IPUC Hears Six Hours of Testimony Against Idaho Power's Rooftop Solar Study

BOISE, ID — Last night, the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (IPUC) held the last of three public hearings across the state on Idaho Power’s recently-released study on the value of excess rooftop solar power, which indicated the monopoly may cut compensation rates to local solar owners by over 60 percent. Over 750 public comments have been submitted ahead of today’s November 4th deadline, the overwhelmingly majority of which oppose Idaho Power’s solar study.

Prior to the public hearing, a group of student climate activists and conservation groups held a press conference at the IPUC office calling on Idaho Power to support energy democracy. 

“Idaho Power claims to care about clean energy and the environment. So why are they making it more expensive and inaccessible? The profit they are chasing now isn’t worth its effect on the planet and therefore us. As members of the PUC, it is your job to keep electricity affordable and regulate the monopolies in our state. When you make your decision, please think about the people and planet, not the company,” said Kylie Jackson, Climate Justice League youth activist. 

During the public hearing, solar advocates called on the IPUC to reject or heavily review Idaho Power's solar study, which was criticized for having faulty methodology and outdated data. By the end of the hearing, the IPUC heard from over 50 members of the community, from rooftop solar owners, solar company owners and employees, farmers, doctors, youth activists and concerned citizens.

“We’re here to ask the PUC to do the simple thing - to protect Idahoans' right to make their own energy and to restrict the utility’s ability to single-handedly control how Idahoan’s solar energy is valued,” said Rachael Miller, General Manager at Revolusun. 

"Idahoans are eager to invest in an efficient, resilient, and modern electrical grid. It’s unfortunate that Idaho Power continues to view customer owned generation as a threat instead of as an asset," testified Alex McKinley, owner of Empowered Solar.

Some testifiers paired their personal stories with data from the independent study published by Crossborder Energy, which shows Idaho Power undervalued customer-owned rooftop solar and neglected to include benefits such as the long-term hedge against volatile natural gas prices and avoiding the rate impacts of carbon emissions, resulting in artificially lower values that will ultimately discourage locally-owned solar.

“By excluding key benefits, the total export credit rate according to Idaho Power is 2.3-4 cents per kilowatt. However, a study conducted by Crossborder Energy yields 18.3 cents per kilowatt–a significant increase,” said Sherlyn Messilas Becerra, a Climate Justice League youth activist. “What this tells the community of Idaho is that Idaho Power prioritizes its profit over people.”

During the press conference before the hearing, high school student activists with the Idaho Climate Justice League and other community organizations and businesses addressed the public and highlighted the importance of clean energy and solar power in the race to minimize the impacts of climate change. 

“[Idaho Power’s] study fails to account for the environmental benefits that solar provides, and uses biased data that supports Idaho Power’s financial interests,” said Molly O’Sullivan, student activist with the Climate Justice League. “To make so called ‘clean energy’ commitments and then promote anything but is a violation of the faith of the community that depends on this power. We have to call them out and demand better for our communities.”

Orbited by mini-suns and signs that said “Save Idaho Solar” and “Cut the hypocrisy, we want energy democracy,” the youth activists and their community partners delivered powerful statements to the press outside of the building that energized the crowd waiting to enter the hearing room, and voiced a clear goal -- Idaho Power must be held accountable for their attack on rooftop solar in Idaho.

“We are urging the Public Utilities Commission to reject Idaho Power’s flawed study and require a more impartial, complete, accurate, and accessible analysis consistent with the concerns from the over 750 comments that have been submitted on this case so far,” said Lisa Young, Chapter Director of the Idaho Sierra Club.

IPUC Staff first suggested holding no public hearings on this case. However, after receiving over 350 comments urging public hearings in multiple parts of the state, the IPUC ended up holding hearings in Boise (Nov 3, 3 hours), Pocatello (Oct 27, 2 hours), and Twin Falls (Nov 2, 1 hours). The IPUC’s final decision on whether to accept or reject Idaho Power’s study results is expected by the end of the year, after which Idaho Power will propose a new compensation rate structure for solar owners, which will open yet another case at the IPUC early next year. You can view the full study and follow the case on the IPUC's website here. 

