Idaho commission approves PacifiCorp’s cost allocation plan for two-year extension

PacifiCorp’s cost-sharing plan was approved this week by the Idaho Public Utilities Commission for a two-year extension.

The current multi-state protocol puts revenue requirements for Idaho above the current share of $986,000 by an additional 1.7 percent. The increase allows PacifiCorp to save $12,500 per month in anticipation of a rate adjustment that would come by Jan. 1, 2018.

In 2005, PacifiCorp established a multi-state cost-sharing plan plan that saw the expenses from its six-state territory allocated based on each state’s share of PacifiCorp’s total system load. An additional equalization adjustment process agreed upon by the member states further adjusted the contributions paid by each state.

The 2017 protocol update continues the “rolled-in method” used in the past that seeks to guarantee that only prudently incurred costs are paid for by each state.

“We recognize that different rolled-in methods exist, and that some of them could have increased PacifiCorp Idaho’s revenue requirement beyond the increase proposed here,” the commission said.

The commission said the 1.7 percent increase to the Idaho revenue requirement would ensure that Idaho customers pay only for a fair share of total system costs.