BOISE, Idaho — Two major facilities in the City of Trees will be making the transition to 100% clean energy. The city of Boise announced a partnership with Idaho Power to access clean energy by participating in the Clean Energy Your Way program.
Clean energy will soon power the newly-upgraded Lander Street Water Renewal Facility and the Boise Airport.
"We'll have about 5 million passengers come through the airport, hundreds more that work here every day. So we are a very large user of power," Boise Airport Director Rebecca Hupp said. "To be able to transition to 100% renewable, clean energy is a huge step forward toward our goals."
The city has a goal of using 100% clean energy for all government facilities by 2030.
"This project, and this contract will take about 26% of that 100% goal. So it's a big jump," City of Boise Public Works Director Steve Burgos said. "With this project, we'll be ahead of that goal. We're going keep the pressure on to keep pushing, we think we can beat 2030 for sure, just how soon - we're going to see how that plays out. But we're excited about the progress we're making today."
The renewable energy will come from a newly-powered solar project in Elmore County built through an agreement between Idaho Power and Micron.
City officials said that the clean energy will also be affordable energy.
"Based on the way the contract is set up, we're basically hedging on energy prices," Burgos said. "So we're getting a relatively fixed cost on energy over the next 20 years. And we think if it plays out the way we hope it will, we'll actually be saving money in the long run over the next 20 years."
The city of Boise announced the partnership during a press conference at the Boise Airport Monday. The partnership will be on City Council's agenda for approval Tuesday evening.
"This is a monumental step, and these big changes that are happening - we're trying to take advantage of," Burgos said. "Not only is it good for the environment, good for carbon emissions - but it's also going to be lower cost long-term for the city."
Watch more Local News:
See the latest news from around the Treasure Valley and the Gem State in our YouTube playlist
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET NEWS FROM KTVB:
Download the KTVB News Mobile App
Apple iOS: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Watch news reports for FREE on YouTube: KTVB YouTube channel
Stream Live for FREE on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching 'KTVB'.
Stream Live for FREE on FIRE TV: Search ‘KTVB’ and click ‘Get’ to download.