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Utah Commission Approves Settlement Resolving Rocky Mountain Power Rate Case Appeal

On July 31, 2026, the Utah Public Service Commission (UPSC) approved a settlement resolving Rocky Mountain Power’s appeal of the Commission’s 2025 general rate case and Energy Balancing Account (EBA) decisions.

The settlement follows Rocky Mountain Power’s appeal of the UPSC’s April 2025 general rate case (and consolidated dockets) order to the Utah Supreme Court.  In June 2026, Rocky Mountain Power, the Division of Public Utilities, Office of Consumer Services, Utah Association of Energy Users, Utah Large Customer Group, and UPSC executed a settlement stipulation and agreed to stay the appeal and seek a limited remand to the UPSC so that the Utah Commission  could consider and approve the settlement. The Utah Supreme Court granted the remand on July 1, 2026.

Under the settlement, Rocky Mountain Power will receive an additional $93 million in annual revenue requirement above the amount approved in the Commission’s 2025 general rate case ($87.2 million revenue requirement increase).  The increase consists of $34 million for capital structure, $15.4 million for return on equity, $34 million for liability insurance, and $9.6 million for wildland fire mitigation.

In exchange, Rocky Mountain Power agreed not to file another Utah general rate case with a rate-effective date before January 1, 2029 (“stay-out period”).  The settlement also establishes an earnings-sharing mechanism through the end of 2028.  If Rocky Mountain Power’s actual earnings exceed a 9.65 percent return on equity, the company will share a portion of those earnings with customers—50 percent of earnings up to 50 basis points above the 9.65 percent threshold (10.15 percent) and 75 percent of earnings above that level.

The settlement also includes a commitments by Rocky Mountain Power to invest approximately $2.2 billion in infrastructure in Utah before the end of the stay-out period; increases the Low-Income Lifeline monthly credit from $18 to $19 (roughly in line with the average residential increase as a result of the rate case and settlement); and allows Rocky Mountain Power to recover an additional $9.6 million in wildland fire mitigation costs on an interim basis from July 2026 through June 2027.  Those costs remain subject to future review, and amounts later determined not to have been prudently incurred will be credited back to customers.

The UPSC’s April 2025 order also approved an unopposed settlement stipulation resolving issues in Phase II of the general rate case, addressing cost of service and customer class pricing issues. Sanger Greene PC (Irion Sanger and Diego Rivas) represented Stadion LLC in the Rocky Mountain Power general rate case. Stadion LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Meta Platforms, Inc. Meta has ambitious climate and renewable energy goals, including sourcing 100 percent of its global operations from renewable energy and achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions across its value chain by 2030.

Idaho, Oregon, and Utah Commission Orders on PacifiCorp IRPs

On September 1, 2021, PacifiCorp filed its 2021 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (IPUC or Idaho Commission), Oregon Public Utility Commission (OPUC or Oregon Commission), and the Utah Public Service Commission (UPSC or Utah Commission). The Idaho Commission accepted and acknowledged the 2021 IRP in an August 30, 2022 written order. The Oregon Commission acknowledged the 2021 IRP, with conditions, at a public meeting on March 29, 2022, and memorialized that decision in an order on May 23, 2022. The Utah Commission declined to acknowledge the 2021 IRP in an order issued on June 2, 2022. 

Utah, Washington, and Oregon Commissions Approve PacifiCorp’s 2022 RFP

At the March 10, 2022 Open Meeting, the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (the Washington Commission) approved PacifiCorp’s 2022 request for proposals (RFP) with conditions in Docket No. UE-210979. At the April 14, 2022 Special Public Meeting, the Oregon Public Utility Commission (the Oregon Commission) approved PacifiCorp’s 2022 RFP with several conditions in Docket No. UM 2193. In an Order from April 22, 2022, the Utah Public Service Commission (the Utah Commission) also approved PacifiCorp’s 2022 RFP with conditions in Docket No. 21-035-52. PacifiCorp’s RFP was issued to the market in April and bids are expected to be due in January 2023.  

PacifiCorp Utah and Oregon GRC Orders

In late December 2020, the Utah Public Service Commission (Utah Commission) and the Oregon Public Utility Commission (Oregon Commission) issued separate orders on PacifiCorp’s Utah and Oregon general rate cases. On December 30, the Utah Commission granted an increase to PacifiCorp, dba Rocky Mountain Power’s (PacifiCorp) annual revenue requirement of $31.41 million. In its initial Utah filing, PacifiCorp sought to increase its retail rates by $95.78 million, or 4.8%. On December 18, 2020, the Oregon Commission ordered a decrease to PacifiCorp’s revenue requirement of approximately $20.9 million, representing a 1.6% decrease from the its previous rates. PacifiCorp’s initial Oregon filing sought an increase of $78 million, or approximately 6%. 

Utah PSC Modifies Rocky Mountain Power’s Avoided Cost Methodology

On January 23, 2018, the Utah Public Service Commission (Utah Commission) adopted updates and revisions to Rocky Mountain Power’s avoided cost pricing methodologies for qualifying facility (QF) resources. Rocky Mountain Power will now offer renewable resources of the same kind or type a renewable avoided cost rate based on the costs of a similar or a “like” renewable resource.