TITLE 63

REVENUE AND TAXATION

CHAPTER 35

COOPERATIVE ELECTRICAL ASSOCIATIONS — TAXING GROSS EARNINGS

63-3502C.  EXEMPTION OF KILOWATT-HOUR TAX FOR ELECTRICITY USED IN IRRIGATION. 

(1)(a)  The kilowatt-hour tax payable by rate-regulated electric utility companies shall be reduced and shall be exempt from taxation to the extent of kilowatt-hours used for furnishing power for pumping water for irrigation or drainage purposes on lands in the state of Idaho. The reduction shall be in the amount of nine hundred twenty-three millionths of a dollar ($0.000923) per kilowatt-hour billed to each user of power using pumping water for irrigation or drainage purposes. The utility shall determine the credit to which each consumer is entitled by virtue of this exemption and shall refund that amount or credit the amount against the consumer’s bills.

(b)  The exemption provided for in this section shall accrue to the benefit of the consumer of such power, except in cases where the water so pumped is sold or rented to irrigate lands, in which event the kilowatt-hour taxes associated with generating or delivering power shall be subject to taxation to the extent that such water is sold or rented.

(c)  If the consumer is not a customer of the deliverer of electrical power, the kilowatt-hour taxes that would have been due from such utility related to the exemption, if such exemption had not been applied, shall be paid annually for each year in which the exemption is applied directly to the consumer by the utility delivering such electricity for irrigation purposes. To qualify for credit or direct payment, the person or organization at the point of delivery must also be the person or organization pumping water for irrigation purposes and not a distributor or redistributor of electrical power. To receive the benefit of the exemption under this section, each consumer who is not a customer of the deliverer of electrical power must file an application with the state tax commission on or before April 30 each year. The state tax commission shall prescribe by rule the form and information necessary for such application. The procedures described in this section shall be used in determining the benefit to which each consumer is entitled by virtue of this exemption.

(2)  The rate-regulated electric utility shall include in its statement filed pursuant to section 63-3503C, Idaho Code, a schedule showing the kilowatt-hours relied on by the utility to provide the exemption provided in this section and a certification that the credits or refunds related to the exemption have been paid or credited. The public utilities commission shall have jurisdiction under the public utilities law to ensure utility compliance with the provisions of this section.

History:

[63-3502C, added 2025, ch. 188, sec. 7, p. 878.]