Chris Bruce — Representative Chris Bruce is introduced and begins presenting House Bill 897, identifying himself as the representative from District 23 and explaining that the measure is the third iteration of the data center bill that has been worked through previously.
Chris Bruce — Called on to give closing remarks after testimony concluded.
Lori Hartog — She introduces herself as State Senator for District 22 and references prior legislation on data centers.
Vito Barbieri — Representative Vito Barbieri was recognized to question the bill and focused on protecting ratepayers in the context of data centers connecting to the grid. He asked how the bill would prevent ratepayer harm, whether utilities would be reimbursed fully and in time for transmission build-out costs, whether delayed reimbursement could cause temporary rate increases, and whether payments from the data center to the utility would be made as a lump sum or spread over time.
Van Burtenshaw — The transcript says 'Senator Denhardtog'; this appears to refer to Senator Den Hartog, but no matching member is in the provided list. Kept as spoken name variant in text.
Jason Monks — Jason Monks is referenced as the chair during procedural transitions, then he makes the motion to send House Bill 897 to the floor with a due pass recommendation.
Lane Thornton — Lane Thornton introduced himself as a fourth-generation farmer from Kuna, Idaho, speaking on his own behalf. He described his family’s history of developing farmland south of Kuna in the 1960s and said he supports parts of the bill related to water and power. He explained that electricity is a major cost for farms that rely on wells and pivots, and he raised concerns about data center water use, groundwater injection, and whether injected water would remain safe. In response to questions, he confirmed his farm has water rights dating back to the 1960s and said he believed earlier water rights would have priority. The committee then thanked him for his testimony.
Charlie Shepherd — Charlie Shepherd asked the witness about water rights, first raising the issue of pivots and then following up on whether senior water rights could be used to shut off excessive water use through the water-right process.
Courtney Dawson — Courtney Dawson was introduced as the next witness on House Bill 897, then testified on behalf of the Idaho Rural Water Association in support of the bill’s water-protection measures, and concluded by offering to stand for questions.
Bruce Skaug — Said a lot of work had gone into the bill and that it was intended to address previous wrongs in the tax code and look forward.
Bruce Skaug — Was addressed in the question.
Bruce Skaug — Responded that agreements are likely built in up front so costs are known before construction begins.
Bruce Skaug — Said utility cost recovery should be built into agreements up front and that costs should not be pushed onto ratepayers.
Bruce Skaug — Said the utility costs should be verified and assumed agreements would be in place prior to construction.
Bruce Skaug — Said he does not deal with the contracts but assumes payment terms are known during negotiations.
Bruce Skaug — Deferred the question to the sponsor.
Bruce Skaug — Was asked to carry the bill on the floor and agreed to do so.
Jerald Raymond — Representative Raymond questioned the sponsor about TerraVolt’s opposition letter and whether a natural gas self-generation plant, the power plant portion of the data center, and a closed-loop cooling system would be subject to or excluded from the sales tax incentive, then concluded his questions.