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SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES: Organization, Consolidation, Presentation, and Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2024
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Nature of Business
IDACORP is a holding company formed in 1998 whose principal operating subsidiary is Idaho Power. Idaho Power is an electric utility engaged in the generation, transmission, distribution, sale, and purchase of electric energy and capacity with a service area covering approximately 24,000 square miles in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon. Idaho Power is regulated primarily by the state utility regulatory commissions of Idaho and Oregon and the FERC. Idaho Power is the parent of IERCo, a joint-owner of BCC, which mines and supplies coal to the Jim Bridger plant owned in part by Idaho Power.
 
IDACORP’s other notable wholly-owned subsidiaries include IFS, an investor in affordable housing and other real estate tax credit investments, and Ida-West, an operator of small hydropower generation projects that satisfy the requirements of the PURPA.
Regulation of Utility Operations
As a regulated utility, many of Idaho Power's fundamental business decisions are subject to the approval of governmental agencies, including the prices that Idaho Power is authorized to charge for its electric service. These approvals are a critical factor in determining IDACORP's and Idaho Power's results of operations and financial condition.
IDACORP's and Idaho Power's financial statements reflect the effects of the different ratemaking principles followed by the jurisdictions regulating Idaho Power. The application of accounting principles related to regulated operations sometimes results in Idaho Power recording expenses and revenues in a different period than when an unregulated entity would record such expenses and revenues. In these instances, the amounts are deferred or accrued as regulatory assets or regulatory liabilities on the balance sheet. Regulatory assets represent incurred costs that have been deferred because it is probable they will be recovered from customers through future rates. Regulatory liabilities represent obligations to make refunds to customers for previous collections, or represent amounts collected in advance of incurring an expense.
Financial Statements In the opinion of management of IDACORP and Idaho Power, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements contain all adjustments necessary to present fairly each company's condensed consolidated balance sheets as of March 31, 2024, condensed consolidated statements of income for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, and condensed consolidated cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023. These adjustments are of a normal and recurring nature. These financial statements do not contain the complete detail or note disclosures concerning accounting policies and other matters that would be included in full-year financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements included in the 2023 Annual Report. The statements of income for the interim period are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year. A change in management's estimates or assumptions could have a material impact on IDACORP's or Idaho Power's respective balance sheets and statements of income during the period in which such change occurred.
Management Estimates
Management makes estimates and assumptions when preparing financial statements in conformity with GAAP. These estimates and assumptions include, among others, those related to rate regulation, retirement benefits, contingencies, asset impairment, income taxes, unbilled revenues, and bad debt. These estimates and assumptions affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. These estimates involve judgments with respect to, among other things,
future economic factors that are difficult to predict and are beyond management's control. Accordingly, actual results could differ from those estimates.
New and Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements
Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

There have been no recently adopted accounting pronouncements that have had a material impact on IDACORP's or Idaho Power's condensed consolidated financial statements.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted

In November 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2023-07, Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures, which expands annual and interim disclosure requirements for reportable segments, primarily through enhanced disclosures about significant segment expenses. This ASU is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2023, and for interim periods beginning after December 15, 2024, with early adoption permitted. The amendments in this ASU will be applied retrospectively. IDACORP and Idaho Power are currently evaluating the impact that adoption of this ASU will have on the notes to their respective financial statements.

In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures which expands the disclosure requirements for income taxes, specifically related to the rate reconciliation and income taxes paid. This ASU is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024, with early adoption permitted. The amendments in this ASU are required to be applied prospectively and are allowed to be applied retrospectively. IDACORP and Idaho Power are currently evaluating the impact that adoption of this ASU will have on the notes to their respective financial statements.

