Idaho Power, Intermountain Gas rates are rising in the new year. What you need to know

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — Boise residents can expect to see a big boost in their utility bills in the new year.

That’s because two main utility providers in the area just won approval from state regulators to increase rates, though not by as much as the companies had hoped.

Idaho Power agreed to a settlement that raises its annual revenue by $110 million, or 7.48%. The company, which serves more than 630,000 customers in southern Idaho, had initially asked for a $199.1 million, or 13.09% increase.

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The average residential customer of Idaho Power, estimated to use about 900 kilowatt-hours per month, can expect to see their monthly bills rise by about $12.13, according to a news release Tuesday from the Idaho Public Utilities Commission. The new rates take effect Thursday, Jan 1.

The commission also agreed to a settlement with Intermountain Gas, which has about 404,800 customers in southern Idaho.

That settlement allows Intermountain Gas to raise rates by 6.02%, or $2.45 a month, for its average residential customer. The monthly residential customer charge will also increase by $3 to $11 a month, according to a news release Tuesday.

The new rates raise the company’s annual revenue by $13 million, or 10.4%. Intermountain Gas had first asked for $26.5 million, or 22.2%, increase.

General service commercial customers can expect their monthly bills to rise by 2.46%, or $4.42 a month, alongside an increase in the general service commercial customer charge, which will increase by $8 to $23 a month. The new rates for Intermountain Gas also take effect Thursday.

Intermountain Gas’ initial request would have increased residential rates by $4.69 a month and general service commercial rates by $9.26 a month.

Both companies say they sought the rate increase to help pay for operational and maintenance costs as well as investments made in infrastructure.

“(The commission) determined the settlement allows Intermountain Gas to operate sustainably while protecting customers from a rate increase that would be burdensome,” the news release from the commission on its settlement with Intermountain Gas said.

A spokesperson for the commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

The commission said in its news release on the Idaho Power settlement that the company needed the rate hike to support investments in upgrading, replacing and building power lines, substations and other infrastructure. Idaho Power is also investing in wildlife resilience efforts, the release said.

It said the agreement balances the interests of customers seeking to limit the size of rate increases and the interests of the company in recovering costs.

“In its decision, the commission determined that the settlement reflects meaningful input from multiple parties and appropriately considers customer interests,” the commission’s news release said.

Adam Rush, a spokesperson for the commission, said Idaho Power and Intermountain Gas met with intervenors in the cases earlier this year to see if a deal could be made.

Rush told the Idaho Statesman that the rate increases are close to what the companies likely would have gotten anyway had they not settled with the intervenors, who are or who represent large customers.

In Idaho Power’s case, the intervenors included the city of Boise, U.S. Department of Energy, Micron, Kroger, Idahydro, NW Energy Coalition, Clean Energy Opportunities and Industrial Customers of Idaho Power. In Intermountain Gas’s case, they included Micron and the Alliance of Western Energy Consumers.

In November, the commission held customer hearings for both cases.

“The parties, along with their consultants, meet to present their proposed adjustments and evidence that they otherwise would submit in a fully litigated hearing,” Rush said Wednesday by email. “The parties agreed to a negotiated increase they believed was representative of a likely outcome had the cases gone to hearing.”

The commission also approved an application from Idaho Power on Monday to buy power and energy storage capacity from Crimson Orchard Solar LLC, a renewable energy company developing a large-scale solar farm with battery storage in Elmore County, near Mountain Home.

Idaho Power says the 20-year agreement, which begins June 1, 2027, allows Crimson Orchard to provide it with 100 megawatts of electricity and 100 megawatts of energy storage capacity.

Crimson Orchard, created to develop, own and operate the solar farm, is a subsidiary of Clēnera, which itself is a subsidiary of Enlight Renewable Energy, a global renewable energy company headquartered in Israel.

“Idaho Power said deficits on its system as well as a lack of other viable energy options continued to support the Crimson Orchard project,” a news release Monday from the commission said. “The utility also said the power purchase agreement and energy storage agreement are the least-cost, least-risk resource needed for Idaho Power to meet its obligations to customers.”

Idaho Power said in a letter to an Elmore County land use and building planner in March that the energy the company needs to reliably serve its customers is projected to grow by 2.1% across all customer classes over the next two decades.

But that’s not just because of the growth in its number of customers. The letter said the projected increase in energy usage is also because of increased energy usage per customer through electrification.