20251125Comments_8.pdf

From: Simeon Novak([e-mail]) Sent You a Personal Message
<sim eon nova k@grsde livery.com>
Sent:Thursday, November 20, 2025 4:22 PM
To: secretary<[e-mail]>
Subject: IPC-E-25-16 Rate Case Public Comment
Dear Idaho Public Utilities Commission,
I believe it is imperative to remain equitable by adjusting fees for consumers who use
different amounts of energy.
Please don't approve any Fixed Service Charge fee increases for residential customers,
small businesses, or farmers—in this case or future rate cases. Idaho Power has already
increased that fee on homeowner power bills from $5 to $15, and going up to $25 or more
would make it one of the highest in the nation. Idaho Power's ongoing attempts to raise the
Fixed Charge fee seem to be motivated by greed and maximizing profit, not by facts or the
best interests of its customers. This is where you come in. As our utility regulators, your job
is to stop this kind of excessive profit-seeking and rein in our monopoly utility to ensure
Idahoans are being charged fair prices. Please do everything in your power to ensure that
these Fixed Charge fees remain reasonable, particularly for low energy users, such as low-
income and energy conscious households, who will be disproportionately harmed by any
increases. Also, please explore the creative rate designs, such as tiered Fixed Charge fees,
that other states are looking at. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Simeon Novak
408 N Hillview Drive
Boise, ID 83712
[e-mail]
[phone]
This message was sent by KnowWho, as a service provider, on behalf of an individual
associated with Sierra Club. If you need more information, please contact Member Care at
Sierra Club at [e-mail] or [phone].
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From: Darcy Featherstone ([e-mail]) Sent You a Personal Message
<d a rcyva nsteela nt@gra ss rootsmessages.com>
Sent:Thursday, November 20, 2025 3:24 PM
To: secretary<[e-mail]>
Subject: IPC-E-25-16 Rate Case Public Comment
Dear Idaho Public Utilities Commission,
Speaking of fixed, that is what we're on-a fixed income. Do not approve raising the Fixed
Service Charge! It will most definitely cause people like me to struggle with additional fees,
regardless of our energy consumption.
Please don't approve any Fixed Service Charge fee increases for residential customers,
small businesses, or farmers—in this case or future rate cases. Idaho Power has already
increased that fee on homeowner power bills from $5 to $15, and going up to $25 or more
would make it one of the highest in the nation. Idaho Power's ongoing attempts to raise the
Fixed Charge fee seem to be motivated by greed and maximizing profit, not by facts or the
best interests of its customers. This is where you come in. As our utility regulators, your job
is to stop this kind of excessive profit-seeking and rein in our monopoly utility to ensure
Idahoans are being charged fair prices. Please do everything in your power to ensure that
these Fixed Charge fees remain reasonable, particularly for low energy users, such as low-
income and energy conscious households, who will be disproportionately harmed by any
increases. Also, please explore the creative rate designs, such as tiered Fixed Charge fees,
that other states are looking at. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Darcy Featherstone
76 Scriver Bluff Road
Garden Valley, ID 83622
[e-mail]
[phone]
This message was sent by KnowWho, as a service provider, on behalf of an individual
associated with Sierra Club. If you need more information, please contact Member Care at
Sierra Club at [e-mail] or [phone].
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2

From: Paula Stern <[e-mail]>
Sent:Tuesday, November 25, 2025 11:12 AM
To: secretary<[e-mail]>
Subject: ID Power rate increase
To members of the PUC,
I have lived in Idaho over 40 years, and was excited to switch over to solar power in 2021. A
huge part of the reason for switching was not only being able to generate my own
renewable energy, but it also eliminated my Idaho Power bill, except for the $5/month fee to
bank my excess power. As a trade-off, I incurred a 20-year monthly bill to pay for the panels
and installation. When the decision was made to DRASTICALLLY reduce the rate that Idaho
Power paid to buy our excess energy, I began having to pay Idaho Power bills in all but ONE
summer month—this after not having had an electric bill for since my panels were installed
in 2021. 1 was angry and felt cheated, knowing that I was being asked to subsidize the
electrical bills of the customers who use Idaho Power's energy. Idaho Power is now buying
my excess power and charging me an arm and a leg for it! At the very least, I should have
been grandfathered in, since I was promised that I would no longer have ID Power bills to
pay. Talk about Bait and Switch! This is NOT right.
