The monthly service charge for residential and general service members starting January 1st, 2026, will rise to $33 per month for basic services.

What is the monthly service charge?

The monthly service charge that Idaho County Light & Power (ICL&P) members pay covers part of the fixed costs of bringing electricity to their location, regardless of how much electricity is used. We are a not-for-profit electric cooperative and work to ensure that each member pays his/her fair share, whether you use a lot of power or a little, use power for all 12 months of the year or for only 3 to 6 months.

This charge helps recover such things as:

• Having you connected to the electric grid to be able to use power as needed.
• Trucks, wire, transformers, meters, and power poles are needed to build and maintain the electric distribution system.
• The cost of insurance, interest, and property taxes.
• Pole Inspections and tree trimming
• Certain operating, members services, and administrative costs

Our cost-of-service study shows that we would need to charge nearly $70 per month for each meter, and then we could sell power at just above cost. However, that amount is not feasible to charge each member, so we collect roughly 42% of our fixed costs through the monthly service charge, and the rest of the needed fixed costs are built into the kilowatt-hour (kWh) or usage charges. If we didn’t have a monthly service charge, many seasonal and very low usage members would pay a much lower cost for power, and full-time members would have to pay a lot more.

Because all cooperative members benefit from having reliable electric service available when they need it, the monthly service charge allows everyone to pay a share of the basic costs. In other utilities, the charge is also called a system access fee, a monthly base rate, etc.

Members sometimes ask why ICL&P's monthly service charge is higher than neighboring electric utilities like Avista, which is currently at $20 per month. It's because of our low member density; ICL&P serves an average of 4 members per mile of line. Compare this to a city or town where the average density is easily more than 30 customers per mile of line. However, ICL&P's average rates remain competitive with those of neighboring utilities. In Northern Idaho, our monthly service charge is comparable to many of our neighboring cooperatives, including Clearwater Power, which charges $38 per month, Kootenai Electric, which is at $32.50, and Northern Lights Electric and Missoula Electric, which are currently at $30 per month.

ICL&P serves a diverse membership. Some of our members use a lot of electricity all year long, and some may use a small amount of electricity for only 1 or 2 months per year. Whether you use a lot or a little, the cost of getting electric power to your location remains the same and that is why your electric bill has 2 separate charges: the monthly service charge to cover part of the basic costs, and the per kWh charge to collect the remaining fixed costs and cover the cost of power for the actual amount of electricity consumed.

We hope this brief explanation helps answer your questions about the service charge portion of your electric bill. Please call us if you have any billing questions.

The following are found in the “Rules and Regulations of Idaho County Light & Power Cooperative”.

Membership Fee - $5: Each consumer requesting electric service is required to become a member of the cooperative. Upon termination of service, the membership fee is applied to the final bill, or if the account is paid in full, is refunded to the member. Each member is required to sign a membership card. Failure to sign and return the membership card can result in discontinuance of service.

Security Deposit – Residential/$150; General Services/$300; Large Power $300 or 2 times the average monthly usage; Irrigation/equal to HP charge. All accounts are required to pay a deposit unless an acceptable credit reference is obtained. Deposits are held for a period of at least 1 year. If payment history is good or the service is terminated, the deposit is refunded to the member. Accounts disconnected for non-payment will be charged a deposit of the greater of $150 or 2 times the average monthly usage. For each additional disconnect in a 24-month period, $100 will be added to the deposit requirement. Note: The cooperative’s By-laws do not allow interest paid on any deposit.

Reconnect Fee - $75: A reconnect fee is required when a member or a new consumer requests that an existing, but idle, service or security light, be connected during regular office hours. For a remote reconnect, not requiring a serviceman on site, the reconnect fee would be $50. Members requesting a reconnection within 12 months of requesting a disconnection at the same service location shall be responsible for paying all applicable charges that would have been incurred during the months the service was disconnected.

Non-Payment of Bill - An additional $50 plus the $75 reconnect fee will be assessed when service has been disconnected for non-payment and reconnection is made during regular office hours.

Transfer Fee - A $15 fee is required when we transfer an account. Confirmation and approval of both parties are required.

Notification Fee - $20: A notice will be issued for any account with a balance over 35 days past due.

Collection Fee - $25: A collections fee will be assessed if ICL&P personnel must be dispatched to collect a past due bill.

Returned Check Fee - $20: This fee will be assessed for any check that is returned by the bank on which it is drawn due to non-sufficient funds. 2 NSF returns in one 12-month period will require all payments to be made in cash until sufficient credit rating has been re-established.

Unpaid Balance Fee – 1.5% or $5 per month, whichever is greater: This fee will be assessed on all balances that are past the required due date. Balances are due by the 20th of the month following the date of the statement.

Meter Tampering - $500: This fee will be charged in addition to estimated lost revenues plus the actual costs incurred due to the investigation of meter tampering and/or power theft, as well as any other applicable fees or charges due under these policies.

Rewards – up to $1,000: The Cooperative will pay a reward of up to $1,000 to any person or persons furnishing information and testimony leading to the arrest and conviction of any person or persons stealing power or vandalizing equipment or property belonging to Idaho County Light & Power Cooperative.