Idaho Falls housing market remains strong

With the third quarter of 2019 over and the holidays almost upon us, we thought it might be a good time to take a look at the local residential real estate market. As usual, for the numbers we consulted our two favorite sources: the Snake River Multiple Listing Service and the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s HPI calculator.

What the numbers show is that home prices are continuing to chug along on much the same path as they’ve been on for the past five years. Through the end of August, the number of homes sold was up 7.5% while homes on average spent 11 fewer days on the market. New listings held pretty even, but what is most dramatic is the median price, which rose almost 12 percent.

That’s in line with the numbers we crunched in the House Price Calculator. Your mileage may vary, but if you paid $100,000 in the second quarter of 2018 that would have risen to $112,454 (11.24%), based on market-wide sales averages.

Looking back, a home bought in 2014 would have appreciated in value about the same about every year. It’s a hot market with tight inventory, which means you might want to consult a real estate professional if you've got an itch.

Idaho Falls council votes to expand residential fiber citywide

The dark-shaded areas are where Idaho Falls Fiber currently offers residential service.

In a unanimous vote at a special meeting Thursday night, the Idaho Falls City Council voted to continue expansion of the city’s fiber network to provide high-speed broadband access to all residents within city limits.

In September 2018, the council directed Idaho Falls Fiber to test the economic feasibility of leveraging the existing conduits and infrastructure of Idaho Falls Power to install fiber-optic lines to residential areas. The first customers were connected in March this year, with the final phase of construction completed in early September. This pilot project encompassed approximately 1,250 residential homes.

Meanwhile. Idaho Falls Fiber has been gathering data and evaluating the costs and feasibility of expanding the high-speed fiber network through the rest of the Idaho Falls community. That information was presented to the City Council at Thursday’s meeting. Council members also heard from the residents who have taken part in the pilot program.

At the outset, city leadership envisioned working with local internet providers to bring broadband internet access to the community. During the pilot program, Idaho Falls Fiber worked with four local Internet providers -- Direct Communications, Qwk.net, Silver Star, and SUMO Fiber -- to offer residents a variety of services and pricing.  Idaho Falls Fiber also partnered with UTOPIA Fiber, which owns and operates open access fiber networks in Utah. UTOPIA provided consulting, network design and is Idaho Falls' technology provider for the open access system software.

“Designing a system like this is a complicated operational and engineering function,” said Bear Prairie, Idaho Falls Power director. “That’s why the Council approved the agreement for us to partner with UTOPIA Fiber, a not-for profit entity like Idaho Falls Fiber that has the experience in operating successful networks similar to our design."

The build out of the city wide network is projected to take place over the next four years, starting with areas with the most customers requesting the fiber utility. The network will be built in areas that are served by Idaho Falls Power, which is also a not-for-profit electric utility owned by the city and its residents.

The network and areas of future expansion community can be viewed at www.idahofallsfiber.com or at Idaho Falls Fiber’s office at 140 S. Capital Avenue. Customers can pre-sign up for the high speed fiber network service online or in person, which will help direct Idaho Falls Fiber determine the most under-served areas first.

Idaho Falls Power dates back to 1900, when it was established to provide limited street lighting in downtown, drawing power from a hydro-electric generator in a local canal hydro project. Today it has five run-of-river hydro-electric projects and has one of the lowest electric rates in the United States.

Idaho Falls Fiber was formed in 1998 with the construction of a limited fiber network for the power utility. It was expanded in 2002 in order to provide high-bandwidth service to other city and county buildings, educational institutions and commercial businesses.

Oklo fabricates fuel prototypes at Idaho National Laboratory

By Jacqueline Toth, The Morning Consult

The developer of a miniature nuclear reactor said it has successfully demonstrated prototypes of its metallic fuel — a key development for the company and for the U.S. advanced nuclear reactor community, whose years-long timelines to deployment often beget sporadic messaging wins.

Oklo Inc. fabricated fuel prototypes with the Idaho National Laboratory, with multiple prototype fuel elements reaching production specification, for anticipated use in its 1-2 megawatt-electric compact fast reactor, which is intended to generate both process heat and electricity.

