Idaho Power must prove it does not have unjust market power in its balancing authority area, FERC ruled July 8.
Idaho Power failed the wholesale market-share indicative screen for its balancing authority area (BAA) in three of four seasons for the December 2022 to November 2023 study period. FERC presumes the existence of horizontal market power when a seller fails a screening.
FERC said it will launch a Section 206 proceeding under the Federal Power Act “to determine whether Idaho Power’s market-based rate authority in the Idaho Power balancing authority area remains just and reasonable and to establish a refund effective date.”
On April 25, 2025, Idaho Power reported a notice of change in status to report a 230-MW increase in its generation capacity in its BAA. The filing included market power analyses for eight BAAs, including its own.
Despite the screen failure, Idaho Power argued in its filing that a price test indicates it does not have market power.
However, FERC said “we conclude that Idaho Power’s failures of the non-summer market share indicative screens provide the basis for the commission to institute the instant Section 206 proceeding.”
“As the commission has previously stated, sellers submitting evidence, such as a delivered price test, in support of a contention that they do not possess market power should not expect that the commission will postpone instituting a Section 206 investigation while it examines the supplemental information,” the order stated.
Idaho Power has 60 days to show why FERC should not revoke its market-based rate powers in its BAA. The utility also can file supplemental evidence like “historical sales and transmission data to rebut the presumption that it has the ability to exercise horizontal market power in the Idaho Power balancing authority area,” according to the order.
Alternatively, Idaho Power can file a proposal that would mitigate its market power or “inform the commission that it will adopt the commission’s default cost-based rates or propose other cost-based rates and submit cost support for such rates.”
FERC expects to issue a decision by Jan. 7, 2026.
Idaho Power is an investor-owned utility based in Boise. It serves an area of about 24,000 square miles in Idaho and Oregon and relies on hydroelectric power for much of its energy mix.
It reported that its control of generation in the Idaho Power BAA increased in May as it began service under a long-term firm power purchase tolling agreement that allows the utility to charge and discharge the output of Kuna BESS LLC’s 150-MW (600 MWh) battery energy storage system. The PPA runs through May 19, 2045.
In June, the utility’s Happy Valley BESS, an 80-MW (320 MWh) standalone BESS, started operations.
