Idaho Power is asking for another rate hike. Want to make your voice heard? Here’s how
Idaho Power wants to raise its rates by more than 7% next year. But first, it’ll have to get approval from the state agency that regulates utility companies.
Want to weigh in? You’ll get a chance.
Idaho Power filed an application in late May to raise its overall electricity rates by 7.31%, for an annual revenue increase of $99.29 million. If the 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, according to the filing.
The Idaho Public Utilities Commission can approve, deny or modify the application.
The latest filing comes before the PUC less than a year after Idaho Power won approval in a separate case to hike its overall rates by 4.25%, for a revenue increase of $54.7 million. It had initially asked for 8.61%, or $111 million.
Idaho Power argued in that case that it needed the increased revenue to recoup money it spent on infrastructure additions over the last decade. The Boise company said it had invested more than $3 billion in the grid while its customer base grew by 23%. Before last year, the utility had not asked for a general rate increase since 2011.
This time around, the company said the rate hike “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 the end of this year.
“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 in a news release.
The company previously announced that it planned to invest nearly $1 billion in the grid in 2024 and an average of nearly $800 million annually over the next five years to maintain the grid and meet growing customer demand.
Several stakeholders have filed petitions to intervene in the case, including the city of Boise, Micron, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Idaho Conservation League, the Industrial Customers of Idaho Power, and the Idaho Irrigation Pumpers Association.
In Micron’s application, the chip-making company noted that it is Idaho Power’s largest single customer.
Over a dozen public comments have also been filed, mostly from residential customers asking the PUC to deny Idaho Power’s proposed rate increase.
“My husband and I are now retired and are on fixed incomes,” a customer in Hailey wrote. “We have received rate increases through the years and have never failed to pay our Idaho Power monthly bill. This rate increase will place an undue burden on us.”
Another customer noted that Idaho Power already raised its base rates this year.
“Will Idaho Power come back in 2025 with another increase request?” the Boise resident wrote. “It’s not like folks can shop elsewhere for electricity.”
Idaho Power serves more than 630,000 customers in Idaho and a portion of eastern Oregon. Its Oregon customers are not affected by the new filing.
How to have your say
The PUC is holding two customer hearings in early December, with one in Boise on Tuesday, Dec. 3. The hearing starts at 4 p.m. at the PUC’s office at 11331 W. Chinden Blvd. in Building 8, Suite 201-A. It’s scheduled to end at 7 p.m. or after all testimony is taken, whichever comes first.
The day before, on Monday, Dec. 2, the PUC is holding a hearing in Twin Falls. That hearing begins at 4 p.m. at the American Legion Hall at 447 Seastrom St.
Written comments on the proposal can 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.
