20230927Final_Order_No_35933.pdf

ORDER NO. 35933 1
Office of the Secretary
Service Date
September 27, 2023
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION

IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION
OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN POWER TO
DECREASE THE BPA REP CREDIT
EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 2023 THROUGH
SEPTEMBER 2025
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CASE NO. PAC-E-23-19

ORDER NO. 35933

On August 30, 2023, Rocky Mountain Power, a division of PacifiCorp (“Company”) filed
an application (“Application”) with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (“Commission”) to
decrease the Bonneville Power Administration’s (“BPA”) residential and small farm credit. The
Company requested that the Commission issue an order approving a Schedule 34 Residential
Exchange Program (“REP”) credit of $0.007376 per kilowatt-hour (“kWh”) for rate schedules 1,
6A, 7A, 10, 23A, 35A and 36, to be effective October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2025.
The Northwest Power Act of 1980 created the REP program administered by BPA. The
REP allows participating utilities, including the Company, to pass the benefits of the Federal
Columbia River Power System to eligible residential, small farm, and irrigation customers through
rate credits.
The Company represented that the current Schedule No. 34 REP credit is $0.010133 per
kWh. Application at 3-4. The Company stated that this credit was established in 2021 based on an
annual BPA REP credit amount of $10.3 million. Id. at 4.
The Company stated that over the next two years the annual BPA REP credit amount will
be $7.93 million per year. Id. The Company represented that calculating the credit amount with
the number of qualifying customers produces a new Schedule No. 34 credit rate of $0.007376 per
kWh. Id.
STAFF COMMENTS
Staff verified the initial inputs and independently recalculated the rate. Staff believed that
the Company correctly calculated the rate of $0.007376 per kWh and recommended the rate be
approved.
Staff explained that the Company’s current residential and small farm credit rate is
$0.010133 per kWh. The proposed credit rate is $0.007376 per kWh. The Company’s total
allocation of the BPA REP credit for fiscal year 2024 through 2025 (October 2023 through
September 2025) decreased approximately $11.9 million, from $86.6 million in 2023 to $74.7
ORDER NO. 35933 2
million. Idaho’s share of the Company’s total REP allocation also decreased slightly from 11.76%
to 11.69%.
The BPA REP credit available to qualifying Idaho customers is $17.5 million, reduced by
a negative REP balance of $1.6 million in Idaho’s REP balancing account for a net amount of
$15.86 million to amortize over the next two years. The REP credit is $7.93 million per year. The
$7.93 million REP credit was divided by calendar year 2022 usage level of the qualifying
customers of approximately 1.07 Gigawatt hours, to produce the Schedule No. 34 rate of
$0.007376 per kWh.
Customer Notice, Press Release, and Public Comments
Staff reviewed the Company’s customer notice and press release documents and Staff
believed both met the requirements of Rule 125 of the Commission’s Rules of Procedure. See
IDAPA 31.01.01.125. However, Staff explained that customer notices were to be included in the
September billing cycle, which begins September 5, 2023, and ends October 4, 2023, after the
requested effective date and after the deadline for customer comments of September 18, 2023.
Staff believed that although the Company reported that the local TV station in Pocatello, KPVI,
mentioned the rate increase and that it is available on their website, many, if not most of the
customers would not receive the customer notice before the deadline. Staff recommended that the
Commission accept and consider any late filed comments from customers.
Staff Recommendation
Staff recommended that the Commission approve the Application as filed; and that the
Commission accept and consider any late filed customer comments.
COMPANY REPLY COMMENTS
The Company did not submit any reply comments.
COMMISSION FINDINGS AND DECISION
The Commission has jurisdiction over the Company’s Application and the issues in this
case under Title 61 of the Idaho Code including Idaho Code §§ 61-301 through 303. The
Commission is empowered to investigate rates, charges, rules, regulations, practices, and contracts
of all public utilities and to determine whether they are just, reasonable, preferential,
discriminatory, or in violation of any provisions of law, and to fix the same by order. Idaho Code
§§ 61-501 through 503.
ORDER NO. 35933 3
Having reviewed the Application, all submitted comments, and all submitted materials, the
Commission finds it fair, just, and reasonable to approve the Application as filed.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Application is approved as filed.
THIS IS A FINAL ORDER. Any person interested in this Order may petition for
reconsideration within twenty-one (21) days of the service date upon this Order regarding any
matter decided in this Order. Within seven (7) days after any person has petitioned for
reconsideration, any other person may cross-petition for reconsideration. See Idaho Code §§ 61-
626 and 62-619.
DONE by Order of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission at Boise, Idaho this 27th day of
September 2023.

ERIC ANDERSON, PRESIDENT

JOHN R. HAMMOND JR., COMMISSIONER

EDWARD LODGE, COMMISSIONER
ATTEST:

Jan Noriyuki
Commission Secretary

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