Exhibit 5.1

                                  IDACORP, INC.
                                   P.O. Box 70
                               Boise, Idaho 83707


                                                               ROBERT W. STAHMAN
                                                 Vice President, General Counsel
                                                                   and Secretary








                                  May 17, 2001



IDACORP, Inc.
1221 West Idaho Street
Boise, Idaho  83702-5627

Ladies and Gentlemen:

     I am General Counsel to IDACORP, Inc., an Idaho corporation (the
"Company"), and have acted as such in connection with the preparation and filing
of a Registration Statement on Form S-4, which the Company filed on March 22,
2001 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Act"), as it is proposed
to be amended by Amendment No. 1 thereto, which the Company expects to file on
or shortly after the date hereof (the "Registration Statement").


     The Registration Statement relates to 350,000 shares of the Company's
Common Stock, without par value, (the "Stock"), and the Preferred Share Purchase
Rights attached thereto (the "Rights")(the Stock and the Rights collectively
referred to as the "Shares"), which Shares have been repurchased by the Company
and held as treasury stock, and which Shares will be offered for exchange to
shareholders of RMC Holdings, Inc. pursuant to the Company's Offer to Exchange
Shares of Common Stock of IDACORP, Inc. for up to 3,594,108 Outstanding Shares
of Common Stock of RMC Holdings, Inc. (the "Share Exchange").


     For purposes of this opinion, I have examined originals or copies,
certified or otherwise identified to my satisfaction, of (i) the Acquisition
Agreement by and between IDACORP, Inc. and RMC Holdings, Inc., dated as of
August 1, 2000, as amended; (ii) the Key Shareholders Exchange Agreement among
IDACORP, Inc., Certain Persons Listed on Annex A and RMC Holdings, Inc., dated
as of August 1, 2000, as amended; (iii) the Purchase and Sale



IDACORP, Inc.                                                       May 17, 2001



Agreement by and between RMC Holdings, Inc. and Certain Shareholders of RMC
Holdings, Inc., dated as of August 1, 2000; (iv) the Rights Agreement, dated as
of September 10, 1998 between the Company and The Bank of New York, as Rights
Agent (the "Rights Agreement"); (v) the Articles of Incorporation, as amended,
and Amended Bylaws of the Company, as in effect on the date hereof; (vi)
resolutions adopted by the Board of Directors of the Company relating to the
Share Exchange, the Registration Statement and the Rights Agreement; and (vii)
such other documents, certificates and other records as I have deemed necessary
or appropriate. In such examination I have assumed the genuineness of all
signatures, the authenticity of all documents submitted to me as originals, the
conformity to the original documents of all documents submitted to me as copies
and the authenticity of the originals of such latter documents. As to any facts
material to my opinion, I have, when relevant facts were not independently
established, relied upon the aforesaid agreements, instruments, records,
certificates and documents.

     Based upon the foregoing, and subject to the qualifications herein
expressed, I am of the opinion that the Stock of IDACORP, Inc. deliverable in
connection with the Share Exchange has been legally issued, and is fully paid
and non- assessable and the Rights are legally issued.

     The matters relating to the Shares are governed by the law of the State of
Idaho. In regard to the Rights, I note that Section 30-1610 of the Idaho Control
Share Acquisition Law and Section 30-1706 of the Idaho Business Combination Law
each provides that nothing contained in the Idaho Control Share Acquisition Law
(Sections 30-1601 through 30-1614) or the Idaho Business Combination Law
(Sections 30-1701 through 30-1710), respectively, is intended to limit the
corporate powers or authority of an "issuing public corporation" (as defined in
such statutes), such as the Company, to take actions "which the directors may
appropriately determine to be in furtherance of the protection of the interests
of the corporation and its shareholders, including without limitation the
authority to . . . enter into . . . arrangements", such as the Rights Agreement,
that "deny rights . . . to the holder or holders of at least a specified number
of shares or percentage of share ownership or voting power in certain
circumstances."

     Because I am not aware of any court decision applying the law of the State
of Idaho that addresses the effect of these statutory provisions or the validity
of plans similar to the Rights Agreement, it is difficult to predict how a court
applying the law of the State of Idaho would rule with respect to the

                                       -2-


IDACORP, Inc.                                                       May 17, 2001




issues relating to the Rights. Nevertheless, I am able to advise you of my
conclusion concerning how a court applying the law of the State of Idaho
(including, but not limited to, Section 30- 1610 of the Idaho Control Share
Acquisition Law and Section 30- 1706 of the Idaho Business Combination Law)
likely would rule. I have conferred with LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae, L.L.P.,
counsel to the Company, for purposes of rendering this opinion. LeBoeuf, Lamb,
Greene & MacRae, L.L.P. and I have concluded that a court applying the law of
the State of Idaho, when presented with novel questions concerning takeover
matters, such as the effect of the statutory provisions cited above and the
adoption by the Company of the Rights Agreement, most likely would apply the
corporate law of the State of Delaware, the most fully developed body of
corporate law in the United States. Accordingly, in rendering this opinion, I
have assumed that Delaware corporate law, with which I am familiar, provides an
indication of what standards a court would apply if it were required to apply
the law of the State of Idaho considering the matters relating to the Rights.

     With respect to this opinion, I do not hold myself out as an expert on the
laws of any state other than the State of Idaho. My opinions expressed above are
limited to the laws of the State of Idaho, the General Corporation Law of the
State of Delaware and the applicable provisions of the Constitution of the State
of Delaware and the reported judicial decisions interpreting the Delaware laws,
and the federal laws of the United States.

     I hereby consent to the filing of this opinion as an exhibit to the
Registration Statement and to the references to me under the caption "Legal
Opinions" in said Registration Statement and any amendments thereto, and in the
Prospectus constituting a part thereof.


                                                           Very truly yours,


                                                           /s/ Robert W. Stahman



                                       -3-