Rocky Mountain Power rate adjustments approved

Two rate adjustments, approved by the Idaho Public Utilities Commission Friday, will increase a Rocky Mountain Power customer’s rates by about three cents a month.

Rocky Mountain Power’s annual Energy Cost Adjustment Mechanism (ECAM) will be a slight decrease to customers of 0.7 percent, or about 58 cents less on an average residential monthly bill.

Its Customer Efficiency Services Rate is a 0.6 percent increase, from the current 2.1 percent of the monthly billed amount to 2.7 percent. For a residential customer who uses the company average of 837 kilowatt-hours per month, the increase will be 61 cents per month.

The commission said it was aware of the impact that any rate increase can have on customers, particularly those on low- and fixed-incomes. But, the commission also noted that effective demand-side management programs delay the need for the company to build or buy from higher-cost generation resources.

Neither the ECAM decrease nor the Customer Efficiency Services Rate increase impact Rocky Mountain’s earnings. Money collected in the ECAM and the energy efficiency rate must go directly toward the deferred accounts established for each program.