The way out of Idaho’s energy shortage is clear: Build, baby, build | Opinion

Idaho’s electricity demand is growing faster than ever, and we’re not ready.

Idaho Power projects that demand growth over the next five years will equal all growth the state experienced in the previous 40 years combined. To meet this mindboggling need, we must enable an extraordinary buildout of new energy, fast. If we want to keep pace with our growing population and maintain our economic prosperity, we need to build much more energy generation. The quickest and cheapest means of getting new generation online is renewable energy.

The greatest challenge we face is how quickly we can add new energy to the grid. Every year we fall short of meeting new demand, Idaho risks losing out on between $84 million and $168 million in economic growth, according to Renewable Northwest, a regional energy advocacy organization. These losses look like new businesses struggling to start. They mean increased difficulty for existing businesses to scale, preventing them from hiring more Idahoans and losing young people to better job markets outside of Idaho.

Moving with urgency is essential, and this is where wind and solar energy are Idaho’s significantly best options. Once approved, wind and solar farms can be built in as little as two years. Natural gas takes at least five years. Nuclear energy takes a decade, or more. Geothermal? It’s not been done anywhere in the world at the scale Idaho demands. Keeping the good times rolling requires more wind and solar energy.

Thankfully, wind and solar are also less expensive sources of energy than natural gas, nuclear, and geothermal – even without subsidies. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reports that wind and solar accounted for 96% of new electricity generating capacity added in the first third of 2025 across the country and projects that renewable energy generation capacity will overtake natural gas by 2029. This happens because renewables are the most scalable and affordable means to meet rapidly growing energy demand.

This is as true in Idaho as it is anywhere in the country, especially when wind and solar are bolstered with battery storage that is rapidly becoming cheaper and safer. Perhaps the best news is that Idaho has great wind and solar potential that we can tap into immediately, no new pipelines required.

We can’t afford to wait. The only way to meet our energy needs without sacrificing growth is to build more wind and solar, now. Future generations deserve it, and today’s Idahoans need it.

Aaron Menenberg is the Boise-based Idaho Policy Manager for Renewable Northwest, a member-based regional advocacy organization dedicated to strengthening and expanding clean energy infrastructure in the Pacific Northwest to support economic growth, grid reliability and resilience, and decarbonization.