Idaho: data centers & your electric bill
As of October 1, 2026, AI GridWatch tracks 3 data center moratoriums or pushback actions in Idaho: 2 in force, 1 proposed. The state has 12 tracked data center facilities using an estimated 0.2 TWh of electricity a year.
Everything GridWatch tracks in Idaho on one page — proposed projects, moratoriums, permits, officials, and the 2026 ballot.
Subscribe by RSS — moratorium changes and community headlines for Idaho.
As of July 2026 (3m ago) · changes over months · Source: U.S. Data Center Power Map by State — ElectricChoice.com compilation (updated July 2026; CC-BY 4.0). Underlying load research: LBNL 2024 US Data Center Energy Usage Report; rates: EIA
Facility counts vary by directory because each one draws the boundary differently — DataCenterMap lists 44 in Alabama where this table says 35, since it counts small network rooms alongside hyperscale campuses. Cite the TWh figure rather than the facility count when you can; it is the number that speaks to grid impact. Underlying load research is LBNL-2001637 (Dec 2024).
1Proposed data centers in Idaho (1)
0 still live · 1 decided or withdrawn. Each name links to the full dossier — ownership, intelligence log, and where to read the paper trail.
2Pushback already happening in Idaho
| Where | Level | Status | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kootenai County | County | Enactedno end date — permanent | ORA 25-0007: prohibits data centers in the Commercial zone; allows in Light Industrial and Industrial only with conditional use permit; bans data centers over the aquifer. Replaced a 183-day emergency moratorium (Mar 2, 2025). Commissioners directed staff to draft an outright ban in unincorporated areas | SourceNews read 2026-09-07 |
| Bannock County | County | Enactedexpires 2027-01-26 | 180-day emergency moratorium on accepting or processing new data center permit applications in unincorporated county; does not affect Pocatello city limits; county to draft standalone data center ordinance addressing water, energy and land-use impacts | SourceNews read 2026-09-07 |
| Sandpoint | Local | Proposedterm not documented | City Council voted unanimously to direct staff to propose a data center definition for a future ordinance banning them within city limits; currently a permitted use in the Industrial Park District | SourceNews read 2026-09-07 |
As of August 2026 (2m ago) · changes weekly — re-check before citing
Illustrative rather than exhaustive — dozens of localities churn weekly, and this tracks the ones we have read a source for. **Each row carries its own provenance.** Rows showing a verification date link to the ordinance, the enacting body's own page, or a datable report of the vote, and were read on that date. Rows marked *unverified* came from bulk compilation and have not been checked against a primary source — the locality, the year, and the status may all be off. Verify one of those with the town clerk before citing it as precedent. **Expiry is derived, not asserted.** A row with a documented end date flips to *Expired* on its own once that date passes. A time-limited moratorium whose start date was never documented keeps showing as enacted — that is a known gap, not a claim that it is still in force. Moratoriums are also routinely extended, so an expiry date is the earliest it could have ended, not proof that it did.
3Known data center campuses in Idaho
| Operator | Location | Tenant | Filing LLC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta | Kuna | Meta | Codename shells: Greater Kudu, Raven Northbrook, Stadion, Wobniar, Pinnacle Mountain |
⏳ No verification date recorded · changes over months · Source: Operator ownership & filing-LLC naming patterns — compiled from operator releases and county filings, then checked against SEC EDGAR full-text search. Composite, not a single citation: look the entity up yourself before naming it in a filing
Each row carries its own attribution level — first-party rows come from the operator's own site, but colocation and REIT ownership was compiled from trade press and never passed an independent fact-check. Check the attribution column before citing a row.
4Every data center already built in Idaho
The campuses above are the ones GridWatch tracks by operator and filing LLC. For the full inventory — street addresses of every existing facility, including the smaller colocation and network sites — DataCenterMap keeps a public directory for Idaho.
Two caveats before you cite it at a hearing: it lists facilities that already exist, so a newly proposed campus will not appear; and it counts a small network room the same as a hyperscale campus, so the facility count is not a measure of power draw or community impact.
