On Thursday, Dec. 10, Idaho Power was pumping out more electricity than any previous winter moment in the company's history. And that was the second time the winter record had been broken in two days.
Company spokesperson Stephanie McCurdy said in a news release that reliability was not jeopardized because Idaho Power "plans for these sharp peaks" and has three natural-gas-fired generating plants to meet demand.
McCurdy said Blaine County's 16,723 customers contributed to this record-setting demand, which occurred during a cold streak when temperatures remained below zero for days at a time, but no more than anyone else. During the spike, the county was using its proportionate share.
Blaine County represents 3.4 percent of the customers Idaho Power serves in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon. During the peak, the county was using 3.5 percent of the 2,527 megawatts being distributed to Idaho Power's 489,000 customers. A megawatt is equivalent to 1 million watts.
"The folks in Blaine County have really stepped up in energy-efficiency measures lately," McCurdy said.
Reducing electricity consumption has become even more important this season with Idaho Power's implementing its tiered-rate system, which charges customers using high amounts of electricity more per kilowatt-hour.
Residential customers using 0 to 800 kWh per month pay 5.7 cents per kWh. But if they exceed 800 kWH, they'll be paying 6.33 cents per kWh after that until reaching 2,000 kWh. Anything above 2,000 kWh costs 7.28 cents per kWh.
Tiered rates also increase during the summer—June to August—when Idaho Power customers are sucking the most electricity out of their sockets.
The winter record peak of 2,527 megawatts isn't even close to the summer peak of 3,214 megawatts, set on June 30, 2008.
Summer residential prices are 0.4 cents more per kWh in the 0 to 800-kWh range, 1.1 cents more in the 801 to 2,000-kWh range, and 1.7 cents more per kWh above that.
Those rates, which apply from September through May, result in a customer who's using 2,225 kWh per month paying $194 more annually than if he or she paid the base rate of 5.7 cents per kWh.
"It is important [that] customers are aware of where they fall within those tiers," said Idaho Power pricing manager Mike Youngblood in a news release, "and adjust their use accordingly to suit their budgets."
Trevon Milliard: tmilliard@mtexpress.com
