1. Executive order detail

Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Jan. 24 signed an executive order that he said intends to streamline state permitting of energy and other large-scale projects.

Executive Order 2025-02, the Strategic Permitting, Efficiency and Economic Development (SPEED) Act, aims to better coordinate state permitting on big projects that promote energy independence, support national security and help drive the state’s economy, according to the governor’s office.

Examples include electricity generation and transmission, mining, data center, fabrication and water projects.

The state “leads the nation in streamlining regulations and promoting good government, but there is always more we can do to improve,” Little said in a news release. With President Donald Trump back in office, “there is a renewed focus on efficiency in government at the federal level. In that same spirit, here in Idaho we are going to take even more steps to make sure state government does not get in the way of projects that support our economy.”

The governor’s order starkly contrasts with the extensive public process that prompted Trump, on his first day in office, to halt the large Lava Ridge wind project that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management had approved in the state’s south-central region, said Dean Dimond, who farms east of Jerome. Little was among state and local leaders who opposed Lava Ridge.

Dimond opposes Little’s order for reasons including that it is “creating more government to create less government,” the legislature should weigh in if such a law is really needed, and “you don’t necessarily want to fast-track projects,” he said. “You want to make sure they’re done right.”

The order says a transparent, streamlined regulatory process is “critical to improving the efficiency of permitting and approval timelines.”

It is “essential to improve the collaboration between government agencies, project proponents, stakeholders and communities to achieve transparent, effective and well-informed decisions that balance growth with environmental and safety considerations.”

The order creates the SPEED Council of seven state agency directors. Governor’s Office of Energy and Mineral Resources Director Richard Stover will chair the council and Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke will advise it.

The budget that Little proposed to the 2025 legislature includes funding for the council.

“We want state government to work as hard as the people we serve,” Bedke said in the release. He applauded the governor for “taking this next logical step and keeping our foot on the gas when it comes to removing barriers to make Idaho an even better place to live.”

While it is possible that the council immediately identifies a big issue with a proposed project, “I don’t think that would happen,” said Dimond, a member of the Stop Lava Ridge group.

Identification of project impacts and issues is best done by a diverse group of many stakeholders representing various interests and jurisdictions, he said. “How are you going to do that on a state board? There is no way a board is going to have that kind of diversity.”