IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) reported 2025 diluted earnings per share of $5.90, up from $5.50 in 2024, marking the company’s 18th consecutive year of EPS growth, management said on its fourth-quarter and year-end 2025 earnings call. The company finished $0.15 per share above the midpoint of its original 2025 guidance range.
Management also initiated 2026 earnings guidance of $6.25 to $6.45 per diluted share, assuming “historically normal” weather and normal power supply expenses. The company expects Idaho Power will use less than $30 million of additional investment tax credit amortization (ADITC) in 2026, down from $40.3 million in 2025, as presented on the call.
2025 results and key drivers
He noted several offsets and other moving pieces in year-over-year comparisons:
- Milder temperatures reduced usage on a per-customer basis, lowering operating income by $6.5 million, though management said both 2024 and 2025 had above-average cooling degree days.
- Other O&M expenses increased by less than $10 million, primarily due to higher labor-related costs. Buckham said the company ended the year at the low end of its O&M guidance.
- Depreciation and amortization increased by nearly $28 million, reflecting higher system investment and assets placed in service. A leased battery storage facility that began operations in the second quarter of 2024 also added amortization expense for the associated right-of-use asset.
- Non-operating expense rose by about $23 million, driven mainly by higher interest expense as long-term debt balances increased, plus interest related to the finance lease. Buckham said the lease’s interest and amortization are offset through the power cost adjustment mechanism, resulting in a near-zero effect on operating income.
On taxes, management said 2025 results included about $40 million of additional tax credit amortization, compared with “almost $30 million” in 2024. Buckham said Idaho Power amortized $40.3 million under Idaho’s mechanism to reach a 9.12% lower level of Idaho return on year-end equity. He also cited a $20.4 million decrease in income tax expense (excluding additional ADITC amortization), driven primarily by state tax return adjustments and standard plant-related flow-through items.
Load growth, large customers, and rate strategy
President and CEO Lisa Grow said growth in Idaho Power’s service area continued to outperform national trends. The company’s customer base grew 2.3% in 2025, including 2.5% residential growth, bringing total metered customers served to more than 660,000.
Grow pointed to continued activity from major projects and energy-intensive customers. She said Micron’s new semiconductor facility progressed toward completion, and Meta’s data center “began taking power” in 2024. Idaho Power also helped bring other projects online, including a Tractor Supply distribution warehouse and an expansion at Chobani’s yogurt facility. Management said it is also seeing increased inquiries from energy-intensive customers outside its traditional industries.
During Q&A, company representatives said the pipeline remains robust across a range of sectors, including data centers and manufacturing, though confidentiality agreements limit what can be disclosed. They referenced a proposed data center development called Diode (Gemstone Technology Park), growth at Idaho National Lab, and Perpetua as examples of projects under consideration or discussion.
Grow emphasized that the company’s public growth projections include only projects with signed contracts or significant financial commitments for customer-funded infrastructure, and she said the company’s overall prospective pipeline exceeds its current roughly 4,000 MW peak load. She also noted Micron announced plans for a second semiconductor facility in Boise, but the company’s load and CapEx projections shared on the call do not yet include that expansion.
On rates, Grow said affordability remains a key focus and that rates have increased more slowly than national averages. She added that based on current projections, the company is not planning to file a general rate case in Idaho on June 1. Management expects higher depreciation and interest expense associated with infrastructure growth and wildfire mitigation costs, but said revenue from new large load contracts should help offset those costs. Executives said they will monitor revenues and cash flow through the year and reassess rate case timing as needed.
When asked about moving toward a standardized large-load tariff, management said it does not have plans to do so, describing large-load arrangements as tailored “tariffs of one” reflecting each customer’s unique needs.
Capital plan and financing needs
Management updated its five-year capital expenditure forecast, projecting average spending of about $1.4 billion per year from 2026 through 2030, or roughly $7 billion total. Buckham described that as roughly double the company’s average annual spend of around $700 million over the past five years and said the 2026-2030 forecast is a 26% increase from the 2025-2029 forecast shared a year earlier.