Now, ID Power is asking for another raise in rates, and I received a notice that MY bill will
also go up. I live alone and am extremely frugal about the electricity I use, including
keeping my house set at 76-780 all summer. I am a senior on a fixed income and cannot
afford to have the rules changed on me, now not once, but twice! I was told I would be
immune to rate increases, since I produce enough power for my living, and only use ID
Power as my solar bank. Is ID Power in such bad straights that they cannot afford to run
their business without gouging us solar customers for banking, while using, our extra
power?? PLEASE,PLEASE, PLEASE, if ID Power needs to raise its rates, which I understand
they often need to do, PLEASE exclude us solar customers from having to subsidize their
other customers. I am NOT using the electricity they generate, and do NOT want to pay for
their generation of power. I pay to generate my own! PLEASE do NOT allow them to include
a raise in MY power bill.
Thankyou,
Paula Stern
[phone]
[e-mail]
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The following comment was submitted via PUCWeb:
Name: Lynda Ackert
Submission Time: Nov 25 2025 12:03PM
Email: Lynda.ackert(a)hotmaiLcom
Telephone: [phone]
Address: 2277 N Eagle Creek Lane
Eagle, ID 83616
Name of Utility Company: Home
Case ID: IPC-E-25-16
Comment: "I respectfully ask that a hike increase not be allowed. It is extremely hard for
many to make ends meet with the struggling economy over the last 4-5 years and we
shouldn't make it harder for the middle-class and below to make ends meet. Please do not
allow/approve a rare increase. "
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The following comment was submitted via PUCWeb:
Name: Julie Keys
Submission Time: Nov 25 2025 1:05PM
Email:[e-mail]
Telephone: [phone]
Address: 2078 W Grand Teton Drive
Meridian, ID 83646
Name of Utility Company: Idaho Power
Case ID: LLL-U-25-16
Comment: "Idaho Power is hurting people on fixed incomes with the increases they are
requesting. They had substantial profits at the current rate. Please look out for the lower
income people in our community. "
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The following comments were submitted via PUCWeb:
Name: Linda Powell
Submission Time: Nov 25 2025 3:07PM
Email: [e-mail]
Telephone: [phone]
Address: 6040 N Colosseum Avenue
Meridian , ID 83646
Name of Utility Company: Idaho Power
Case ID: IPC-E-25-16
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Comment: "Asa retired widow it is getting harder and harder to afford living in my own
home. Please don't grant another increase or at least ask ID Power to offset these
increases to those on a fixed income. I'll need to die within the next 6 years because my
money will run out. I'm not alone. "
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Name: Ellen Berggren
Submission Time: Nov 25 2025 3:46PM
Email: [e-mail]
Telephone: [phone]
Address: 2429 E Parkside Dr
Boise, ID 83712
Name of Utility Company: Idaho Power Company
Case ID: IPC-E-25-16
Comment: "As a 40-year Boise resident and retiree I do not support the proposed
residential rate increase. According to the government, I am only due a 2 percent cost of
Living increase for my pension annuity. IPCo's rate increase this year alone is greater than
the calculated cost of living I will receive. I conserve energy to the extent I can. What is
IPCo doing to promote more energy conservation so that usage and costs are kept down?
