Rocky Mountain Power customers could see small rate reduction

Rocky Mountain Power is proposing a 0.7 percent rate decrease for its residential, commercial, and irrigation customers. The company’s two largest industrial customers would see even more.

If approved by the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, typical residential customers using 800 kilowatt-hours would save about 58 cents a month. The new rates would take effect April 1, 2016.

The proposal is part of the utility’s annual energy cost adjustment, which tracks the difference between the company’s actual fuel expenses and other costs to provide electricity and the amount it collects from customers.

“The decrease results primarily from lower natural gas prices, which also reduces the cost of electricity the company purchases to help serve the needs of customers,” said Tim Solomon, Rocky Mountain Power’s regional business manager in Rexburg. “When the cost of providing electricity goes down, we’re pleased to be able to reflect that on customer bills. The last time the cost-adjustment mechanism resulted in a decrease for most Idaho customers was 2014.”

The company’s proposal requests that the Idaho Public Utilities Commission approve deferral of the 2015 energy related costs of $16.7 million and decrease by $9 million the revenues collected through the energy cost adjustment mechanism, Schedule 94.

The proposal would have the following impacts on prices:

• Residential customers – 0.6 percent decrease
• Residential schedule 36, optional time-of-day service – 0.7 percent decrease
• General Service schedule 6 – 0.9 percent decrease
• General Service schedule 9 – 1.0 percent decrease
• Irrigation customers – 0.8 percent decrease
• Commercial or industrial heating schedule 19 – 0.8 percent decrease
• General Service schedule 23 – 0.7 percent decrease
• General Service schedule 35 – 1.0 percent decrease
• Public Street Lighting – 0.3 percent decrease
• Industrial customer, tariff schedule 400 – 7.1 percent decrease
• Industrial customer, schedule 401 – 7.3 percent decrease