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Idaho Public Utilities Commission
Case No. IPC-E-08-10, Order No. 30754
March 20, 2009
Contact: Gene Fadness (208) 334-0339, 890-2712
Idaho Power gets another 1 percent on reconsideration
The Idaho Public Utilities Commission granted portions and denied portions of Idaho Power Company’s petition for reconsideration of a recently concluded rate case.
On Jan. 30, the commission issued an order granting Idaho Power an average 3.1 percent rate increase. Idaho Power appealed some issues to the commission and, in an order issued Thursday, the commission granted some of the company’s request. The result is a 1 percent increase in the overall rate. The average increase for all customer classes is now 4 percent. For residential customers, the increase goes from 1.6 percent to 3 percent. Counting the changes made in reconsideration, the commission approved $27.6 million in annual new revenue for the company, out of a total request of $66.6 million.
The commission approved the following changes to its Jan. 30 order:
Nearly $6 million out of a total $141 million in annual payroll expense was not included in the final revenue requirement and should have been.
An error in the calculation of Operations and Maintenance Expense added another $546,221 to Idaho Power’s revenue requirement.
The commission denied Idaho Power’s petition in these areas:
During 1999-2006, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission over-charged Idaho Power about $3.27 million in regulatory fees. The company disputed the commission’s order that the over-billed amount be refunded to ratepayers, maintaining a refund to customers violates the legal prohibition against “retroactive ratemaking.” The commission denied Idaho Power’s request and ordered that customers be credited $653,202 in each of the next five years.
Idaho Power asked the commission to reconsider its decision to deny about $885,000 in revenue for Idaho Power needed to cover employee purchase-card expenses. The commission, denied the request, saying the company was not able to demonstrate why these kinds of employee purchases are a benefit to customers and, therefore, should not be included in rates.
The commission also denied the Department of Energy’s petition to reconsider the cost-of-service model used to determine which costs should be assigned to each customer class. DOE participated in the case to represent the Idaho National Laboratory in eastern Idaho, one of Idaho Power’s largest customers.
The commission’s order is final. Any aggrieved party now must appeal to the state Supreme Court.