The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has signed off on a neutered version of the Lava Ridge Wind project northeast of Twin Falls, Idaho that reduces the area it disturbs area by half and decreases the height and quantity of its turbines, but state legislators remain hellbent on stymying its construction.

On Friday, BLM approved a plan for Magic Valley Energy’s Lava Ridge that drops its amount of proposed turbines from 400 to 241; 231 on BLM-managed lands and 10 on property owned by the state. The plan also imposes a maximum height limit of 660 feet for the turbines, which BLM asserts is consistent with public and community feedback regarding the protection of sensitive natural and cultural resources- namely the nearby Minidoka National Historic Site, where Japanese Americans were incarcerated during WWII. Under the approved plan, Lava Ridge’s closest turbine would be nine miles away.

“The Department recognizes the deep history and significance of this landscape and appreciates the tremendous collaborative effort that went into minimizing the project’s impact on both the visual character of the area and the physical environment,” said principal deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals management, Dr. Steve Feldgus.

The BLM expects the wind turbines and related infrastructure to disturb 992 acres within a 38,535-acre area of BLM-managed public lands in Jerome, Lincoln, and Minidoka counties. Even in its scaled-down form, Lava Ridge would be the largest wind generation project in the state, providing power for up to 500,000 homes.

“The BLM spent hundreds of hours in the field and in conference rooms talking with Native American leaders, Japanese American community members, cooperating agencies, ranchers, and a broad range of people with deep ties to the Magic Valley, who all helped shape the proposal,” explained BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning. “Those discussions led to a final decision that balances clean energy development that the country needs and the protection of resources that are vital to the natural and cultural history of the West.”   

As part of the process, the BLM responded to a nomination for protection of the landscape’s importance to the Minidoka National Historic Site by enacting interim measures to limit additional development and protect cultural resources found in the former Minidoka War Relocation Center on approximately 15,000 acres of public lands. The interim measures will stay in place until the area is further considered for designation as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern during a formal planning process. The BLM’s record of decision also reduces potential impacts to sage grouse, large wildlife migration routes and winter concentration areas, cultural resources, Jerome County Airport and agricultural aviation uses, public land ranchers, and adjacent private landowners.

The project, proposed by Magic Valley Energy, an affiliate of LS Power, would create up to 700 jobs during its three-year construction and 20 permanent jobs once it becomes operational. The project’s construction would generate an estimated $21.9 million in annual tax revenue and contribute $138.9 million in total economic output to local and regional economies. Once in operation, the labor, materials, and taxes are estimated to have a minimum economic output of $7.5 million annually, per BLM.

A slap in the face?

When BLM issued a final environmental impact statement on Lava Ridge Wind this summer, Idaho legislators vowed to continue their fight against the project; Congressman Mike Sampson (R-ID) called it “a slap in the face to Idahoans,” citing “widespread opposition at the local, state, and federal levels.”

Senator Jim Risch (R-ID) has long maintained that Lava Ridge is “ill-begotten,” “unwanted,” and “unnecessary.” Risch was among the first to condemn BLM’s decision in June, and he was equally quick to fire both barrels against BLM’s final approval, spending part of his weekend voicing his disdain in the studio of Boise television station KTVB.

“I made the promise that this wasn’t going to be built, and this promise is going to be a lot easier to keep with Donald Trump having been elected,” Risch told the NBC affiliate. 

Risch believes Trump, who is notoriously opposed to wind power (particularly the offshore variety), will sign an executive order once he returns to office to put a stop to Lava Ridge’s development.

Attorney General Raul Labrador joined the chorus.

“Idaho has spoken very clearly in opposition to this project,” he said in a statement. “The Lava Ridge project is a jewel in the Biden Administration’s Green New Deal crown and the Administration is moving ahead regardless of the damage to Idaho farms, ranches, rural communities, agricultural aviation, water supplies, wildlife, and historical sites. We will keep fighting this attempt to blatantly ignore the voice of Idahoans.”

Little, Risch, and other legislators previously communicated their concerns with the proposal in a letter to the BLM Idaho State Director last year.

Although the aforementioned elected officials seem steadfast in their hostility toward certain renewable energy projects, attitudes surrounding clean tech are clearly shifting in Idaho.

In October, for the first time, the Idaho State Board of Land Commissioners voted to approve a lease for a solar farm on state-owned property. The board agreed to lease more than 11,000 acres of state endowment land to a PacifiCorp wind and solar project in southeast Idaho, near Idaho Falls in Bingham County. Dubbed Arco Wind and Solar, the clean energy farm will be mostly constructed on private land, particularly the wind portion. The entire project spans more than 32,000 acres in Bingham and Fremont counties.

NorthRenew Energy sold Arco Wind and Solar to PacifiCorp in February. Once finished, it will have more than 300 MW of combined wind, solar, and storage nameplate capacity. PacifiCorp is targeting late 2026 for commercial operations; construction on the land being used for solar is already underway.