In late December, the Idaho Public Utilities Commission approved two proposals presented by Idaho Power, altering both its general rate and the credit system for customers with rooftop solar installations.  

On Dec. 28, the utilities commission first approved Idaho Power’s proposal to increase its revenue by $55 million. Residential customers will now be charged the same rate regardless of their energy usage. 

The following day, the commission approved Idaho Power’s application to change how it credits residential solar from net monthly to real-time net billing export credit rate. Homeowners in the “non-legacy” system, meaning they installed solar panels after December 2019, are subject to the change in how Idaho Power credits their account.

Both cases attracted strong opposition, particularly from youth advocates and environmental advocates. Critics said the case related to rooftop solar disincentivizes Idahoans from using solar panels, and an increase in the general rate would hurt low-to-middle income customers while having minimal impacts on high energy users. 

But in the final orders of both settlements, the commission said its decision is based on fairness. 

Idaho Power fixed rate system effective this month

Under the new Idaho Power rate system, which took effect this month, Idaho Power’s overall retail revenue will increase by $55 million annually for an average of 4.25 percent, a reduction from the company’s original proposal of $111 million.

Idaho Power spokesperson Jordan Rodriguez previously told the Sun that the increase in rates addresses outdated prices and an increasing energy demand.

Despite criticism, Idaho Power looks to raise general rate for first time since 2011

Since the general rate was filed in 2011, he said, the Idaho Power base has grown by 23%, or approximately 120,000 customers. Today, the utility company provides electric service to more than 600,000 customers in southern Idaho. 

But critics of the proposal said the rate increase discourages energy efficiency and savings because of its fixed fee system, which charges residential customers the same rate regardless of how much energy they use and collects more from each customer in fixed costs. 

“Idaho Power may need to update its rate system as its customer base grows, but doing it through a fixed-charge system is incredibly unjust,” said Lisa Young, Director of Idaho Sierra Club. “Fixed rates are regressive. They disproportionately raise rates on your poorest customers while barely increasing rates for the wealthiest.”

According to company testimony, the settlement provides Idaho Power with the ability to update its rates to better reflect current costs and the ability to economically finance new investments in infrastructure for its system.

Other testimony in the case included Walmart, Micron, the city of Boise, the Idaho Irrigation Pumpers Association, and the Idaho Conservation League. The groups each shared that the proposed settlement is fair, reasonable and in the public interest. 

In the final order of the settlement, the utilities commission said the settlement allows Idaho Power to operate sustainably while reducing the impact of the rate increase on customers, calling the approach “responsible” and “just.”

Utilities commission says it did not take solar settlement decision ‘lightly’

Under the settlement for the residential solar proposal, Idaho Power customers who installed solar panels after December 2019 will receive lower credit compensation than their predecessors under the new real-time net billing system.

Rodriguez previously told the Sun that the changes would bring fairness to customers without solar, because customers without rooftop solar pay an unfair share of grid maintenance and improvement costs. 

The proposal takes into consideration the increase in Idaho homeowners who have obtained solar over the years, Rodriguez said, noting that Idaho Power customers with residential solar increased from nearly 1,000 in 2016 to 13,000 in 2022, according to a company report.

In the settlement, the commission said it did not take the decision lightly, and that its decision does not “put to rest the issues of on-site generation in Idaho.”

“In making its decisions in this case, the commission maintains that the fundamental purpose of on-site generation is to offset a customer’s own usage; that on-site generation should not create cost shifting between generators and non-generators, and that on-site generators should be given a fair value for their exported energy,” the commission said in the settlement.

According to the settlement there were nearly 850 public comments filed in the case, of which 130 signed a petition asking the commission to keep the program as is, and to grant current customer-generators grandfathering status, meaning they would not be subject to future changes. 

A third of customer comments pleaded that the company grant them legacy status, and most of the customers who submitted comments said they would not have gone forward with solar had they known the rates would change.

Solar advocates such as the Snake River Alliance executive director Leigh Ford, called the decision a “slap in the face.” 

“The PUC chose Idaho Power’s profits over Idaho’s sustainable future and equitable access to clean, renewable energy,” Ford said. “This isn’t just an attack on local solar businesses; it’s an attack on Idahoans’ right to create our own power.”