There have been no other recent accounting pronouncements not yet adopted that are expected to have a material impact on IDACORP's or Idaho Power's condensed consolidated financial statements.
Income Tax
In accordance with interim reporting requirements, IDACORP and Idaho Power use an estimated annual effective tax rate for computing their provisions for income taxes. An estimate of annual income tax expense (or benefit) is made each interim period using estimates for annual pre-tax income, income tax adjustments, and tax credits. The estimated annual effective tax rates do not include discrete events such as tax law changes, examination settlements, accounting method changes, or adjustments to tax expense or benefits attributable to prior years. Discrete events are recorded in the interim period in which they occur or become known. The estimated annual effective tax rate is applied to year-to-date pre-tax income to determine income tax expense (or benefit) for the interim period consistent with the annual estimate. In subsequent interim periods, income tax expense (or benefit) for the period is computed as the difference between the year-to-date amount reported for the previous interim period and the current period's year-to-date amount.
Revenue Recognition The FCA mechanism revenues include only the initial recognition of FCA revenues when they meet the regulator-specified conditions for recognition. Revenue from contracts with customers excludes the portion of the tariff price representing FCA revenues that Idaho Power initially recorded in prior periods when revenues met regulator-specified conditions. When Idaho Power includes those amounts in the price of utility service and billed to customers, Idaho Power records such amounts as recovery of the associated regulatory asset or liability and not as revenues. Derivative revenues include gains from settled electricity swaps and sales of electricity under forward sales contracts that are bundled with renewable energy credits. For each forward sale, Idaho Power simultaneously enters into a matching forward purchase of electricity for the same quantity at the same location, which are recorded in purchased power on the condensed consolidated statements of income.
Forward Sale Agreement, Policy The FSAs have been classified as an equity transaction because they are indexed to IDACORP’s common stock and the other requirements necessary for equity classification are met. As a result of the equity classification, no gain or loss will be recognized within earnings due to subsequent changes in the fair value of the FSAs.
Earnings Per Share, Policy Prior to settlement, the potentially issuable shares pursuant to the FSAs will be reflected in IDACORP’s diluted earnings per share calculations using the treasury stock method. Under this method, the number of shares of IDACORP’s common stock used in calculating diluted earnings per share for a reporting period would be increased by the number of shares, if any, that would be issued upon physical settlement of the FSAs, less the number of shares that could be purchased by IDACORP in the market with the proceeds received from issuance (based on the average market price during that reporting period). Share dilution occurs when the average market price of IDACORP’s stock during the reporting period is higher than the then-applicable forward sale price as of the end of the reporting period.
Commitments and Contingencies, Policy
IDACORP and Idaho Power have in the past and expect in the future to become involved in various claims, controversies, disputes, and other contingent matters, some of which involve litigation and regulatory or other contested proceedings. The ultimate resolution and outcome of litigation and regulatory proceedings is inherently difficult to determine, particularly where (a) the remedies or penalties sought are indeterminate, (b) the proceedings are in the early stages or the substantive issues have not been well developed, or (c) the matters involve complex or novel legal theories or a large number of parties. In accordance with applicable accounting guidance, IDACORP and Idaho Power, as applicable, establish an accrual for legal proceedings when those matters proceed to a stage where they present loss contingencies that are both probable and reasonably estimable. If the loss contingency at issue is not both probable and reasonably estimable, IDACORP and Idaho Power do not establish an accrual and the matter will continue to be monitored for any developments that would make the loss contingency both probable and reasonably estimable. As of the date of this report, IDACORP's and Idaho Power's accruals for loss contingencies are not material to their financial statements as a whole; however, future accruals could be material in a given period. IDACORP's and Idaho Power's determination is based on currently available information, and estimates presented in financial statements and other financial disclosures involve significant judgment and may be subject to significant uncertainty. For matters that affect Idaho Power's operations, Idaho Power intends to seek, to the extent permissible and appropriate, recovery through the ratemaking process of costs incurred, although there is no assurance that such recovery would be granted.
IDACORP and Idaho Power are parties to legal claims and legal, tax, and regulatory actions and proceedings in the ordinary course of business and, as noted above, record an accrual for associated loss contingencies when they are probable and reasonably estimable.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
IDACORP and Idaho Power have categorized their financial instruments into a three-level fair value hierarchy, based on the priority of the inputs to the valuation technique. The fair value hierarchy gives the highest priority to quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3). If the inputs used to measure the financial instruments fall within different levels of the hierarchy, the categorization is based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement of the instrument.

