IDACORP, Inc., Appoints Rex Blackburn Senior Vice President and General Counsel

Saldin served as general counsel since 2004.

"In five years, Tom's leadership transcended providing guidance and direction to the legal and compliance teams to encompass motivation and encouragement to management and employees across the company," said IDACORP and Idaho Power's Chief Executive Officer and President LaMont Keen. "We wish him the best in retirement."

Blackburn joined the company in January 2008 in preparation for Saldin's retirement providing opportunity to understudy. He brings significant knowledge of the company and industry, as well as considerable experience in the courtroom as a trial lawyer to his role as an officer of the company.

"Strong leadership is required to ensure the company continues meeting the critical challenge of providing reliable, on-demand electric service to customers, especially during these challenging times, and Rex is a key member of our leadership team," added Keen. "During his prior history representing and advising the company as well as this past year, Rex demonstrated judicious, yet collaborative and creative approaches to stewarding business results and our resource preservation."

Blackburn graduated from the College of Idaho and the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.  From 1980 through 2007, he was a trial lawyer in private practice. 

He is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, and was selected for inclusion in Mountain States Super Lawyers magazine.  He was also appointed by Governor Cecil Andrus to the Idaho Commission on Uniform State Laws, and reappointed by Governors Phil Batt and Dirk Kempthorne, serving on the Commission continuously since 1993. 

IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE:IDA), Boise, Idaho-based and formed in 1998, is a holding company comprised of Idaho Power Company, a regulated electric utility; IDACORP Financial, a holder of affordable housing projects and other real estate investments; and Ida-West Energy, an operator of small hydroelectric generation projects that satisfy the requirements of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978. IDACORP's origins lie with Idaho Power and operations beginning in 1916. Today, Idaho Power employs approximately 2,000 people to serve a 24,000 square-mile service area in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon. With 17 low-cost hydroelectric projects as the core of its generation portfolio, Idaho Power's 487,000 residential, business and agricultural customers pay some of the nation's lowest prices for electricity. To learn more about Idaho Power or IDACORP, visit www.idahopower.com or www.idacorpinc.com.