Idaho Power Company, an independent energy utility provider, recently contracted with Baker Communications to provide two sessions of procurement negotiations training for staff in Boise, ID. IPC was looking to Baker for help with several challenges, including a building a stronger sense of dedication to cost-savings initiatives; balancing the fine line of being a good partner without giving away too much; and strengthening relationships with existing customers. Because IPC has worked with Baker in the past, they knew that the quality of Baker's training workshop was exactly what they were looking for, and that Baker could tailor their course to IPC's specific challenges.

For these two Procurement Negotiations seminars, a Negotiations Training Expert and Senior Level Instructor with Baker Communications traveled to IPC offices in Boise. Participants in the workshop went through a highly interactive course in which they learned key concepts, including the five phases of negotiation, how to handle conflict, and techniques for setting expectations in advance. This establishment of boundaries will help them appropriately handle any offers or requests for concessions. Baker also worked with IPC to create a custom role play based on a common scenario at IPC, so the staff could practice handling a real-world situation.

About Baker Communications

Baker Communications is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has employees and certified partners in more than 20 cities across the US. Internationally, Baker's footprint includes the United Kingdom, Dubai, Singapore, Argentina, Brazil and Russia. As one of America's fastest-growing corporate training companies, Baker Communications has helped over a million professionals reach maximum performance for over 30 years. Globally recognized companies and government agencies, including ExxonMobil, General Electric and Bank of America depend on Baker Communications to equip their employees with skills to increase market share and produce immediate results. Baker provides customized targeted practice-driven performance improvement solutions that produce rapid, measurable results. Baker Communications' solutions have been utilized and delivered worldwide, throughout Europe, South America, North America, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific.

About Idaho Power Company

Operating since 1916, Idaho Power is an electric utility engaged in the generation, transmission, distribution, sale and purchase of electric energy and is regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the state regulatory commissions of Idaho and Oregon. The company is involved in the following business activities:

  • Generation -17 hydroelectric generating plants on the Snake River and its tributaries, natural gas-fired plants and shares of three jointly-owned coal-fired plants.
  • Transmission - to get electricity generated at Hells Canyon, for example, to homes and businesses, it's first transmitted over long distances on transmission lines to substations.
  • Distribution - distribution lines are smaller than transmission lines and are used to bring electricity from substations to homes and businesses.
  • Sales - of electricity to retail (residential, business and irrigation) and wholesale (other utilities, energy marketing companies and incorporated municipalities) customers.
  • Purchases - they purchase from the wholesale market when additional energy is needed to serve customer loads or when purchasing from the market is less costly than running their generating plants.