Fiscal Fridays: Power Politics — The Lava Ridge and Bitcoin. By Niklas Kleinworth, Idaho Freedom Foundation (12/13/24, video 6 min, includes transcript)

California and Nevada want cheap electricity, and the federal government expects Idaho to provide it.

ED NOTE
The opposition from all corners of Idaho as well as Idaho’s representatives in Washington DC has been deafening since this project was first conceived. But the feds at Bureau of Land Management (BLM) are simply deaf to the clamor. Instead, they insist on literally plowing ahead with this land and power grab.

Kleinworth discusses how Idaho already is a net exporter of energy, even before Lava Ridge. He explains how the Lava Ridge Wind Project would hurt Idaho's future, destroy sage grouse habitat and cattle grazing, potentially strain the grid, and use imperfect battery storage technology that cannot always make power available when needed. He also follows the money of special interests such as Magic Valley Energy, an affiliate of LS Power.

As an alternative, Kleinworth offers an innovative and detailed (but not too lengthy) discussion about how Bitcoin mining could turn Idaho into a tech hub and energy powerhouse while avoiding wasted energy and providing load balancing to the energy grid.

Show notes link to:

• API Dashboard - U.S. Energy Information Administration

• Company proposing Lava Ridge says it will set aside some power for Idaho

• EplanningUi: The Lava Ridge Project

• Transmission Facilitation Program Selections

• SWIP-N Transmission Facilitation Program fact sheet

• U of I Study: Moderate Cattle Grazing Has No Effect on Sage Grouse Nest Success

• Free copy of Pork Report