2 utilities compared · 3 plans · 393 ZIP codes
Electricity rates in Idaho
Not a state average. The same household, priced hour by hour for a year on the default plan at each utility we cover here — so the differences below are differences in the tariffs, not in how much anyone used.
What a year of electricity costs in Idaho
| Household | Uses | Median, per year | Cheapest utility | Dearest utility |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apartment One or two people, no central air, no electric heat | 4,866 kWh | $846 | $736 | $956 |
| Family home Three or four people with central air conditioning | 9,453 kWh | $1,523 | $1,332 | $1,715 |
| Home with an EV Same house, plus an electric car charging overnight | 13,103 kWh | $2,089 | $1,842 | $2,335 |
Median and range across the 2 utilities, each on the plan a household lands on by default. Estimates for comparing utilities against each other, not a prediction of any one bill; they exclude taxes, local surcharges and demand charges.
How much does where you live inside Idaho matter?
Run the same three-bedroom house with central air through the default residential plan at each of the 2 utilities we cover in Idaho, and the yearly bill lands between $1,332 at Avista and $1,715 at Idaho Power; the median is $1,523. That $383 gap is for identical electricity, and it is set by nothing you chose: which utility's territory the house stands in. You cannot switch utilities. What you can do is make sure you are on the right plan at yours.
The utility is fixed by your address; the plan is not. At Idaho Power, the cheapest and dearest of its 2 comparable plans are $40 a year apart for the same house — less than the gap between utilities, but it is the one lever that is actually yours to pull.
1 of the 2 utilities files at least one plan priced by the hour (1 plans in all). If yours is one of them, shifting when you use power is worth real money; if not, only the total matters and the plan list is short.
Utility by utility
Cheapest first, for the family home. The last two columns are where the money is: how far the default plan sits from the cheapest one the same utility files.
| Utility | Plans | Default plan, a year | Cheapest plan | By the hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avista 1 Residential Service | 1 | $1,332 | only plan | — |
| Idaho Power Schedule 1 - Residential Service | 2 | $1,715 | none cheaper | 1 plan |
Before you compare anything
- Should you switch to a time-of-use electricity plan?
A wide peak-to-off-peak gap is a lever, not a saving. Levers need something to move.
- How to compare electricity plans without getting it wrong
Six things that break a comparison, and the order to check them in.
- Electricity rates by state: what the filed tariffs actually say
Median rates from the tariffs themselves, not a state-level average.