(1)It is hereby determined and declared that:
(a)Industrial, irrigation, commercial and residential consumers in the state of Idaho receive electric service from various investor-owned, cooperative and municipal utilities and the ability of these utilities to provide reliable and economic electric services at stable prices is essential to the economy and the economic development of the state of Idaho and to the health, safety and welfare of its people;
(b)The regional interconnection of electric utilities causes events and conditions in other western states to have a significant impact on the operations of utilities in the state of Idaho and the restructuring of the electric industry in recent years by the federal government and in other states has exposed all utilities in Idaho, and th
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(1) It is hereby determined and declared that:
(a) Industrial, irrigation, commercial and residential consumers in the state of Idaho receive electric service from various investor-owned, cooperative and municipal utilities and the ability of these utilities to provide reliable and economic electric services at stable prices is essential to the economy and the economic development of the state of Idaho and to the health, safety and welfare of its people;
(b) The regional interconnection of electric utilities causes events and conditions in other western states to have a significant impact on the operations of utilities in the state of Idaho and the restructuring of the electric industry in recent years by the federal government and in other states has exposed all utilities in Idaho, and the consumers served by them, to volatile market prices, reliability concerns and other adverse conditions;
(c) It is in the best interest of the state of Idaho and its people that sufficient and reliable electric generation and transmission resources are developed and made available at cost-based rates in order to enable these utilities to meet existing and future demands for electric services, to provide adequate reserves and to promote reliability at the most stable rates practicable;
(d) The electric utility and energy industries are and will continue to be capital-intensive industries and the availability of cost-effective financing to investor-owned, cooperative and municipal utilities will enhance the ability of these utilities to provide and promote economic electric services to consumers in the state;
(e) Coordination, cooperation and joint ventures between and among such utilities with one another and with the private, cooperative, federal, state and municipal utilities and agencies that provide wholesale and retail electric services in the western states will promote regional electric reliability and stability and will provide economies of scale;
(f) It is the intent of the legislature to create the Idaho energy resources authority to promote the development and financing of facilities for the benefit of participating utilities and to accomplish the purposes stated above, and to authorize the authority to exercise all such powers as are necessary to enable it to achieve such purposes and to thereby promote and protect the economy of the state of Idaho and the health, safety and welfare of its people; and
(g) It is in the best interest of the state of Idaho and its people to encourage and promote the development of clean energy resources in order to develop reliable, economic, and long-term sources of energy supply, promote efficiencies in the generation, storage, transmission, and utilization of electric energy, and enhance the long-term stability of the energy resources and requirements of the state.
(2) Nothing contained herein is intended or shall be construed to limit or restrict the authority of the Idaho public utilities commission with respect to the regulation of electric corporations and public utilities pursuant to title 61, Idaho Code.