OREANDA-NEWS. IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE: IDA) reported first quarter 2016 net income attributable to IDACORP of $25.7 million, or $0.51 per diluted share, compared with $23.4 million, or $0.47 per diluted share, in 2015. Idaho Power Company, IDACORP's principal operating subsidiary, reported first quarter 2016 net income of $25.5 million compared with $23.5 million in 2015.

"First quarter results improved over the first quarter of 2015, benefiting from continued growth in our service area, and slightly cooler temperatures than last year,” said IDACORP President and CEO Darrel Anderson. “We have already achieved some of our key goals for 2016, including a successful debt issuance in the first quarter and an early redemption of bonds in the second quarter.

“Economic activity remains strong in Idaho Power's service area, with new customers coming online and others expanding existing facilities. Unemployment levels also remain well below the national average.

“For the full year, we continue to project Idaho Power’s use of additional accumulated deferred investment tax credits under the Idaho regulatory settlement to be less than $5 million,” added Anderson. IDACORP is maintaining its full year 2016 earnings per share guidance in the range of $3.80 to $3.95 per diluted share.

IDACORP's net income increased $2.3 million for the first quarter of 2016 when compared with the first quarter of 2015. The increase was driven primarily by a $1.0 million increase in Idaho Power's operating income and a $1.8 million decrease in income tax expense.

Customer growth continued to benefit results—a 1.8 percent increase in the number of Idaho Power customers led to a $2.2 million increase in operating income. While temperatures were well above normal in Idaho Power's service area in both the first quarter of 2016 and 2015, reducing sales in both quarters below normal levels, colder temperatures in the first quarter of 2016 led to modest increases in average electricity usage by residential customers compared with the same period in 2015.

Also affecting the comparability of quarterly results was a change in the FCA mechanism approved by the IPUC in May 2015 retroactive to the beginning of 2015. Last year's reported first quarter FCA was determined under the prior mechanism. After approval by the IPUC, Idaho Power recorded in the second quarter of 2015 an additional $7.4 million of FCA revenue related to the first quarter of 2015. The $4.9 million first quarter increase shown in the table above would have been a $2.5 million decrease in FCA revenues had the current FCA mechanism methodology been applied in the first quarter of 2015.

The decrease in income tax expense was principally a result of two items. First, adoption of a new accounting standard related to share-based payments changed the accounting treatment of income tax deductions for stockbased compensation, reducing income tax expense by $1.6 million. Second, based on Idaho Power's current expectations of full-year 2016 results, Idaho Power recorded $0.5 million of additional ADITC during the first quarter of 2016 under its Idaho regulatory settlement stipulation. While the actual amounts could change significantly based on actual results, as of March 31, 2016, Idaho Power estimated that it will record approximately $2 million of additional ADITC amortization for the full year 2016. No additional ADITC amortization was recorded during the same period in 2015.