2-22 FB Ag Bio-Mass

 Idaho Power agreement with biomass project approved. I’m DS…The Idaho Public Utilities Commission has approved an energy sales agreement between Idaho Power Company and the developers of a biomass power project at an Emmett sawmill. The project, called Yellowstone Power, is a biomass-fueled combined heat and power project to be co-located with the recently commissioned Emerald Forest Sawmill, which employs up to 47 workers in Gem County. Power is generated using steam created from the controlled burning of the woody biomass fuel. Idaho Power and Yellowstone Power agreed on a 15-year contract under which the project would generate an average 10 megawatts per month. I asked Idaho Public Utilities Commission spokesperson  Gene Fadness if other bio-mass projects relating to agriculture would be considered: “Our concern is that projects be reliable, that they be cost effective, and if bio-mass fits into that category, then it’s certainly a welcome generation source.” With EPA getting tougher about burning crop residues, with waste bio-mass produced on farms, emerging technologies may produce additional revenue sources to ag producers.