An F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft assigned to the 366th Fighter Wing sits on the flightline at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho on March 5, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Senior Airman Trevor Bell/U.S. Air Force)

Saying they were given no advance notice of the announcement, Idaho’s governor and members of Congress have requested a briefing from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth regarding his recent announcement about training Qatari Air Force personnel at Idaho’s Mountain Home Air Force Base.

In televised remarks made Oct. 10, Hegseth said, “Today we are announcing that we are signing a letter of acceptance to build a Qatari Emiri Air Force Facility at the Mountain Home Air Base in Idaho.”

Later that same day, Hegseth posted on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, a clarification writing, “Qatar will not have their own base in the United States – nor anything like a base.”

Records show Idaho Gov. Little, Sen. Risch weren’t aware Qatar facility announcement was coming

Records obtained under the Idaho Public Records Act by the Idaho Capital Sun show that several elected state and federal leaders in Idaho, including Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, who serves as chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Gov. Brad Little were caught completely off guard by Hegseth’s announcement and had no idea it was coming. 

Then on Thursday, Risch, U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson and Little, all R-Idaho, wrote a joint letter to Hegseth asking for a briefing on the announcement and answers to several questions. 

“Like many foreign military sale agreements to allies, the plans to sell F-15QAs to Qatar have been in the process for years,” Crapo, Little, Risch and Simpson wrote in the letter. “However, we were given no advance notice that this agreement had been finalized or that it was going to be formally announced. While Qatar, as a long-time U.S. ally, provides substantial support to the U.S. military in the Middle East, such as allowing a U.S. base hosting thousands of U.S.-ready-to-fight-warriors, it is understandable that Qatar’s history of funding Iran-backed terrorist groups like Hamas and the extremism espoused by Qatari-based Al Jazeera has raised concerns among Idahoans.”

Idaho elected officials raise several questions in letter to Hegseth

The Idaho Republican leaders identified several questions for Hegseth about cost and security concerns, including:

• Given the technological capabilities of the Mountain Home AFB range complex, what measures will be implemented to safeguard against any compromise to our national security?
• What screening, intelligence, or vetting processes are in place to ensure no trainees have ties to hostile or extremist organizations?
• Are there any specific security concerns for the surrounding communities and for U.S. military personnel stationed at Mountain Home AFB?
• Is there a long-term plan to convert Mountain Home AFB into a multi-national training facility for foreign allies?
• How many Qatari personnel will be involved in the training mission?
• How long will they be deployed to Idaho?
• Will families be allowed to accompany Qatari personnel, and what restrictions, if any, will be placed on their travel?
• Is there a cost to American taxpayers to house, train, and feed the foreign military personnel covered by this agreement?

“In the interest of informing our constituents, maintaining open lines of communication, and fostering closer federal and state collaboration regarding this training squadron, we would like the department to provide more information about the plans and intentions of this mission now that it appears to be finalized,” Crapo, Little, Risch and Simpson wrote to Hegseth. “We request that you provide a briefing to the Idaho Congressional Delegation, as well as for the governor of Idaho and state legislators potentially impacted by the agreement, in Boise on the details of this agreement.”

Idaho’s fourth member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher, R-Idaho, did not sign the letter to Hegseth, but also requested a briefing on the announcement. In a letter to a group of Idaho legislators who call themselves the Gang of Eight, Fulcher wrote that he also requested a briefing from Hegseth, and that Hegseth’s office promised a response. 

“Since the Oct. 10 announcement by Sec. Hegseth, I have been in touch with various federal sources to learn as much detail as possible,” Fulcher wrote in the letter to Idaho legislators. “In addition, I have reached out directly to (Hegseth), expressing my disappointment with the lack of communication and to request a briefing. The secretary’s office has acknowledged receipt and pledged a response.”

Risch issued a press release announcing the joint letter to Hegseth and released the text of their letter to Hegseth. 

Trump has announced that he is changing the title of the Department of Defense to the Department of War and changing Hegseth’s title to Secretary of War, but the name change requires Congressional approval to become permanent. 

Hegseth worked as a host on Fox News prior to being appointed by President Donald Trump to serve as secretary of defense.

Idaho Delegation letter to Sec. Hegseth

This article was originally published by the Idaho Capital Sun.

The Boise Airport became powered by 100% renewable energy this fall after Boise opted to be the first city to sign on to an optional new renewable energy program through Idaho Power.

The city of Boise is purchasing enough solar energy to power both the Boise Airport and the Lander Street wastewater treatment facility through 100% renewable energy, Steve Hubble, climate action manager for the city of Boise, said in an interview Thursday.

