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COMMITMENTS:
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments COMMITMENTS
 
Purchase Obligations

At December 31, 2023, Idaho Power had the following long-term commitments relating to purchases of energy, capacity, transmission rights, and fuel (in thousands of dollars):
 20242025202620272028Thereafter
Cogeneration and power production(1)
$324,738 $336,702 $358,113 $371,980 $345,740 $2,999,760 
Fuel155,474 25,672 15,271 15,439 15,507 84,004 
(1) As of December 31, 2023, Idaho Power had a $431 million commitment related to an agreement to utilize the storage capacity of a 150 MW battery storage facility, over a 20-year term, scheduled to be online in June 2025.

As of December 31, 2023, Idaho Power had power purchase obligations with respect to 1,432 MW nameplate capacity of online PURPA and non-PURPA projects, with an additional 428 MW nameplate capacity of projects that are scheduled to be online through 2026. The agreements for these projects have original contract terms ranging from one to 35 years. Idaho Power's purchased power expense associated with long-term agreements (including PURPA) was approximately $258 million in 2023, $238 million in 2022, and $251 million in 2021.

Idaho Power also has the following long-term commitments (in thousands of dollars):
 20242025202620272028Thereafter
Joint-operating agreement payments(1)
$2,834 $2,834 $2,834 $2,834 $2,834 $14,172 
Easements and other payments(1)
2,119 2,163 2,209 2,255 2,302 12,258 
Maintenance, service, and materials agreements(1)(2)
321,776 29,042 11,273 13,386 3,450 41,118 
FERC and other industry-related fees(1)
18,514 17,020 16,830 16,780 15,949 83,032 
(1) Approximately $28 million, $1 million, $20 million, and $166 million of the commitments included in joint-operating agreement payments, easements and other payments, maintenance, service, and materials agreements, and FERC and other industry-related fees, respectively, have contracts that do not specify terms related to expiration. As these contracts are presumed to continue indefinitely, ten years of information, estimated based on current contract terms, has been included in the table for presentation purposes.
(2) As of December 31, 2023, Idaho Power had a remaining $115 million commitment related to four contracts to acquire and own battery storage assets with in-service dates through 2025.

At IDACORP, long-term purchase commitments of $34.7 million are mostly comprised of other long-term liabilities at Ida-West and IFS. At December 31, 2023, IDACORP had a commitment to invest an additional $5.9 million into a private market investment fund, which is expected to occur over the next few years. IDACORP’s expense for operating leases was not material for the years ended 2023, 2022, and 2021.

Acquisition of Additional Interest in Boardman-to-Hemingway Transmission Project

In March 2023, Idaho Power executed a purchase, sale, and security agreement with the BPA to transfer BPA's 24 percent interest in the Boardman-to-Hemingway transmission line project to Idaho Power, bringing Idaho Power's interest in the project to approximately 45 percent. Pursuant to the agreement, Idaho Power has a commitment to provide long-term transmission service to BPA. The agreement also required BPA to make a $10 million security payment to Idaho Power. On Idaho Power's consolidated balance sheet, the agreement increased construction work in progress by $31.4 million for the acquired permitting interest, cash and cash equivalents by $10.0 million for the additional security payment, and other non-current liabilities by $41.4 million for Idaho Power's obligation to pay for the permitting interest and to return the security deposit to BPA. Payments to BPA for the permitting interest are expected to be made over a 15-year period beginning 10 years after energization of the transmission line project, while the security deposit is due to be returned to BPA upon energization.
 
Guarantees
 
Idaho Power guarantees its portion of reclamation activities and obligations at BCC, of which IERCo owns a one-third interest. This guarantee, which is renewed annually with the WDEQ, was $47.6 million at December 31, 2023, representing IERCo's one-third share of BCC's total reclamation obligation of $142.9 million. BCC has a reclamation trust fund set aside specifically for the purpose of paying these reclamation costs. At December 31, 2023, the value of the reclamation trust fund was $253.3 million. During 2023, the reclamation trust fund made $6.0 million of distributions for reclamation activity costs associated with the BCC surface mine. BCC periodically assesses the adequacy of the reclamation trust fund and its estimate of
future reclamation costs. To ensure that the reclamation trust fund maintains adequate reserves, BCC has the ability to, and does, add a per-ton surcharge to coal sales, all of which are made to the Jim Bridger plant. Because of the existence of the fund and the ability to apply a per-ton surcharge, the estimated fair value of this guarantee is minimal.
 
IDACORP and Idaho Power enter into financial agreements and power purchase and sale agreements that include indemnification provisions relating to various forms of claims or liabilities that may arise from the transactions contemplated by these agreements. Generally, a maximum obligation is not explicitly stated in the indemnification provisions and, therefore, the overall maximum amount of the obligation under such indemnification provisions cannot be reasonably estimated. IDACORP and Idaho Power periodically evaluate the likelihood of incurring costs under such indemnities based on their historical experience and the evaluation of the specific indemnities. As of December 31, 2023, management believes the likelihood is remote that IDACORP or Idaho Power would be required to perform under such indemnification provisions or otherwise incur any significant losses with respect to such indemnification obligations. Neither IDACORP nor Idaho Power has recorded any liability on their respective consolidated balance sheets with respect to these indemnification obligations.