Every spring, Idaho Power makes two filings that impact rates for our customers in Idaho. These filings are called the Fixed Cost Adjustment (FCA) and Power Cost Adjustment (PCA).
Fixed Cost Adjustment (FCA)
The FCA applies to residential and small general service customers in Idaho. It adjusts prices up or down based on changes in energy use per customer during the prior year. The FCA is a true-up mechanism that separates energy sales from revenue to remove financial disincentives for Idaho Power to invest in demand-side management, which can contribute to use per customer declining. In other words, the FCA allows the company to provide energy efficiency programs to residential and small general service customers without negative financial impacts.
Read more about this year’s FCA filing.
Power Cost Adjustment (PCA)
The PCA applies to all Idaho customers. This annual update reflects how much it costs Idaho Power to make or buy electricity. Things like water levels for hydro power, fuel prices, and market power costs change from year to year. This adjustment ensures customer bills reflect those real costs – whether they go up or down. The PCA has two main components: a balancing account for power costs incurred the previous year and a forecast of what energy will cost in the coming year (including customer benefits from the sales of surplus energy). Idaho Power does not profit from this adjustment; the company simply passes power costs through to customers.