Welcome to Idaho Power’s Powercache Challenge!
All of our powercaches are located on Idaho Power land, so feel free to explore while you’re here. We ask only that you leave these sites as you find them, with no trace of your visit, so others can share the fun and excitement of discovery.
To learn more about the Idaho Powercache Challenge, visit idahopower.com/geocache, where you'll find detailed instructions on how to download your individual passport and place electronic stamps from the caches you find in your Idaho Powercache Passport. Each powercache site contains a unique code to unlock access for an electronic passport stamp.
Find each powercache, collect the 12 stamps, solve the word challenge phrase and collect your prize!
How Much Do You Know About Clean, Renewable Hydropower?
Did you realize?
- In the Pacific Northwest, the force of falling water takes an unpredictable resource – rainfall and snowpack – and turns it into a reliable source of electricity called hydropower.
- Each year the hydrologic cycle brings water to our rivers and more than 370 hydroelectric projects nationwide. They generate more than 30,000 megawatts of electricity, enough to meet the annual power needs of millions of homes.
- Idaho, Oregon and Washington are three of the five states with the lowest carbon dioxide emission rates, making our carbon footprint among the smallest in the country.
- Living in this region means you pay, on average, 20 percent less for electricity than the rest of the nation.
- Hydropower produces about two-thirds of the Pacific Northwest’s electricity every year.
- Hydroelectric power plants do not use up limited non-renewable resources to make electricity.
- They do not cause pollution of air, land or water.
- They have low failure rates, low operating costs and are reliable.
- Reservoirs have scenic and recreation value for campers, anglers and water sports enthusiasts.
- The water is a home for fish and wildlife as well.
- Dams add to domestic water supplies, control water quality, provide irrigation for agriculture, and prevent flooding.
Idaho Power’s Hydroelectric System
At Idaho Power we work hard every day to bring energy to your door. We do it safely and proudly by planning for the future, caring for the environment, today and every day.
The bulk of our power generating ability comes from our 17 hydroelectric power plants along the Snake River and its tributaries. We are proud to be one of the nation’s few investor-owned utilities with a significant hydroelectric generating base.
Our nearly 100-year history is based on using clean, renewable generation resources like our hydroelectric plants that have little if any greenhouse gas emissions. To this end, we promote energy efficiency and encourage our customers to make wise and efficient use of all resources, including electricity.
Harnessing The River’s Bend
Oxbow takes its name from a three-mile bend in the Snake River. Named for the oxbow-like bend in the Snake River, made when the river carved its way around an erosion-resistant mass of rock. Located 13 miles downstream of Brownlee Dam, Oxbow is one of the world’s most unusual dam sites. Water flows through a mountain into two tunnels each 42 feet in diameter and 900 feet long.
Completed in 1961, it was the second of three dams in the Hells Canyon Complex. Oxbow Power Plant averages about 1,051,000 megawatt-hours per year – enough electricity to power 83,412 homes.
The nearby town of Copperfield was known as the Bad Boy of the West. Established in 1908 without laws or a jail, it owes its birth to the men who came to work copper mines. The city grew quickly due to the arrival of railroad workers and construction crews of the Idaho-Oregon Power and Light Company, which in 1916 became part of Idaho Power Company’s hydroelectric system.
The town was built to indulge the unlimited vices of 2,000 construction hands. Bootleg whiskey came from the stills hidden in gulches, and gambling was rampant. Copperfield developed a scandalous reputation as a rough and wild town. Oregon Gov. Oswald West described it as “Gomorrah on the Snake.”