The 105 members of the Idaho State Legislature concluded the state’s 68th legislative session on Friday April 4, 2025. Over 1,378 bills were prepared for legislators this year – the highest number in the past 30 years – and after 89 days in session, Governor Brad Little signed 337 bills into law.

While relatively few bills dealt with clean energy, the Clean Energy Transition Institute (CETI) tracked those that did. The Idaho Legislature has not always been friendly to clean energy, and this session was no exception with advocates mostly playing defense against bills that sought to hinder clean energy development. However, most of the potentially deleterious bills did not ultimately make it to the Governor’s desk. Here are some highlights of what passed and what failed:

What Passed

• HB 86 – Amends the Idaho Building Code Act to prohibit laws by the state, counties, or cities that require Electrical Vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure – including EV charging stations, designated EV parking spaces, and upgraded electrical conduits – when new homes, buildings, or parking lots are constructed.
• HB 146 – Requires light-mitigating technology to be installed on wind energy conversion systems for them to be more visible to aircraft. Any wind project must apply to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for approval to install a light mitigation system prior to commercial operation. Installation on new wind energy projects must be completed within two years of application approval, while already developed projects have five years to retrofit wind turbines with such systems upon FAA approval.
• SB 1133 - Amends the Agricultural Protection Area (APA) Act to prohibit non-agricultural land uses, including wind and solar infrastructure, on lands that counties designate as APAs unless they contribute to agricultural production.
• SB 1183 – Establishes the Wildfire Standard of Care Act, which aims to create a framework for utilities to develop and implement wildfire mitigation plans and provides limitations on the civil liability electric utilities face for wildfire damage if they have reasonably implemented an approved wildfire mitigation plan.
• House Joint Memorial 2 – Urges the federal government to pursue robust National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reform to enable quicker approval processes for modern energy infrastructure.

The Legislature also passed a joint memorial and a concurrent resolution related to the Lava Ridge Wind Energy Project, a proposal by Magic Valley Energy to construct, operate, and maintain more than 200 wind turbines and associated infrastructure on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land in Southern Idaho that has been the source of much controversy.

The BLM approved the project in December 2024. However, on Inauguration Day one month later, President Trump signed an executive order that halted the development of Lava Ridge until the U.S. Secretary of the Interior reviews the BLM’s record of decision and conducts a new impact assessment analysis.

The Idaho Legislature broadly supported this order and in 2025 passed the following:

• House Joint Memorial 5 – Expresses the Legislature’s opposition to the Lava Ridge Wind Energy Project, siting concerns regarding potential negative impacts to communities, wildlife, and the environment. It emphasizes that the energy produced would not benefit Idaho but would be shipped over state lines and ultimately calls on the federal government to permanently prohibit the Lava Ridge project.
• House Concurrent Resolution R8 – Further expresses the Legislature’s concern with and opposition to the Lava Ridge Wind Energy Project. It calls on the Governor and Attorney General to keep Lava Ridge from proceeding and, if it does proceed, asks state agencies to engage local governments and communities in public forums.

What Failed

• HB 167 – Would have amended existing law to provide criteria for when eminent domain can be used for electric distribution and transmission lines.
• HB 317 – Would have added to existing law to establish an excise tax on commercial wind turbines.
• HB 348 – Would have required conditional use permits for construction of all energy facilities.
• HB 387 – Would have added to existing law to provide a decommissioning bond for wind turbines within the State of Idaho.
• HB 395 – Would have added to existing law to provide for competitive procurement of electric services and electric ratepayer protection.
• HB 415 – Would have added to existing law to provide restrictions on ownership of energy infrastructure in Idaho.

Taxes and the Budget

At the end of the day, the big news coming out of Idaho’s 2025 legislative session was the over $400 million in tax cuts passed by lawmakers, which impacts the funding available for government agencies and programs.

Among other reductions, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC) denied a $481,000 request from Governor Little that would have created a council to make the review of permits for large-scale projects, like transmission lines, more efficient. JFAC also refused $24.6 million in federal grant money that would have provided rebates to Idaho residents to improve their home energy efficiency.

Learn more about Idaho’s 2025 budget allocations here.

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For a recap of what climate and clean energy bills passed in other Northwest legislative sessions in 2025, check out our overviews of Montana and Washington. The Oregon legislative session will conclude at the end of June and a recap of that session will be available soon after. If you want to receive updates from CETI straight to your inbox, subscribe here.