Financial assets and liabilities recorded on the condensed consolidated balance sheets are categorized based on the inputs to the valuation techniques as follows:
 
• Level 1: Financial assets and liabilities whose values are based on unadjusted quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in an active market that IDACORP and Idaho Power have the ability to access.
 
•   Level 2: Financial assets and liabilities whose values are based on the following:
a) quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets;
b) quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in non-active markets;
c) pricing models whose inputs are observable for substantially the full term of the asset or liability; and
d) pricing models whose inputs are derived principally from or corroborated by observable market data through correlation or other means for substantially the full term of the asset or liability.
 
IDACORP and Idaho Power Level 2 inputs for derivative instruments are based on quoted market prices adjusted for location using corroborated, observable market data or using quoted price which may be in non-active markets.
 
•    Level 3: Financial assets and liabilities whose values are based on prices or valuation techniques that require inputs that are both unobservable and significant to the overall fair value measurement. These inputs reflect management’s own assumptions about the assumptions a market participant would use in pricing the asset or liability.
 
IDACORP’s and Idaho Power’s assessment of a particular input's significance to the fair value measurement requires judgment and may affect the valuation of fair value assets and liabilities and their placement within the fair value hierarchy.
Derivatives, Methods of Accounting, Derivatives Not Designated or Qualifying as Hedges [Policy Text Block]
Idaho Power is exposed to market risk relating to electricity, natural gas, and other fuel commodity prices, all of which are heavily influenced by supply and demand. Market risk may be influenced by market participants’ nonperformance of their contractual obligations and commitments, which affects the supply of or demand for the commodity. Idaho Power uses derivative instruments, such as physical and financial forward contracts, for both electricity and fuel to manage the risks relating to these commodity price exposures. The primary objectives of Idaho Power’s energy purchase and sale activity are to meet the demand of retail electric customers, maintain appropriate physical reserves to ensure reliability, and make economic use of temporary surpluses that may develop.
 
All of Idaho Power's derivative instruments have been entered into for the purpose of securing energy resources for future periods or economically hedging forecasted purchases and sales, though none of these instruments have been designated as cash flow hedges. Idaho Power offsets fair value amounts recognized on its balance sheet and applies collateral related to derivative instruments executed with the same counterparty under the same master netting agreement. Idaho Power does not offset a counterparty's current derivative contracts with the counterparty's long-term derivative contracts, although Idaho Power's master netting arrangements would allow current and long-term positions to be offset in the event of default. Also, in the event of default, Idaho Power's master netting arrangements would allow for the offsetting of all transactions executed under the master netting arrangement. These types of transactions may include non-derivative instruments, derivatives qualifying for scope exceptions, receivables and payables arising from settled positions, and other forms of non-cash collateral (such as letters of credit).
Derivatives, Reporting of Derivative Activity Settlement gains and losses on electricity swap contracts are recorded on the income statement in operating revenues or purchased power depending on the forecasted position being economically hedged by the derivative contract. Settlement gains and losses on contracts for natural gas are reflected in fuel expense. Settlement gains and losses on diesel derivatives are recorded in other O&M expense.
Segment Reporting
IDACORP’s only reportable segment is utility operations. The utility operations segment’s primary source of revenue is the regulated operations of Idaho Power. Idaho Power’s regulated operations include the power supply, transmission, distribution, purchase, and sale of electricity. This segment also includes income from IERCo, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Idaho Power that is also subject to regulation and is a one-third owner of BCC, an unconsolidated investment.
 
IDACORP’s other operating segments are below the quantitative and qualitative thresholds for reportable segments and are included in the "All Other" category in the table below. This category consists of IFS’s investments in affordable housing and other real estate tax credit projects, Ida-West’s joint venture investments in small hydropower generation projects, and IDACORP’s holding company expenses.