Customer agreement between Rocky Mountain Power, city of Idaho Falls gains approval

A new customer exchange agreement between Rocky Mountain Power and the city of Idaho Falls that gained approval from the Idaho Public Utilities Commission on Thursday.

The agreement establishing guidelines for determining who will provide electric service to new customers, and for transferring electric service in annexed portions of the city. The new agreement has been in the works since the expiration of a previous agreement at the city’s request in 2015.

Idaho Falls Power, an electric department operated by the city, serves approximately 28,000 customers within the city’s municipal boundaries and a handful of customers outside city limits. Rocky Mountain Power, meanwhile, serves approximately 77,000 customers in eastern Idaho, including some within Idaho Falls city limits.

Contracts between electric utilities must conform with the Idaho Electric Supplier Stabilization Act (ESSA), which aims to prevent duplicative facilities and pirating of customers while ensuring stabilized service territories and cooperation among electric suppliers.

“We find the agreement serves to supervise the electric suppliers’ conduct and stabilize the service territories and consumers served by the city and Rocky Mountain,” the commission said in a statement. “Accordingly, we find the agreement consistent with the ESSA, and we approve it.”

The new agreement will be in place for four years, but it is scheduled for automatic renewal unless one of the parties provides notice of withdrawal.