Website: www.puc.idaho.gov
Commission
OKs new Idaho Power pricing plan
A new
pricing option for a limited number of Idaho Power Company residential customers
will allow them to pay less for electricity if they shift more of their
electrical use to late night and weekend hours.
The Idaho
Public Utilities Commission today approved Idaho Power’s proposal to offer its
Time Variant Pricing Plan to 1,200 volunteer customers. After submitting a
report to the commission on its 2012 results, the utility may be able to expand
the plan to more customers next year.
Shifting
demand on Idaho Power’s system away from on-peak hours can reduce power supply
expense to the utility and delay or eliminate the need to build new power
plants, all of which reduces expense for customers, even those who don’t
directly participate in the program.
Commission
staff, the Idaho Conservation League, the U.S. Green Building Council Idaho
(USGBCI) and the Snake River Alliance endorsed the pricing plan. USGBCI said the plan will “advance energy
efficiency and reduce the utility’s need to purchase expensive power on the
open market to meet high peak demand.”
A
smaller-scale plan, called Time-of-Day, is now offered (under the company’s
Schedule 5 tariff) in the Emmett area. With the installation of automated
meters throughout Idaho Power’s service territory, the plan can now be expanded
to include more customers.
During the
non-summer months, customers on the standard Schedule 1 residential tariff pay
6.83 cents per kWh for the first 800 kWh of use, 7.58 cents for use between 801
kWh and 2,000 kWh and 8.46 cents for use of 2,001 kWh and more. Under Time Variant Pricing, customers will
pay 6.26 cents per kWh during off peak hours and 8.22 cents during peak
hours. Peak hours are 1 to 9 p.m. on
weekdays. All other hours, including all weekend hours, are off-peak.
During the
summer months, residential customers pay 7.4 cents for the first 800 kWh; 9
cents for consumption between 801 and 2000 kWh and 10.8 cents for use above
2,000 kWh. Under Time Variant Pricing,
customers will pay 6.26 cents per kWh for off-peak use and 11.35 cents for
on-peak use.
Idaho Power
will send up to 60,000 invitation letters to customers in the Treasure Valley
area (where automated meters have been in place 12 months or longer) with the
hope of getting 1,200 participants.
Customers
invited to participate will have access to an online Energy Use Advising Tool
that will calculate their monthly and annual bills under the standard Schedule1
tariff the last 12 months. With the use
of a calculator provided, the company will help customers determine the impact
on their bills if they use energy the same as the previous year or if they can
shift a percentage of their use to off-peak hours.
The company
also proposes to make the tariff available to owners of electric vehicles
throughout its southern Idaho territory by providing educational materials
about the pricing plan to car dealerships.
Under the plan, electric car owners could charge their cars during
off-peak hours which could reduce their bills as well as reduce the negative
impact of this new end-use load on Idaho Power’s grid.
The commission’s order, along with
the company’s complete application and other documents related to the case, is
available on the commission’s Web site at www.puc.idaho.gov.
Click on “File Room” and then on “Electric Cases” and scroll down to Case No.
IPC-E-12-05.
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