http://www.monsanto.com/whoweare/Pages/about-mining-operations.aspx

http://www.capitalpress.com/content/dw-power-hike-010711

Rate increases might begin to be a fact of life for Idaho, the stories suggest:

“The steepest rate increases — 9.6 percent and 9.4 percent — will be paid by Monsanto and Agrium Inc., both of which operate phosphate mining operations near Soda Springs.”

“If fertilizer prices increase as a result, farmers will feel the pinch, Thompson said.”

“Rocky Mountain Power had originally sought rate increases of nearly 20 percent for the phosphate operations.”

“Monsanto’s elemental phosphorus plant at Soda Springs is Rocky Mountain Power’s largest customer.”

“It consumes an average of about 1.4 million megawatts of electricity at an annual cost of more than $42 million, company representatives said in written filings with the utility commission.”

“The plant’s power demand is about the same as residential power demand in Kansas City.”

Wow.

http://www.idahofallsidaho.gov/wwwroot/userfiles/files/ifp/ifp_history_correction.pdf

This link will take you to the Web site of the City of Idaho Falls where citizens enjoy service from a municipal electric utility.

This historical account is just fascinating because it confirms what Gerassi wrote about Idaho Power’s historic opposition to BPA power.

On page 12 of this 26-page PDF history, one reads the following:

“Not everyone was happy with BPA’s encroachment into the southern half of the state. T. E. Roach, Idaho Power’s president in Boise, termed it ‘a bold, arrogant pressure play by the vindictive public power group…’ (Tollefson 1987). For Idaho Falls, which almost immediately signed an agreement with BPA, the entry of the Portland-based utility into the southern Idaho marketplace seemed a godsend.”

If you read this history of the Idaho Falls municipal power utility, you will also learn that the creator of the system was Joseph A. Clark who was elected as mayor of Idaho Falls in 1900.

Clark was the father of Barzilla Clark.

Barzilla Clark would later also be elected as mayor of Idaho Falls and ultimately would be elected as governor of Idaho in 1937.

And, of course, Barzilla Clark’s younger brother, Chase Addison Clark, would also be elected governor of Idaho in 1941.

Chase Addison Clark was the father-in-law of Idaho Senator Frank Church (D-Idaho).

http://www.idahofallsidaho.gov/city/city-departments/idaho-falls-power/about-us.html

Power is a fascinating topic. Whenever I get spare time, I read about it.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204774604576628981208827422.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories

The figures in the Gerassi table were said to be “monthly bills for residential consumption of 500 kilowatt-hours.”

Kind of makes one nostalgic to see monthly bills that low!

http://retirementliving.com/RLtaxes.html

Gerassi – who now holds a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and Political Science—also noted the following:

“Idaho Power Company is not an Idahoan company. It is owned mostly by Middle Atlantic and New England companies—70 percent of the common stock. Only 6 percent of the stock is held by people or firms in the Idaho area. It is a very profitable company, having paid out $6,700,000 in dividends in 1964. It has no interest in providing Idahoans with cheaper service. In fact, its rates are higher than its neighboring equivalents.”

Gerassi then provided the following table:

Idaho Power: $8.60 in 1938 — $9.95 in 1963
Percent change: +15.7

Pacific Power & Light: $8.07 in 1938 — $6.40 in 1963
Percent change: -20.7

Portland General Electric: $8.07 in 1938 — $6.40 in 1963
Percent change: -20.7

Puget Sound Power & Light: $7.95 in 1938 — $6.79 in 1963
Percent change: -14.6

Washington Water Power: $9.15 in 1938 — $7.05 in 1963
Percent change: -23

It would be interesting to verify the information in Gerassi’s table.

In more recent times, we constantly hear that power costs in Idaho are less expensive than power costs in other states.

Or are they?

It depends.

While it’s true that residents in Pacific Coast states such as California, Oregon and Washington in recent times appear to bear significantly higher average monthly electricity bills than do residents in Idaho, I was rather surprised when I decided to do a quick check of the monthly bill comparison table now being published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration here:

http://205.254.135.24/cneaf/electricity/esr/table5.html

This table suggests that residents of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico pay *lower* average monthly residential power bills:

Idaho: $76.01
Wyoming: $73.56 (3.2% less )
Colorado: $68.80 (9.5% less)
Utah: $65.36 (14% less )
New Mexico: $63.24 (16.8% less)

Please check the table here…
http://205.254.135.24/cneaf/electricity/esr/table5.html

…to verify the figures I just typed.

Assuming I’ve got the correct figures, what would explain this?

Granted, the table suggests that significantly lower consumption in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico helps to explain the lower average monthly power bills.

But why?

Are residents in those states living in more green, energy-efficient dwellings?

In addition, Idahoans face new potential rate hikes.

If and when those rate hikes are approved, how will they change Idaho’s comparison to other Rocky Mountain states, in terms of average residential monthly bills?

The monthly bills are certainly higher in U.S. coastal states, but average wages in those coastal states are often significantly higher than average wages in Rocky Mountain states such as Idaho.

Also, the U.S. Energy Information Web site indicates a new table with fresher figures will be available next month. It will be interesting to see what changes have taken place.

Best I can figure out, we may build this concept, but the bottom line will be gigantic and the end user will not have the money to buy the end product. However, that’s not what matters to those planning and building the project. They know they can count on government to pry the money from taxpayers. The planners and builders just live for the quick money. Long-term viability is not important to them. This disconnect is what is wrong with the country. It’s a very simple business and political ethics issue.

Many decades ago, a project like this would happen in just a couple of years and have an affordable end product. Our hydropower system is a great example of that. China has taken over the lead in world manufacturing power, or will be soon, because they build things like this with efficiency for an affordable end result. China, like Japan before them, learned from us. (Although neither served their average citizen as well as we did.) We have forgotten what holds the roof up, and no longer focus on maintaining that basic structure for the people in the middle. The people in the middle are just there to be squeezed.

PS: Nice house for sale, cheap! Need to move someplace without so many taxing districts.

http://www.midamerican.com/aboutus2.aspx

And, finally, MidAmerican Energy Holdings in Des Moines, Iowa is a holding company controlled by Berkshire Hathaway and Mr. Warren Buffett:

http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/subs/sublinks.html