Idaho Power requests 10.35% rate increase

BOISE — Idaho Power is seeking an electricity rate increase of 10.35 percent, although residential customers would see only a 4.5 percent increase.

The company filed an application Friday with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, requesting the increase that utility officials said was needed to meet the costs of expanding coverage for Idaho's growing population.

"As our population and demand for energy services have continued to increase, we have made new investment to upgrade our existing infrastructure and to add new facilities," LaMont Keen, the company's president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

The company projects it will spend $300 million this year and next maintaining and upgrading its system.

"We're facing increasing prices like every other business — fuel, postage, all the things needed to run a utility," spokesman Dennis Lopez told The Associated Press.

For the average residential customer who uses 1,050 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month, the company said the rate hike would result in a $2.86 a month bump, to $67.22.

Other customer groups would see larger increases. Small commercial rates would go up 15 percent, large commercial rates 13.1 percent, industrial rates 15 percent, and irrigation rates 20 percent.

The commission could take as long as seven months to consider the request. Public hearings are required, Lopez said.

The company's last general rate increase was in 2005.