Jul. 27--U.S. Geothermal Inc., a Boise-based alternative energy company, will break ground Saturday on what the company said is the first geothermal power plant in Idaho in Raft River, east of Rupert. "This completely clean, green and renewable energy source will soon be put to work for our Idaho customers," said Daniel Kunz, chief executive officer and president of U.S. Geothermal. "We're excited to show off this advanced new power plant and all of our hard work to harness this unique and efficient power that literally wells up from deep inside the earth." The plant will be on the same site where the world's first experimental binary geothermal power plant was built and operated by the U.S.

Department of Energy between 1974 and 1982. U.S. Geothermal, which is scheduled to begin production next year, has a 20-year agreement to sell power to Idaho Power Co. for delivery of an average of 10 megawatts of electricity each month. Ultimately, the site could yield up to 90 megawatts of electricity, the company said.