Local utilities marked to share $3.5M

Local projects were among eight selected by the Idaho Governor’s Office of Energy and Mineral Resources to receive a total of $3.5 million through OEMR’s Wildfire Resilience Investment Program.

WRIP is a state-funded initiative for electric utility projects to monitor, mitigate and mobilize against wildfires. Beginning in early 2026, the funded projects will wrap up in late 2027 and include the following utilities: 

• Kootenai Electric Cooperative: Install modernized, customizable distribution reclosers for more effective grid control, monitoring and wildfire response in Kootenai County. 

• Inland Power and Light Company: Install weather stations to monitor wildfire conditions and reduce fuel loads in Bonner County. 

• Northern Lights, Inc.: Install weather and line monitors to create a daily situational awareness tool to monitor wildfire conditions, and conduct drone vegetation analysis for fuel reduction efforts in Kootenai, Bonner and Boundary counties. 

• Lost River Electric Cooperative: Install fire-resistant mesh wrap and avian deterrence devices on power poles, and reduce fuel load in Butte and Custer Counties. 

• Clearwater Power Company: Install fire-resistant mesh wrap on 2,150 wooden poles in Clearwater, Latah, and Nez Perce counties. 

• Idaho County Light and Power Company: Expand the utility right-of-way and reduce vegetation in Lewis and Idaho counties. 

• Idaho Power Company: Underground power lines within and near Ponderosa State Park in Valley County. 

• PacifiCorp/Rocky Mountain Power: Upgrade substation grid monitoring and controls for more effective wildfire response in Madison County. 

WRIP is the latest iteration of OEMR’s Energy Resiliency Grant Program. Since 2022, the Energy Resiliency Grant Program has leveraged $39.5 million in private, state, and federal funds to strengthen Idaho’s grid against disruptive events, such as wildfires, severe storms, and vegetation encroachment.