Idaho Power and Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative filed with the Oregon Public Utility Commission in January 2026 to transfer ownership of Idaho Power's Oregon distribution system to the Baker City cooperative, a deal valued at $154 million that would move roughly 20,000 customers into local cooperative ownership.
The proposed transaction would shift retail service in Malheur, Harney, Baker and Wallowa counties from Idaho Power to Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative and is expected to close in early 2027 if regulators approve it. Under the filing, those former Idaho Power customers would become member-owners of the cooperative, gaining the right to vote in board elections and becoming eligible for capital credits returned to the membership.
The numbers driving the filing are blunt. The purchase price is $154 million. Idaho Power says the sale would spare its Oregon retail customers a much larger rate hit—company statements in the filing say Idaho Power would likely need to pursue a base-rate increase of at least 17% in its Oregon territory if the sale does not proceed. By contrast, the companies estimate a one-time adjustment of approximately 5.7% above current rates for the customers being transferred, subject to approval.
Idaho Power also noted it has not raised base rates in its Oregon territory since 2024. The cooperative would not be taking on Idaho Power's generation and transmission holdings in Oregon; Idaho Power would retain those assets, including the Boardman to Hemingway transmission line. Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative would serve the new members on a retail basis but would purchase wholesale energy from Idaho Power under a multi-year power supply agreement to meet their needs.
Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative today serves customers in Baker, Union, Grant and Harney counties. The acquisition would expand its service territory to include four additional Oregon counties where Idaho Power now operates, extending the cooperative's footprint and making those retail customers cooperative members rather than utility ratepayers.
The companies told regulators they will coordinate through the review to ensure continuity of service and that customers in eastern Oregon would continue receiving electricity throughout the transition. The filing makes clear the transfer is conditional on approval by the Oregon Public Utility Commission; the commission must sign off before the agreement can take effect.
The proposal contains an unusual combination of separation and linkage. Idaho Power is proposing to abandon retail service in the Oregon counties named in the filing while holding on to generation and transmission assets in state. At the same time, it would remain the supplier of wholesale power to the new cooperative members under a contractual agreement. That arrangement preserves Idaho Power's role on the bulk-power side while removing it from the customer-facing business in those territories.
Regulatory review will focus on whether the deal protects customers and ensures reliable service, how the price compares to alternatives, and whether the wholesale supply agreement and Idaho Power's continued ownership of transmission and generation are in the public interest. Both companies say they will work together during the OPUC review to maintain service continuity; the commission's evaluation of rates, service and the structure of the transaction will determine whether the transfer can move forward.
The clearest consequence of approval would be to avert the larger rate increase Idaho Power says it would otherwise need to pursue, while folding about 20,000 customers into a cooperative model that offers voting rights and capital-credit eligibility. The sharp question now is whether regulators will accept a deal that removes Idaho Power from retail service in parts of Oregon while leaving its generation and transmission footprint intact—an outcome that will reshape who sets retail rates and who controls the customer relationship in those counties when the transaction is slated to close in early 2027.