Long-time residents on fixed incomes should not be shouldering large rate increases driven
by new construction to support incoming residents and growth in commercial customers,
such as data centers. New residential construction and businesses should pay upfront for
the cost of infrastructure needed to cover the increased demand, not all ratepayers. Rates
should be based on the amount of energy used. Larger energy users should pay more per
kilowatt hour, not less as currently structured, as their demand is driving the need for new
infrastructure to meet demand. "
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Idaho Power Rate Case Public Hearing
November 20, 2025
11331 W. Chinden Blvd, Boise
Suite 201-A
My name is Steve Jakubowics, I reside in Boise and an Idaho Power customer for the past 46
years.
I have a Master's degree from Duke University in environmental management, and my 28-year
career here in the Pacific Northwest was primarily as an environmental specialist evaluating the
environmental effects of large infrastructure projects throughout the Pacific Northwest region
including time with the Environmental Protection Agency, Bureau of Reclamation, and Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission and also as an environmental consultant with various
engineering firms serving the Pacific Northwest region.
My comments will be brief but focus on what appears to be an injustice to the residential,
irrigation and small commercial users who will pay essentially twice as much as the large power
users, which at this time are the large data centers currently proposed and approved to be
added to Idaho Power's existing power load.
The explosive growth of data centers around the country driven in large part by the burgeoning
use of artificial intelligence will come at a staggering cost to the average residential customer
with skyrocketing electric bills. Unless the Nation's Public Utility Commissions, including the
Idaho Public Utility Commission changes the paradigm, U.S. consumers and Idaho Power
customers will pay billions to build new power infrastructure (i.e. powerplants, transmission
lines, etc.)to serve big tech. And inappropriately,the little guys (i.e. residential, small
commercial, and irrigation ratepayers) will be stuck paying the bulk of the energy costs for big
tech's power needs and profit the wealthiest corporations.
The proposed Idaho Power rate increase currently under consideration is substantially driven
by 3 projects: Micron's Fab expansion requiring about 512 megawatts(MW), Meta's data
center in Kuna (200+ megawatts), and Diode's data center(600-800 megawatts). Together
these 3 projects (with more to come in the future) will require about 1,400 megawatts or
enough power to support about 910,000 homes (assuming about 650 homes/megawatt). This
staggering amount of new power generation represents an estimated 38% increase in Idaho
Power's existing total load of 3,700 megawatts.
Also noteworthy is the huge amount of water required to support each of these projects. In the
Treasure Valley's arid environment where the surface water supply is already fully allocated,
the valley's groundwater resources are rapidly being depleted due to rapid population growth
and development. Consequently, the cumulative impact on the valley's groundwater aquifer
from these 3 projects will also likely be adversely significant.
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The current Idaho Power rate application before the Commission includes a large rate shift of
cost to residential and irrigation users, with costs expected to increase in the future. The issue
is are residential and farm customers creating this spike in power demand or other entities? If
homes and farms are not creating the spike, shouldn't those creating the demand spike bear
the costs of the new power generation? On behalf of Idaho Power's residential, small
commercial and farm customers—hell NO!
The 3 mega-billion dollar corporations behind these three approved projects should be the
entities paying for the new power generation and infrastructure they require as they will be
reaping the mega-profits realized from their data centers and products. Additionally, all the
new power generation required to support each of these projects should be completely from
renewables (solar, wind, geothermal, etc.), not fossil fuels, for the climate change crisis is real
and is not going to get any better if we continue to burn up the planet with the combustion of
fossil fuels and feed the dire consequences of climate change which is already upon us and our
blue planet.
The time has come for the Idaho Public Utility Commission to take the bull by the horns and
make the necessary paradigm shift required to do what's right for the majority of Idaho Power's
ratepayers and the environment. The corporations behind these 3 projects already are
receiving large tax breaks and exemptions at the State and local level which further add to their
profits while the rest of us under the proposed rate structure will bear the cost in significantly
higher electric bills and the continued destruction of our,living planet.
In summary, on behalf of Idaho Power's residential, small commercial, and irrigators, I urge the
Commission to do what's right for Idaho Power's primary ratepayers and the future of our
planet.
I thank you for the opportunity to comment on this critically important proceeding.
4,L,t4A
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