Changeflow GovPing Energy IPUC Upholds Intervenor Funding Award to Idaho ...
Routine Enforcement Amended Final

IPUC Upholds Intervenor Funding Award to Idaho Irrigation Pumpers Association

Favicon for puc.idaho.gov Orders
Filed April 3rd, 2026
Detected April 3rd, 2026
Email

Summary

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission issued Order No. 36991 reaffirming its award of $7,461.63 in intervenor funding to the Idaho Irrigation Pumpers Association (IIPA) in Case No. IPC-E-25-27. The Commission declined to modify the previously awarded amount despite IIPA's errata correcting its requested amount from $14,923.25 to $7,635.75. Idaho Power is ordered to remit payment within 28 days.

What changed

The Commission addressed IIPA's Errata to its Petition for Intervenor Funding, which revealed that IIPA had inadvertently used expert witness billing hours from a different docket (Case No. IPC-E-25-23) when calculating its funding request. The error resulted in IIPA seeking $14,923.25 instead of the corrected $7,635.75. The Commission found that the minimal difference between the previously approved $7,461.63 and the corrected request did not warrant modifying Order No. 36954.

Idaho Power Company is ordered to remit the $7,461.63 intervenor funding award to IIPA within 28 days of the service date. The Commission directed IIPA to include detailed task breakdowns in future intervenor funding requests and encouraged IIPA to review its internal records for any similar discrepancies in prior filings.

What to do next

  1. Verify internal billing records for any errors in prior intervenor funding requests and self-report discrepancies to the Commission immediately
  2. Include detailed task breakdowns with hours billed in future intervenor funding requests
  3. Process payment of $7,461.63 to IIPA within 28 days of the order

Source document (simplified)

Office of the Secretary Service Date April 3, 2026

BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION

IN THE MATTER OF IDAHO POWER ) CASE NO. IPC-E-25-27 COMPANY'S APPLICATION FOR ) APPROVAL OF A POWER PURCHASE ) ORDER NO. 36991 AGREEMENT WITH BLACKS CREEK ) ENERGY CENTER, LLC ) ) On September 5, 2025, Idaho Power Company ("Company") applied to the Idaho Public Utilities Commission ("Commission") requesting: (1) approval of the 25-year Power Purchase Agreement between Blacks Creek Energy Center, LLC and the Company and (2) acknowledgment that the resulting expenses associated with the PPA are prudently incurred for ratemaking purposes. On February 9, 2026, the Idaho Irrigation Pumpers Association, Inc. ("IIPA"), an intervenor in the case, filed a late Petition for Intervenor Funding seeking $14,923.25 for its expenses incurred to participate in the docket ("Petition"). The Commission partially granted IIPA's Petition in the amount of $7,461.63, noting it had reduced the amount requested by half due to the lateness of the filing. Order No. 36954. On March 13, 2026, IIPA filed a correction to its Petition ("Errata"), stating that it had erroneously prepared the Petition using the billing hours from a separate docket and reducing the total amount of intervenor funding it sought from $14,923.25 to $7,635.75. Having reviewed the Petition and Errata, we issue this Order reaffirming the award of $7,461.63 in intervenor funding granted to IIPA in Order No. 36954. IIPA'S ERRATA TO ITS PETITION FOR INTERVENOR FUNDING According to IIPA, upon receiving Order No. 36954, it reviewed its records and discovered it had inadvertently used the expert witness hours from Case No. IPC-E-25-23 when preparing the Petition. Errata at 1. IIPA informed the Company of the error and asked the Company to withhold payment of the Commission-ordered intervenor funding until the mistake was remedied. Id. IIPA represented that it would update the format of its intervenor funding requests to provide more detail going forward to prevent errors of this nature. Id. at 2.

ORDER NO. 36991 1

The Errata reduced IIPA's witness billing hours from 51.4 to 22.25, which resulted in a reduction in the total amount of intervenor funding sought from $14,923.25 to $7,635.75. Petition, Exhibit A; Errata, Exhibit A. COMMISSION FINDINGS AND DECISION Despite the inaccurate expert witness billing hours listed in the Petition, the reasoning we articulated in Order No. 36954 for granting IIPA intervenor funding remains applicable. Given the minimal difference between the amount previously approved and the amount IIPA requested in the Errata, we find no need to modify the prior order. As IIPA recognized in the Errata, we reiterate our expectation expressed in Order No. 36958 that future requests for intervenor funding will include a breakdown of the tasks performed in addition to the hours billed. Including such detail will help establish that the tasks performed directly relate to the case in which intervenor funding is sought. These details are necessary to provide the Commission better insight into the intervenor funding request and to help ensure that the costs of participation, which are passed on to the appropriate customer class, were incurred for the benefit of that class. While we appreciate IIPA notifying the Commission of this mistake, we are concerned about a lack of oversight that might have affected other requests it has made for intervenor funding. We encourage IIPA to continue reviewing its internal records and to immediately notify the Commission concerning discovery of any additional mistakes regarding disparities between the work performed and the costs submitted as part of requests for intervenor funding. ORDER IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Commission's award of $7,461.63 in intervenor funding to IIPA is upheld. The Company is ordered to remit said amount to IIPA within 28 days from the date of this Order. IDAPA 31.01.01.165.02. The Company shall be permitted to recover the cost of this intervenor funding in its next general rate case from its Schedule 24, Irrigation customer class. Idaho Code § 61-617A(3). THIS IS A FINAL ORDER. Any person interested in this Order may petition for reconsideration within 21 days of the service date of this Order regarding any matter decided in this Order. Within seven days after any person has petitioned for reconsideration, any other person may cross-petition for reconsideration. Idaho Code § 61-626.

ORDER NO. 36991 2

DONE by Order of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission at Boise, Idaho this 3 day of rd April 2026. __________________________________________ EDWARD LODGE, PRESIDENT __________________________________________ JOHN R. HAMMOND JR., COMMISSIONER __________________________________________ DAYN HARDIE, COMMISSIONER ATTEST: Monica Barrios-Sanchez Commission Secretary

I:\Legal\ELECTRIC\IPC-E-25-27Blacks Creek PPA\orders\FO IF_jl.docx

ORDER NO. 36991 3

Named provisions

IIPA's Errata to Its Petition for Intervenor Funding Commission Findings and Decision

Source

Analysis generated by AI. Source diff and links are from the original.

Classification

Agency
IPUC
Filed
April 3rd, 2026
Compliance deadline
May 1st, 2026 (27 days)
Instrument
Enforcement
Legal weight
Binding
Stage
Final
Change scope
Minor
Document ID
Order No. 36991 / Case No. IPC-E-25-27
Docket
IPC-E-25-27 IPC-E-25-23
Supersedes
Order No. 36954

Who this affects

Applies to
Energy companies Government agencies
Industry sector
2210 Electric Utilities
Activity scope
Power Purchase Agreements Intervenor Funding
Geographic scope
US-ID US-ID

Taxonomy

Primary area
Energy
Operational domain
Legal
Topics
Utilities Regulation Administrative Procedure

Get Energy alerts

Weekly digest. AI-summarized, no noise.

Free. Unsubscribe anytime.

Get alerts for this source

We'll email you when Orders publishes new changes.

Optional. Personalizes your daily digest.

Free. Unsubscribe anytime.