State touts wind sweet spot, despite bitter debate

[Fledermaus]

BOISE, Idaho -- The state Department of Commerce's glossy business magazine this month gushes "Wind developers find sweet spot in Idaho."

Even Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter weighs in, bragging that Idaho has the "raw materials in abundance, with hydropower, geothermal, wind, solar and biomass."

Yahoo! BuzzOutside the pages of this irrepressibly bubbly PR publication, however, the sweet talk grows more bitter as debate over the industry's future dominates the Capitol.

Idaho Power Co. is fighting a measure to extend a 6 percent sales tax rebate for alternative power developers on grounds that its power systems are being overwhelmed by wind, raising rates for customers. And on Monday, a House committee spent a second day listening to impassioned testimony on a separate measure to cancel all new wind development for the next two years.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/03/21/general-multiutilities-id-xgr-wind-war_8367427.html