FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 21, 2025
Contact:
Rep. David J. Leavitt
Idaho House of Representatives, District 25B
Phone: (208) 358-0203
Email: DLeavitt@house.idaho.govFERC Deficiency Letter Confirms Local Concerns Over SWIP North
The people of the Magic Valley received a much-needed win this week. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has rejected Great Basin Transmission’s application as incomplete and deficient, calling into question the very foundation on which the SWIP North transmission line proposal has been built.
For years, residents have raised concerns that the project was being rushed forward on shaky ground. Great Basin’s application relied heavily on the failed Lava Ridge wind project to justify its need for the line. With Lava Ridge cancelled and a federal moratorium now in place on wind development on public lands, issued earlier this year by President Trump’s executive order, it was always unlikely they could prove the demand was real. Still, Great Basin pressed ahead, presenting their case to local officials as though approval from FERC was a sure thing.
At every step, citizens warned that it was premature, that the facts did not add up, and that our region should not be asked to shoulder the consequences of an uncertain and unstable project. FERC’s ruling validates those concerns.
The order requires Great Basin to return within thirty days with additional information if they want to keep their application alive. Even then, a sixty-day comment period would follow, meaning months of delay. What this means for the people of the Magic Valley is simple: the special use permit requests before local government are incomplete, inadequate, and should be halted until FERC has actually approved something substantive. Citizens stood before planning and zoning officials and made this argument in good faith. That process is now moving forward to an appeal of the Special Use Permit scheduled for September 22, and those citizens deserve to be heard with the weight of FERC’s ruling behind them.
This win belongs first and foremost to the engaged citizens who refused to be ignored. Dean Dimond, Friends of Minidoka, and so many others gave countless hours to research, testimony, and organizing efforts that kept pressure on at every stage. Neighbors, farmers, ranchers, and landowners stepped up to make sure their voices were heard.
I have been honored to stand with them, adding my voice where I could as a legislator and formally placing concerns on the record before regulators. While the Idaho Public Utilities Commission has not yet acted on requests for greater public input, the fact remains that FERC has now validated the very concerns our community has been raising for months.
Victories like this are worth celebrating, not because they mark the end of a struggle, but because they prove that persistence pays off and the truth still matters. Great Basin will no doubt regroup and try again, but they can no longer claim inevitability. They have been forced to admit their case is weak, and that gives our community the time and leverage to continue pushing back.
I will continue to fight for the citizens of the Magic Valley, just as so many of you continue to fight alongside me. Together, we have shown that the people of Idaho still have the power to stand against outside interests, and together, we will keep defending the place we call home.
Representative David J. Leavitt
District 25, Seat B
Idaho House of Representatives
P.O. Box 83720
Boise, ID 83720-0038
Statehouse (208) 332-1182 (Session Only)
Cell (208) 358-0203Committees:
Agricultural Affairs