The demonstration is “one of the bigger steps on the pathway for us moving towards ultimately submitting a license application and trying our first reactor on,” said Jacob DeWitte, chief executive of the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company, in an interview ahead of the announcement. The fuel prototype demonstration “ramps well into our plans” to build a commercial unit in the early 2020s, he said.

A very small reactor, DeWitte said, aligns with Oklo’s business model and technology development side. Reactors of Oklo’s size are geared especially toward use in remote areas, such as on islands or in Alaska, that often rely on expensive and emitting diesel fuel for energy.

For the full story, follow this link: Oklo Fuel.

INL seeking non-profit economic development grant applicants

Idaho National Laboratory is taking applications from non-profit organizations interested in participating in its 2020 Technology-based Economic Development Campaign.

The TBED program’s mission is to stimulate economic development, support new technology, recruit new talent and encourage entrepreneurship throughout Idaho. To achieve these goals, grants for several different types of projects are being offered:

Projects that support INL missions related to energy, environment and national security.
Projects that could ultimately benefit INL and its ability to attract and maintain talent in Idaho.
Statewide projects that strengthen energy, advanced manufacturing and cybersecurity supply chains.

Organizations must be 501(c)(3) nonprofit entities. A copy of the IRS tax-exempt letter must accompany the form.

The deadline for 2020 donation requests is Nov. 15. Applications submitted after the deadline will not be included in the review process. Decisions will be made by Dec. 17. Notifications will be sent to requesting organizations informing them of funding awards. Funds will be for projects for the period of Jan. 1, 2020, to Dec. 31, 2020.

For full details on all programs, visit INL’s website, www.inl.gov. Links can be found by clicking on Partner With INL in the top right corner of the page, then choosing Economic and Workforce Development. This is also where the INL Tech-based Economic Development Request Form 2020 can be found.

State of Idaho, Idaho National Laboratory celebrate opening of new buildings

Idaho National Laboratory, the Idaho State Board of Education, and the Idaho State Building Authority officially opened two brand-new buildings in Idaho Falls Monday: the Cybercore Integration Center (CIC) and the Collaborative Computing Center (C3).

Held at the C3 facility, the ribbon-cutting ceremony included remarks by INL Director Mark Peters; Robert Boston, manager of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho Operations Office; Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin; Idaho State Board of Education member Dave Hill; Idaho State University President Kevin Satterlee; University of Idaho President C. Scott Green; and V.L. “Bud” Tracey, chairman of the Idaho State Building Authority. Open houses and tours of both facilities were offered.

Totaling close to 150,000 square feet, the C3 and CIC buildings represent an endeavor by the state and INL to expand collaboration and employment opportunities for Idaho university students. Construction of the new buildings was financed by an almost $90 million bond approved by the Idaho Legislature in March 2017. INL and the state of Idaho have a long history of collaboration and partnership through joint research programs with Idaho’s three public universities – Idaho State University, Boise State University and University of Idaho – state agencies, and private industry. Like the nearby Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES), which opened in 2009, CIC and C3 are owned by the state and leased to INL.

The Cybercore Integration Center will serve as a research, education and training facility for cybersecurity work. The state-of-the-art collaboration facility brings together federal, state, academic and private industry representatives to jointly design and develop resilient infrastructure that can withstand current and future threats, ranging from cyberattacks to natural disasters. It contains reconfigurable and electronic laboratory space, training and demonstration areas, and office suites, all focused on securing the nation’s critical infrastructure control systems and related components.

The Collaborative Computing Center will soon be the new home of INL’s Falcon and Lemhi supercomputers, and next year will welcome Sawtooth, expected to be one of the most powerful supercomputers in the Pacific Northwest when it goes online. Students from across Idaho already access the modeling and simulation capabilities of Falcon and Lemhi through the Idaho Regional Optical Network (IRON).

"These facilities not only will enhance INL's supercomputing and cybersecurity capabilities, but also serve Idaho's university students and faculty for decades to come," said INL Director Mark Peters. "All of us at INL are proud to partner with the state to educate and train our students for great career opportunities, and we're thankful to everyone who made this possible."

“The construction and opening of these facilities would never have happened had the leaders at the state of Idaho and INL not come together in partnership,” said Idaho State Board of Education member David Hill. “This really is a reimagining of higher education and the pooling of available resources within our state to build an integrated educational ecosystem for Idaho.”