5Your regulator
Idaho Public Utilities Commission — website · file a complaint
Official state energy data: EIA Idaho electricity profile — generation, prices, and consumption from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
6Where the Idaho paper trail lives
Air & environmental permits: Idaho DEQ — Air Quality
No searchable register. Idaho does not publish a permit database you can query. A public-records request to the agency is the only route to the file.
No organised market. There is no interconnection queue to read here; the utility's own resource plan and the PUC docket are the record.
These are places to look, not evidence that anything has been filed. Links were checked on 2026-08-21; search links are queries, not records.
7Your federal delegation and governor
Grades cross party — this is an issue axis, not a partisan one. A blank grade means no documented action was located, never that the official is neutral.
| Grade | Official | Documented action (sourced) | Reach them |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | Brad Little Republican · Governor | No documented action on data centers located | site · contact |
| — | James E. Risch Republican · Senator · on the 2026 ballot | No documented action on data centers located Accelerate Risch welcomed Meta's Kuna data center in 2022 as a source of jobs and in 2026 co-introduced the ARC Act, a nuclear cost-overrun program his office promotes as answering data-center-driven power demand. sources | site · contact |
| — | Mike Crapo Republican · Senator · next on the ballot 2028 | No documented action on data centers located Accelerate Crapo issued a statement welcoming Meta's Kuna, Idaho data center as a step for job growth when it was announced in 2022. sources | site · contact |
| — | Russ Fulcher Republican · Representative 1 | No documented action on data centers located | site · contact |
| — | Michael K. Simpson Republican · Representative 2 | No documented action on data centers located | site · contact |
Roster: regenerated by scripts/refresh_officials.py (Senate XML + congress-legislators + current governors).
Write to your senators → Your senators in detail → Full officials scorecard → Find your state legislators →
82026 U.S. Senate race
PVI R+18 · Seat held by Jim Risch (Republican) · Incumbent renominated
Jim Risch (Republican) · incumbent No record found
No documented statement or action on data centers located. Not scored — see how this page treats silence.
Matt Loesby (Libertarian) No record found
No documented statement or action on data centers located. Not scored — see how this page treats silence.
Natalie Fleming (Independent) No record found
No documented statement or action on data centers located. Not scored — see how this page treats silence.
Todd Achilles (Independent) No record found
No documented statement or action on data centers located. Not scored — see how this page treats silence.
Ballot roster: state candidate list (read 2026-08-25).
92026 U.S. House races in Idaho (2)
A documented data-center record exists in 2 of 2 districts. A candidate with no badge colour has said nothing we could locate — that is a gap in the record, not a neutral position. ★ marks an incumbent.
| District | PVI | Incumbent | Candidates |
|---|---|---|---|
| ID-1 | R+22 | Russ Fulcher | Russ Fulcher ★ Kaylee Peterson Brendan Gomez Sarah Zabel |
| ID-2 | R+13 | Mike Simpson | Mike Simpson ★ Ellie Gilbreath Carta Sierra Emre Houser Tripp Hutchinson Will Johanson |
The documented records (2 districts)
ID-1
Russ Fulcher (Republican) · incumbent Consensus vote only
On the record only for voting yes on H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act (417-3). No other data-center record located yet.
- Voted yes on H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act, which passed 417-3 (roll call 312). It directs state utility commissions to consider rate designs making data centers with 100 MW or more of peak demand at one site pay the full incremental cost of the generation and grid upgrades they require. A near-unanimous vote: shown on the record, not scored on its own. (2026-09-16 — source)
Record read 2026-09-22.
ID-2
Mike Simpson (Republican) · incumbent Consensus vote only
On the record only for voting yes on H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act (417-3). No other data-center record located yet.
- Voted yes on H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act, which passed 417-3 (roll call 312). It directs state utility commissions to consider rate designs making data centers with 100 MW or more of peak demand at one site pay the full incremental cost of the generation and grid upgrades they require. A near-unanimous vote: shown on the record, not scored on its own. (2026-09-16 — source)
Record read 2026-09-22.
10Latest Idaho data center news
No Idaho data-center headlines in this week's national scan — local coverage often runs ahead of it.
A data center was proposed near you?
The free toolkit walks you through it in five steps: who's really behind the LLC, what it costs your community, what to do this week, and a downloadable action pack — speech, letters, flyer, and CBA targets included.
State municipal league: Association of Idaho Cities