Additional Comments: 

Kate Bowman, Interior West Regulator Director at Vote Solar said: 

“Locally generated clean power is a smart way to meet Idaho residents’ and businesses’ energy needs. Investments in rooftop solar produce electricity right where it is needed, help to avoid the need to build expensive new energy resources, and improve local resiliency. Assigning a fair value for energy exported to the grid is critical to fairly reward solar customers for the clean energy they are generating, and to ensure that homes and businesses continue to have the opportunity to go solar in the future.”

Scott Runkel, Member of Climate Action Coalition of the Wood River Valley said:  

“Blaine County has set a goal to achieve 100% clean electricity by 2035. If Idaho Power doesn’t correctly value customer generated roof-top solar, it will hamper our ability to generate local electricity, an important tool to achieve this goal.”

Mike Engle, Chair of Portneuf Resource Council said:

“Portneuf Resource Council applauds Idaho Power’s commitment to 100% renewable energy by 2045 and encourages Idaho Power to respect Idahoan’s desire to participate and contribute to Idaho’s clean energy goals by supporting a fair and appropriate export credit rate (net metering) to customer generated power.  The Idaho Power “Value of Distributed Energy Resources” (VODER) study finds the value of residential solar to be near the wholesale rate and it is clear they intend to use the results of this study to propose significantly reducing the export credit rate.  The independent Crossborder Energy study, funded by an alliance of Idaho non-profit organizations including PRC, finds the value of distributed energy resources in Idaho to be nearly double the retail rate for electricity. This large discrepancy needs to be resolved before the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approves the VODER study and paves the way for dramatic net metering rate changes for Idaho residents.  PRC strongly recommends the Idaho PUC reject the VODER study and facilitate a process to resolve the differences in the two studies.”

Leigh Ford, Executive Director of Snake River Alliance said: 

“The Snake River Alliance stands in solidarity with Idaho Climate Justice League and with all Idahoans who want fair, clear solar policy.  Our communities can be resilient, healthy, and prosperous because of our reliance on clean, renewable energy. We urge the PUC to consider the independent study, and to encourage more development of rooftop solar. Idahoans deserve a fair shake.”

Doug Shipley, CEO and Founder of Intermountain Wind and Solar said:

“When the people of Idaho look at what the future cost of energy will be and what their options to mitigate those costs are, nothing helps both the people of Idaho and the utility more than solar and storage (distributed energy) on rooftops and in garages all over the state. The studies used by Idaho Power are outdated and only give one point of view. This problem is solvable, but the utility should not penalize those who choose to limit their impact on both the grid and environment.”

Cindy Su, Youth Leader & Founder of System Green said: 

“Our organization was founded by youth because we care about the future of our planet. We are currently the ones that will be most affected by today’s actions. I am here to advocate for fair and up to date solar energy costs so that we can continue the momentum we have towards 100% clean energy. An unjust and outdated cost compensation for solar poses a roadblock towards getting to that goal, and that is why I am speaking here today, to overcome that.”

Nikita Thomas, Youth Activist at Climate Justice League said: 

“In their VODER solar study, Idaho Power completely disregarded the benefits of solar on different sectors of the community and economy. This is due to their biased approach as they are only focusing on their profits as an energy company instead of focusing on the greater good of our community. The Public Utilities Commission must hold Idaho Power accountable and consider the opinions of the community at this public hearing.”

Nicholas Thomas, Youth Activist at Climate Justice League said: 

“When we look at the long term effects, unaffordable solar will make it much harder for us to fight the climate crisis. This will lead to even more preventable deaths and diseases, and will directly affect our families. None of us deserve to lose a family member - especially to something preventable. This case is not only about climate justice, it’s about keeping our loved ones safe.”

Mayisa Rahman, Youth Activist at Climate Justice League said: 

“Rather than holding true to the commitment they made to provide us Idahoans a future of clean, accessible energy, they care more about profiting off our climate’s decay. I hope that my testimony, along with the many others, will hold Idaho Power’s study accountable, and push them to rethink, and reach the goal they promised us years ago: a future, with clean energy.”

Jenna Welle, Youth Activist at Climate Justice League said: 

“The PUC should not blindly accept Idaho Power’s heavily biased, inaccurate solar study which undervalues the energy produced by privately developed energy solutions.  The PUC’s lack of oversight will lead to higher energy costs and fewer power alternatives for taxpayers.  Please stand with me and the community and reject this study and require greater transparency and accuracy from Idaho Power.

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