The state Office of Energy Resources, Idaho Power and Amalgamated Sugar Co. plan to study a facility that could simultaneously generate electricity for Idaho Power and steam for sugar beet processing, officials announced today.

The three entities have agreed to jointly conduct a feasibility study on the potential benefits of a natural gas-fired combined heat and power facility at Amalgamated's Nampa plant.

Officials believe the steam requirement for Amalgamated's sugar beet processing is sufficient to support a 100-megawatt power facility, enough power to meet the electricity needs of nearly 58,000 homes.

Other potential benefits of the proposed project include:

• An approximately 45-percent increase in source energy use efficiency
• Retirement of an existing coal-fired combined heat and power system
• Reduction of environmental impacts, including emissions in the Treasure Valley airshed
• Decreased costs for transmission facilities
• One-hundred-megawatt load reduction on the existing transmission system
• Improvement of Idaho's energy resources portfolio