Today's electricity needs – How much is needed?
The simple answer is, more.
Why? Because not only are more people and businesses moving into Idaho Power’s service area, but people also are using more on an individual basis.
The following table shows recent history for the growth in general business electricity volumes sold by Idaho Power. These numbers are from Idaho Power Company’s form 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The volumes shown are in thousands of megawatt-hours.
| 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | ||
| Residential | 5,068 | 4,760 | 4,580 | 4,427 | 4,387 | 4,307 | |
| Commercial | 3,761 | 3,639 | 3,561 | 3,511 | 3,460 | 3,380 | |
| Industrial | 3,475 | 3,423 | 3,335 | 3,206 | 3,226 | 3,925 | |
| Irrigation | 1,635 | 1,467 | 1,763 | 1,836 | 1,821 | 1,419 | |
| Total | 13,939 | 13,289 | 13,239 | 12,980 | 12,894 | 13,031 |
The figures show a general upward trend, with some fluctuations within the total or some individual customer classes. But it’s noteworthy that overall residential sales volumes have increased each year.
Individual Use
Our company experienced a gradual decline in electricity usage on a per-residential-customer basis from the late 1970s until the early part of this decade. However, since early 2003, when the individual annual usage was approximately 12,500 kilowatt-hours per year, we have seen a gradual increase. By early 2007, the per-residential-customer usage was approximately 12,800 kilowatt-hours per year.
Why has it gone up?
A precise answer is not available, but some general societal trends may help explain. We have experienced growth in the use of electronic devices, especially computers, and – at least nationally speaking – growth in the average size of newly constructed homes has increased.
Overall Growth
Another contributor to the growing demand for electricity is, of course, more people. Not only residences, but the numbers of businesses and irrigation customers have grown as well.
| 2006 | 2001 | ||
| Residential | 393,338 | 335,285 | |
| Commercial & Industrial | 60,553 | 52,257 | |
| Irrigation | 17,888 | 16,415 | |
| Total | 471,779 | 403,957 |
Our 20-year Energy Plan for the Future (referred to as the Integrated Resource Plan in our regulatory filings) contains detailed information about growth trends and expectations. It also speaks to another challenge we face – peak loads.
Idaho Power’s plan projects the average use levels – known as loads in the electric utility business – will grow steadily over the next 20 years. There are two components we must serve, base loads and peak-level loads. Base load speaks to how much electricity is being used on an average basis. Peak loads refer to that extra amount of electricity being used due to peak seasonal conditions. For Idaho Power, that occurs primarily during the summer peak when air conditioners are on and irrigation pumps are running.
Our Energy Plan projects that each year we will need to serve another 40 megawatts of demand. But for the summer peak periods, we will need to serve another 80 megawatts of demand each year.
Another way to put this: during most of the year, we will provide 1 megawatt of power to serve 650 homes, but during summer peak load periods, we will need to provide 4 megawatts to serve the same number of homes.
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