20060822press release.htm

./082206_PACsettle_files/filelist.xml IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
9.35 pt 2 IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION Case No. PAC-E-06-04, Order No. 30117 August 22, 2006 Contact: Gene Fadness [phone]

Website:
http://www.puc.idaho.gov/www.puc.idaho.gov

Commission taking comments on PacifiCorp settlement

Interested parties have until Nov. 3 to comment on PacifiCorp’s request to increase revenue from base rates by $8.25 million annually. Under the proposed settlement, the only customers to get an increase would be irrigation customers as well as two contract customers, Monsanto Company and Nu-West Industries.

PacifiCorp, which operates in Idaho as Rocky Mountain Power (formerly Utah Power & Light) has about 64,000 customers in eastern Idaho.

  The Idaho Irrigation Pumpers Association, Monsanto and Nu-West, all agreed to the proposed settlement, which now must be accepted, rejected or modified by the Idaho Public Utilities Commission. The commission is taking written comments through Nov. 3 and will also conduct a technical hearing on Nov. 28. If approved, rate increases for irrigators and Monsanto would be effective Jan. 1, 2007. Nu-West rates are effective Sept. 1 of this year. There are no increases planned for residential, business or industrial customers.  

The settlement prevents the need for PacifiCorp to file a full rate case before the commission.

Irrigators would pay 5 percent more, increasing revenue for that class by $1.7 million. However, if irrigators volunteer to participate in the company’s Irrigation Load Control Credit Rider Program, they will receive a refund after the end of the 2007 irrigation season. Counting the refund, the net average increase to irrigators would be 3.7 percent if the settlement were approved.

Rates for Monsanto, PacifiCorp’s largest customer in its six-state area, would increase by 16.5 percent, also by Jan. 1, raising $6.8 million. Monsanto operates an elemental phosphorous plant near Soda Springs in southeastern Idaho. Rates for Nu-West, another contract customer, would increase 4 percent effective Sept. 1, increasing annual revenue by $150,000. Nu-West produces phosphate fertilizer at facilities also near Soda Springs.

PacifiCorp has also indicated it will follow through on its commitment to the Community Action Partnership of Idaho (CAPAI) to initiate a proceeding before the commission to significantly increase the company’s contribution to low-income weatherization programs. CAPAI is a non-profit corporation consisting of six community action agencies that fight the causes and conditions of poverty.

Comments will be accepted through Nov. 3 via e-mail by accessing the commission’s homepage at
http://www.puc.idaho.gov/www.puc.idaho.gov and clicking on "Comments & Questions." Fill in the case number (IPC-E-06-04) and enter your comments. Comments can also be mailed to P.O. Box 83720, Boise, ID 83720-0074 or faxed to [phone].

The technical hearing will start at 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 28 in the commission hearing room at 472 W. Washington St. in Boise.