COMMITMENTS:

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

COMMITMENTS

Purchase Obligations

At December 31, 2019, Idaho Power had the following long-term commitments relating to purchases of energy, capacity, transmission rights, and fuel (in thousands of dollars):



	2020		2021		2022		2023		2024		Thereafter
Cogeneration and power production	$	241,835	$	248,481	$	251,964	$	262,735	$	266,061	$	2,739,123
Fuel	55,693		36,069		8,389		8,379		8,371		75,074

As of December 31, 2019, Idaho Power had 1,136 MW nameplate capacity of PURPA-related projects on-line, with an additional 11 MW nameplate capacity of projects projected to be on-line by 2022. The power purchase contracts for these projects have original contract terms ranging from one to 35 years. Idaho Power's expenses associated with PURPA-related projects were approximately $187 million in 2019, $190 million in 2018, and $170 million in 2017.

Also, in March 2019, Idaho Power signed a 20-year power purchase agreement to purchase the output from a planned 120-megawatt solar facility. The agreement was approved by the IPUC in December 2019 and is, as of the date of this report, pending approval by the OPUC. If approved, the agreement would increase contractual obligations by $136 million over the 20-year term.

Idaho Power also has the following long-term commitments (in thousands of dollars):



	2020		2021		2022		2023		2024		Thereafter
Joint-operating agreement payments⁽¹⁾	$	2,678	$	2,678	$	2,678	$	2,678	$	2,678	$	13,391
Easements and other payments	269		1,124		1,072		1,062		1,055		16,408
Maintenance and service agreements⁽¹⁾	47,547		13,797		16,468		7,143		7,354		55,768
FERC and other industry-related fees⁽¹⁾	14,178		13,874		13,056		13,056		13,056		65,278

(1) Approximately $27 million, $48 million, and $131 million of the obligations included in joint-operating agreement payments, maintenance and service agreements, and FERC and other industry-related fees, respectively, have contracts that do not specify terms related to expiration. As these contracts are presumed to continue indefinitely, ten years of information, estimated based on current contract terms, has been included in the table for presentation purposes.

IDACORP’s expense for operating leases was not material for the years ended 2019, 2018, and 2017.

Guarantees

Through a self-bonding mechanism, Idaho Power guarantees its portion of reclamation activities and obligations at BCC, of which IERCo owns a one-third interest. This guarantee, which is renewed annually with the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ), was $58.3 million at December 31, 2019, representing IERCo's one-third share of BCC's total reclamation obligation of $175.0 million. BCC has a reclamation trust fund set aside specifically for the purpose of paying these reclamation costs. At December 31, 2019, the value of the reclamation trust fund was $139.5 million. During 2019, the reclamation trust fund made no distributions for reclamation activity costs associated with the BCC surface mine. BCC periodically assesses the adequacy of the reclamation trust fund and its estimate of future reclamation costs. To ensure that the reclamation trust fund maintains adequate reserves, BCC has the ability to, and does, add a per-ton surcharge to coal sales, all of which are made to the Jim Bridger plant. Because of the existence of the fund and the ability to apply a per-ton surcharge, the estimated fair value of this guarantee is minimal.

In May 2019, the state of Wyoming enacted legislation that limits a mine operator's maximum amount of self-bonding. Idaho Power and the co-owners of BCC have until December 2020 to comply with the new regulations, which would reduce the portion of Idaho Power's guarantee of reclamation activities and obligations at BCC that Idaho Power is allowed to self-bond. As of the date of this report, Idaho Power believes the cost of any insurance, third-party assurance, or additional collateral that might be required for this guarantee due to the new law would be immaterial to the companies' consolidated financial statements.

IDACORP and Idaho Power enter into financial agreements and power purchase and sale agreements that include indemnification provisions relating to various forms of claims or liabilities that may arise from the transactions contemplated by these agreements. Generally, a maximum obligation is not explicitly stated in the indemnification provisions and, therefore, the

overall maximum amount of the obligation under such indemnification provisions cannot be reasonably estimated. IDACORP and Idaho Power periodically evaluate the likelihood of incurring costs under such indemnities based on their historical experience and the evaluation of the specific indemnities. As of December 31, 2019, management believes the likelihood is remote that IDACORP or Idaho Power would be required to perform under such indemnification provisions or otherwise incur any significant losses with respect to such indemnification obligations. Neither IDACORP nor Idaho Power has recorded any liability on their respective consolidated balance sheets with respect to these indemnification obligations.