permits, the current situation requires immediate, vigorous, legal pressure and broad participation in this public process, to halt this deceitful invasion of Idahoans’ rights and properties. CAIA raised concerns among organizational members of the Stop Northwest Gas Expansion coalition on March 29: Please read this enclosed call to action written by CAIA board of directors president Shelley Brock, and email CAIA at info@integrityandaccountability.org to receive further, vital comment suggestions. We also invite you to revisit our previous forced pooling comment alert and listen to testimony provided by Fruitland area citizens, at a packed, IDL, public hearing on the SROG application to force hundreds of property owners to lease their gas and allow nearby drilling against their will. WIRT recorded their passionate input and aired it on the December 24, 2025, Climate Justice Forum program broadcast at 90.3 FM and online by progressive, volunteer, community station KRFP Radio Free Moscow [4, 5].
Although actively offering solidarity to courageous, fossil fuels frontline communities of resistance should motivate and elevate all of our shared work, this proposed, SROG, Miller 1-15 methane well could not only drill in close proximity to crucial Fruitland infrastructure, but could also supply the nearby Northwest gas pipeline system that Williams Companies is attempting to expand with new pipes in the Columbia River Gorge and central Washington, toward an envisioned, water- and energy-intensive data center in Quincy [6]. TC Energy’s connected Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN) pipeline network has already experienced three major compressor station snafus, mostly in Idaho, since its GTN Xpress project increased methane volumes and pressures in mid-December 2024. In all of these related issues, the potential for illegal harms imposed by SROG, state permitters, and pipeline owners on local people and their air, water, and places necessary for life loom too large to ignore. Please assist CAIA in building a case against this force pooled methane well, by responding with your comments and loading the public record with documents challenging a permit for this recklessly located methane well.
Well Drilling Permit Background
From Citizens Allied for Integrity and Accountability (CAIA)
“CAIA is an Idaho, all-volunteer, nonpartisan nonprofit formed in 2015 primarily to protect citizens from irresponsible oil and gas development in residential areas and near our iconic rivers and sensitive wildlife areas. Since then, our mission has expanded to include several other issues involving the privatization of public water systems, the discharge of recycled municipal wastewater containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and other contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) into our irrigation systems and consequently into our drinking water aquifers, and the injection of ‘processed’ landfill methane gas that has not been tested for PFAS into natural gas pipelines for distribution into homes and businesses.
In 2015, we won a precedent-setting, federal lawsuit based on the constitutional rights of citizens to receive just and reasonable terms in oil and ‘natural’ gas integration (forced pooling) contracts. It took us nearly three years of exhaustive outreach and fundraising to see that lawsuit through to a successful conclusion. That success somewhat leveled the playing field for objecting landowners for several years, by influencing regulators to establish better terms on subsequent integration orders, which included no hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’) treatments of wells, shorter term leases, no surface or subsurface use on integrated properties, etc. Continue reading
15th Annual Celebrations of Wild Idaho Rising Tide
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Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) is celebrating its March 31 anniversary and fifteenth year as a regional, climate activists collective confronting the root causes and perpetrators of air pollution, water degradation, and resulting climate change, through direct actions and locally organized solutions, in solidarity with frontline communities and grassroots networks of fossil fuels resistance [1-7]. We welcome everyone of all ages to enjoy this milestone at two 15th Annual Celebrations of WIRT, held as public gatherings in Moscow and Sandpoint, Idaho, with provided pizza, snacks, and beverages, a background slide show of WIRT and allied activism, and updates on six Northwest campaigns. WIRT extends our hearty thanks to the remarkable core activists, board members, friends, and allies who have coordinated and shared the successes of ongoing citizen challenges to the corporate and government sources of climate chaos.
Please join WIRT activists on two spring evenings, for convergences full of spirited conversations, invigorating camaraderie, wholesome food and drink, and creative works offered by north Idaho and regional residents. At each of these free events, we eagerly anticipate community members sharing their admired talents and knowledge and participating as volunteers and/or sponsors. WIRT invites poets, writers, musicians, creative peers, and allied groups to participate in an open community microphone and meal. These yearly festivities not only strive to raise awareness and funds supporting relentless, earnest, WIRT climate activism, but also seek to further attract and involve cross-cultural and youth diversity in the climate justice movement in Idaho and the Northwest. At both events, organizers will encourage input and “pass the hat” for donations covering event publicity and travel.
Wednesday, April 1, 7 pm
Eichardt’s Pub (upstairs), 212 Cedar Street, Sandpoint
Thursday, April 2, 7 pm
The Attic (rear, second story), 314 East Second Street, Moscow
During this year’s celebrations in both Moscow and Sandpoint, WIRT and allied group representatives plan to lead discussions about resistance campaigns and upcoming events, including Northwest tar sands mining and refining megaloads and Alberta tailings ponds breaches, southwest Idaho oil and gas extraction and waste injection wells and plant emissions, Paradise Ridge highway construction through wetlands and rare native habitat, Idaho Panhandle fossil fuels and hazardous freight trains and railroad infrastructure and wrecks, Lake Pend Oreille-adjacent timber sales, and Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN) Xpress methane and other pipeline expansions.
After the pandemic and during recent political upheavals, WIRT appreciates that Easter time and its resurrection themes occur around these annual celebrations, six years after Idaho’s second largest earthquake happened exactly while we announced our day-of ninth anniversary on Facebook in 2020 [8]. After our 2026 celebrations, WIRT activists intend to assist the station that broadcasts our weekly Climate Justice Forum program, KRFP Radio Free Moscow, and invite everyone to its annual Real Radio Dinner fundraiser, from 6 pm to 9 pm on Friday, April 3, at the 1912 Center, 412 East Third Street in Moscow.
For further event and issue information and responses to your questions, ideas, and suggestions, and/or to contribute toward WIRT’s 15th anniversary celebration expenses, please visit the WIRT website and Facebook pages, contact us via phone, text, email, or facebook message, and print and post the letter-size, color, 15th Annual Celebration of WIRT flyer. If you cannot attend these upcoming opportunities, but would like to uphold the persistent endeavors of this climate direct action group, please arrange a visit and/or send a mailed donation to our Pullman, Washington, post office box. Physical and fiscal contributions bolster the dedicated work and outreach of WIRT and partner, environmental justice organizations confronting new and expanded fossil fuels extraction, production, transportation, and related infrastructure throughout the Northwest. Continue reading
Wild Idaho Rising Tide 