Rating: +1

Bill Summary:

House Bill 395 establishes new ratepayer protection and competitive procurement rules for public utilities serving large new electric loads in Idaho. A “new large load” is defined as any increase in electrical demand of 10 megawatts or more over a twelve-month period. The bill prohibits utilities from using existing or planned resources intended for the general ratepayer base to serve these high-demand customers. Instead, the customer must bear the full cost of capital, generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure needed to meet their load requirements.

The bill also enables these large consumers to purchase electric service from third-party suppliers instead of being locked into a local utility monopoly. Utilities are required to provide access to their transmission and distribution systems at cost to facilitate this competitive supply. It includes provisions to prevent large users from evading the rules by artificially splitting up their load across multiple service entrances or accounts. The Public Utilities Commission is granted rulemaking and dispute-resolution authority under legislative oversight, and the bill takes effect immediately upon passage.

Reason for Rating:

House Bill 395 directly supports the Idaho Republican Party Platform’s commitment to free market principles, consumer fairness, and fiscal responsibility. It protects Idaho households and small businesses from being forced to subsidize massive industrial energy users by ensuring that high-consumption customers pay their own way. It also promotes open market competition in the energy sector by breaking down monopoly control over new large-load customers. Importantly, the bill avoids unnecessary bureaucracy and reinforces constitutional oversight by limiting regulatory authority to existing structures. For these reasons, H0395 earns a +1 rating.

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