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.
One Of The World’s Shortest Rivers
Exploration of the Malad area began in the early 1800s when British and American fur trappers competed for territory in southwest Idaho. Many expeditions were led between 1811 and 1843, when the Oregon Trail migration began.
Fur trappers and traders named the Malad River the Riviere Aux Malad, or “sickly river,” after becoming ill from eating beaver trapped on its banks. The illness was attributed to poisonous roots the beaver fed upon.
Just 2.5 miles in length, the Malad River is among the world’s shortest rivers. Its source is the Big Wood and Little Wood rivers that feed the relatively constant discharge of the Malad Springs. The water from these rivers is stored in reservoirs upstream and used almost exclusively for irrigation. Water within the Malad flume is carried to the upper and lower power plants and then flows into the Snake River.
The Beaver River Power Company purchased the Malad Power Company’s rights in 1911. Beaver River Power Company constructed a 5,000-kilowatt powerhouse and wooden gravity flume making it the largest power generator in the Snake River drainage at that time.
The Beaver River Power Company was acquired by the Idaho Power and Light Company in 1913, which then became part of Idaho Power Company when it was founded in 1916. Power has been continuously generated at the Malad site since 1911, and the original stone powerhouse still stands. The present upper and lower power plants were completed in 1948. The annual average combined generation for the Malad Project is 168,733 megawatt hours, enough to power about 13,400 average Idaho homes.