He also said the last two years of the forecast “probably have some upside,” noting that additional spending could be required as plans are refined. Management reiterated that the forecast does not include resources needed for Micron’s second fab or some other expected load growth.
On rate base, Buckham said the company’s total system rate base coming out of the 2025 Idaho general rate case was $5.3 billion (up from $4.6 billion coming out of the 2024 limited scope rate case). By 2030, management projects rate base could exceed $11 billion, implying a projected 16.7% rate base growth CAGR from 2026 to 2030.
To support the investment plan, Buckham said net cash flow from operations is expected to fund over half of CapEx needs over 2026-2030, with estimated growth capital needs of about $2.0 billion in equity and $2.9 billion in debt to maintain a target 50/50 debt-equity capital structure. He said the company has already executed over $600 million of equity via forward sales agreements that will settle in 2026, leaving an estimated $1.4 billion of net equity sales through 2030.
In discussing credit, Buckham said Idaho Power ended 2025 with an FFO-to-debt ratio of about 14.3% under Moody’s and “just barely sub-14” under S&P, adding that the Moody’s threshold is 13 and S&P’s is 14. He said the 2025 rate case outcome should help credit metrics in 2026 and that the company plans to meet with rating agencies in March.
Resource additions, transmission build-out, and Oregon asset sale
Grow said several major transmission projects are moving forward. On the B2H project, she said 80 towers have been completed and the project is expected to be in service by late 2027. Permitting is “nearly complete” on the SWIP-North Transmission Project, with construction expected to begin in 2026 and completion as early as 2028. She also said a key segment of the Gateway West project between the Hemingway and Midpoint substations could come online as early as 2028.
On generation, Grow said Idaho Power’s 2025 integrated resource plan received acknowledgment from Idaho and Oregon regulators. In 2025, the company brought online the 200 MW Pleasant Valley Solar Project and added 230 MW of battery storage. Additional projects include 250 MW of batteries and 125 MW of solar expected to be in service later in spring 2026. She also said Idaho Power plans to construct 167 MW of natural gas generation next to the Bennett Mountain Power Plant in 2028 and has filed a CPCN request for that capacity addition.
Grow said the company is working to address a projected deficit of around 200 MW of incremental firm capacity needed in each of 2029 and 2030, and expects additional resource procurements. In Q&A, management said it is considering additional options for 2029 and 2030 and referenced potential development at the Peregrine site.
The company also provided an update on Valmy: Grow said Unit 1 of the Valmy coal plant was converted to natural gas in 2025, and the company “burned the last of our coal” at the other unit, which is being converted and expected to be completed in summer 2026.
Finally, management announced it entered a definitive agreement to sell its Oregon distribution system and some transmission assets to Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative (OTEC) for a base price of $154 million, subject to adjustments and regulatory approvals. Grow said Oregon is projected to be less than 3% of total sales by 2030. Buckham said the company expects the one-time gain to be immaterial and the transaction to be only slightly earnings accretive in the year it closes, with an ongoing EPS benefit from lower dilution. Management said approval could take 10 months or longer.
For 2026, management guided to O&M expense of $525 million to $535 million, CapEx of $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion, and hydropower generation of 5.5 million to 7.5 million MWh, while reiterating that the outlook assumes normal weather and normal power supply expenses.
About IDACORP (NYSE:IDA)
IDACORP, Inc is a diversified energy holding company headquartered in Boise, Idaho, whose primary subsidiary, Idaho Power Company, operates as a regulated electric utility. Through Idaho Power, the company provides generation, transmission and distribution services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. The company’s service territory spans southern Idaho and eastern Oregon, where it serves over half a million customers with a mix of hydroelectric, natural gas, wind and solar generation assets.
Idaho Power’s generation portfolio is anchored by a network of hydroelectric facilities along the Snake River system, complemented by natural-gas-fired plants and growing investments in renewable resources.