The Boise Airport is likely the first municipally-owned major airport in Idaho to become 100% solar energy powered. Hubble said he isn’t familiar enough with municipalities in North Idaho or eastern Idaho, which work with different utility companies, to know what their energy mix is.

“We’re the first municipality in Idaho to enter one of these Clean Energy Your Way contracts, so that’s pretty exciting in and of itself,” Hubble said. “And then from a quantitative perspective, I’m always going to link that back to what the city’s goals are.”

The move to powering its facilities by renewable energy represents Boise moving forward on climate policies at a time when the Idaho Legislature is actively pushing back against environmental and climate programs. While the Idaho Legislature has not established formal climate goals, the city of Boise has specific goals it bases climate policies around.

• Power city government by 100% renewable energy by 2030.
• City government operations become carbon neutral by 2035.
• Power the entire community by 100% clean electricity by 2035.
• The community becomes carbon neutral by 2050.

Making the Boise Airport and Lander Street wastewater treatment plant 100% renewable-powered brings the city to 25% of its 2030 renewable energy goal for city government.

“So in other words, if you look at all the city’s electricity usage right now, about a quarter of it is being powered by renewable electricity, because the airport and Lander Street are two of our three biggest electricity-using facilities,” Hubble said. 

How did Boise make its airport and a water treatment plant renewable energy powered?

Boise had been powering the airport and Lander Street facility with the standard energy it received from Idaho Power, which includes an energy portfolio of renewable energy like hydro as well as nonrenewable energy sources, like coal. To go 100% renewable, the city bought enough renewable solar energy to cover 100% of the energy those two facilities use.

The project is part of Idaho Power’s Clean Energy Your Way program, which is optional and does not change the energy mix that regular Idaho Power customers receive or the rates they pay, Idaho Power Director of Economic Development and Innovation Megan Ronk said in an interview.

Idaho Power’s largest source of energy today is renewable hydro power, Ronk said. For 2022, 24% of Idaho Powers energy generation capacity was coal, Idaho Power reported. Idaho Power has a goal to have 100% clean energy by 2045.

For customers who want to go renewable sooner, Idaho Power created Clean Energy Your Way, Ronk said.

“Clean Energy Your Way is really intended to provide a menu of options to meet customers where they are at in meeting their respective renewable and clean energy goals,” Ronk said in a phone interview.

The Boise City Council approved participating in the Clean Energy Your Way program in October 2023. 

“This is possible because Boiseans have been so clear that they expect our city to lead in protecting our environment for the future,” Boise Mayor Lauren McLean said in a written statement after the Boise City Council vote. “It is important that we are resilient and because we want our kids, and their kids, to be healthy and to have a place where they can live and thrive into the future.”

After the Boise City Council approved participating in the program, Idaho Power and the city applied for approval from the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, which regulates utility companies in Idaho.

Under the application for the project, Boise sought approval to buy up to 10 megawatts of power from Black Mesa Energy solar project in Elmore County. In addition to the normal Schedule 19 rate Boise pays for energy not from the solar project, Boise will pay a fixed cost charge for each kilowatt hour of energy received from the Black Mesa Energy solar project. Excess energy generated but not used will be credited to the city. 

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission approved the application in August, which allowed the city to begin purchasing the solar energy Sept. 1.

The city’s contract is for 20 years. Hubble told the Sun he expects the city to pay slightly more for energy during the first 18 months of the project. Then, for the duration of the first 10 years, Hubble expects the city to either realize a savings or be paying no more than it would have regularly, without going renewable.

“We’re pretty excited about that savings opportunity, because basically this contract allows us to kind of lock in the rate for a portion of our power cost, and power costs do change, so that’s something we’re really excited about,” Hubble said. “It’s kind of cool, not only the renewable attribute of this, but that economic attribute of this is pretty exciting.”

Boise has a 25% share of the solar energy from the Black Mesa Energy project, while the remaining 75% is being used by Micron for renewable energy projects, Hubble said. 

Other cities, residents and businesses can participate

Idaho Power offers different types of Clean Energy Your Way programs for residential customers, businesses and large municipal customers like the city of Boise. The largest energy-using customers, like the city of Boise, are able to participate in the Clean Energy Your Way Construction agreement that powered the Boise Airport and Lander Street facility. Hubble thinks Boise’s project could set an example for other large Idaho Power municipal or industrial customers who want to go with renewable energy. 

But there are other options for other types of Idaho Power customers too. Residential customers can cover all or part of their energy use with renewable wind and solar energy at a cost of 1 additional cent per kilowatt hour, with the ability to cancel any time. Business customers can purchase renewable energy certificates, with options to buy on a month-to-month basis or for a three-year commitment. 

Boise Airport now powered by 100% renewable energy through Idaho Power program is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.