On October 21, Vote Solar and Sierra Club filed Request for reconsideration with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC) following Idaho Power’s partially approved proposal to reduce offset rates for customer-generated solar. In this petition, the organizations asked the committee to establish a working group to resolve issues with rooftop solar export tariffs before the next scheduled review in 2028.
In the final orderthe PUC allowed Idaho Power to reduce its solar export rate by 31%, down from the original 60% the utility requested, and froze further changes until 2028. This decision affects more than 14,000 Idaho households that installed solar after 2019, reducing the price they get for the excess solar energy they put back on the grid. just share.
In the petition, the organizations commended the commission for limiting Idaho Power’s proposed percentage reduction; However, they point to the flawed Export Credit Rate (ECR) method used to calculate solar energy exports. The petition calls on the commission to use the time before the next tariff update in 2028 to jointly improve the ECR methodology.
“Idaho families are turning to rooftop solar to gain stability and independence from unpredictable and ever-rising energy costs,” said Kate Bowman, senior regulatory director of Vote Solar’s Interior West. “Unfortunately, the current solar export tariff structure undermines that stability – it is designed to change from year to year and targets utility profits, exposing solar customers to unpredictable utility bills and unfair compensation rates.”
The City of Boise also filed a petition for reconsideration on this matter yesterday, asking the PUC to further limit this year’s ECR decline and proposing other improvements to the methodology. All petitions submitted before the October 21 deadline will appear on this PUC web page soon. All parties to the case, including Idaho Power and PUC Staff, now have seven days to file a response to these petitions, if they wish. The PUC will then deliberate and make a final decision on the petitions by November 18.
News item from Vote Solar
