Tidwell letter: Idaho PUC

In America, we rely on the rule of law as the basis in our society and to protect us from political and financial influence. In Idaho, two out of the three Idaho PUC commissioners have received campaign funds in the past from Idaho Power or its PACs. In fact, Idaho Power has been the largest donor to Eric Anderson’s past political campaigns as per the site FollowTheMoney.org. Unfortunately, it seems that the Idaho PUC then votes for whatever Idaho Power Co. wants, against all logic, and just recently, against the wishes of Blaine County, as voted on through its P&Z and upheld by county commissioners. It will cost Idaho ratepayers $12 million to underground a transmission line in Ketchum; $30-plus million project cost in all that won’t provide true redundancy as the lines are side by side, vulnerable to the same fire or ice events. All Idaho citizens should be alarmed that their rates will go up for this boondoggle project. Could it be time that we also look at separating the influence of our monopoly utility company on our Public Utilities Commission?

This story was originally published September 29, 2017 at 4:44 PM with the headline "Tidwell letter: Idaho PUC."