Your Idaho Power rate just went up this year. The utility wants a hike next year, too
Idaho Power won approval from state regulators late last year to raise electricity rates in 2024.
Just six months later, the company is seeking another increase to go into effect in January 2025 “or later.”
The Boise-based electric utility has filed a “limited scope rate case” with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission to hike its overall base rate by 7.31%, according to a news release Friday afternoon. This would mean an annual revenue increase of $99.29 million for the company.
If Idaho Power’s request is approved as-is, the average residential customer, using about 950 kilowatt hours a month, would see their monthly bill rise by $7.48, the release said.
The general rate increase the utility first asked for in 2023, which drew sharp criticism from some customers, was 8.61%, or $111 million. The company settled on raising its overall rates by 4.25%, for an annual revenue increase of $54.7 million, starting in January 2024.
Idaho Power serves more than 630,000 customers in Idaho and a portion of eastern Oregon. It’s Oregon customers aren’t impacted by the new filing.
Utility rates in Idaho are subject to approval from the PUC, a governing body made up of three governor-appointed commissioners. The PUC typically takes several months to deliberate a case, working with various stakeholders in a manner not unlike a court case.
Idaho Power said the latest request “focuses on recovering costs associated with infrastructure investments and labor expenses that were not included for collection in the company’s last rate case but will be benefiting customers by year-end 2024.” It plans to invest nearly $1 billion this year and an average of nearly $800 million annually over the next five years to maintain its electrical grid and meet growing demand, the release said.
“Idaho Power is sensitive to the impact rate increases have on customers and believes this limited case will minimize customer impact as compared to a broader general rate review,” the company said, while noting that its rates are 20%-30% lower than the national average.
In the last rate case, which wrapped up in December, the company said it filed the application to recoup costs spent on infrastructure additions over the past decade. It said it had invested more than $3 billion in the grid in that time frame, while its customer base grew by 23%.
Prior to last year, the utility had not asked for a general rate increase since 2011.
Written comments on the proposal may be filed with the PUC on its website or delivered by mail to PO Box 83720, Boise ID, 83720. The case number is IPC-E-24-07.
