How many electric cooperatives are in Idaho?

17 electric cooperatives reported bundled retail electricity sales to customers in Idaho in 2024, according to EIA. The largest is Kootenai Electric Cooperative, with 33,129 customers.

How many municipal and public power utilities are in Idaho?

11 — 11 municipal utilities — reported bundled retail sales in Idaho in 2024. The largest is City of Idaho Falls, with 32,782 customers.

How do public power utilities and co-ops in Idaho buy?

Municipal utilities and public utility districts are local government entities, so they generally follow Idaho's public procurement laws, with purchases approved by a city council or utility board. Electric co-ops are private, member-owned nonprofits that set their own purchasing policies, though projects financed through USDA's Rural Utilities Service follow its rules. See how utilities buy.

Where does this data come from?

From the U.S. Energy Information Administration's table "2024 Utility Bundled Retail Sales – Total" (Table 10), based on forms EIA-861 and EIA-861S. It counts customers who buy both electricity and delivery from the utility.

Idaho Public Power & Electric Co-ops: Full List

Key takeaways

28 community-owned utilities: 11 municipal utilities and 17 electric cooperatives reported bundled retail sales in Idaho in 2024.
Together they served 161,673 of the state's 1,021,781 bundled retail customers (16%); 3 investor-owned utilities served most of the rest.
The largest public power utility is City of Idaho Falls, with 32,782 customers.
The largest electric co-op is Kootenai Electric Cooperative, with 33,129 customers.

Every public power utility and co-op in Idaho

Ranked by bundled retail customers in 2024, with retail sales in megawatt-hours and average price in cents per kilowatt-hour. Names are as EIA abbreviates them. Filter by type or search.

Showing all 28 utilities

#	Utility	Type	Customers	Sales, MWh	Avg. price
1	Kootenai Electric Cooperative	Cooperative	33,129	580,607	11.82¢
2	City of Idaho Falls	Municipal	32,782	764,135	8.11¢
3	Northern Lights, Inc	Cooperative	19,609	323,002	10.91¢
4	Fall River Rural Elec Coop Inc	Cooperative	18,225	334,752	9.92¢
5	Clearwater Power Company	Cooperative	10,592	183,123	11.37¢
6	United Electric Co-op, Inc	Cooperative	7,590	363,470	6.41¢
7	City of Burley	Municipal	5,296	149,075	7.76¢
8	Idaho County L&P Coop Assn, Inc	Cooperative	4,541	63,002	11.45¢
9	City of Weiser	Municipal	3,201	63,643	5.72¢
10	City of Rupert	Municipal	3,181	102,326	5.71¢
11	Salmon River Electric Coop Inc	Cooperative	2,982	102,311	7.36¢
12	Lost River Electric Coop Inc	Cooperative	2,967	89,559	8.40¢
13	City of Bonners Ferry	Municipal	2,913	74,066	10.26¢
14	Raft Rural Elec Coop Inc	Cooperative	2,759	252,516	5.67¢
15	Inland Power & Light Company	Cooperative	2,269	41,491	8.95¢
16	Lower Valley Energy Inc	Cooperative	2,040	74,199	5.73¢
17	City of Soda Springs	Municipal	1,894	27,884	9.90¢
18	City of Heyburn	Municipal	1,689	60,952	6.86¢
19	City of Plummer	Municipal	1,068	38,087	5.61¢
20	South Side Electric, Inc	Cooperative	865	61,498	6.71¢
21	East End Mutual Elec Co Ltd	Cooperative	815	30,332	8.34¢
22	Riverside Electric Cooperative	Cooperative	623	22,549	7.86¢
23	City of Albion	Municipal	202	3,947	8.66¢
24	Farmers Electric Company, Ltd	Cooperative	152	4,575	7.91¢
25	City of Declo	Municipal	139	300	10.00¢
26	Missoula Electric Coop, Inc	Cooperative	71	1,572	9.89¢
27	City of Minidoka	Municipal	49	696	9.20¢
28	Vigilante Electric Coop, Inc	Cooperative	30	148	14.19¢

Public power vs. co-ops in Idaho

Public power utilities — municipal utilities, public utility districts and state-owned utilities — are owned by the communities they serve and governed by a city council or elected board. They buy much like local governments: through public bids, board approvals and published budgets.
Electric cooperatives are private, not-for-profit utilities owned by their members, who elect the board. Most buy power from a generation and transmission (G&T) co-op and make purchasing decisions through their own policies, often faster than public agencies.

Both publish their plans: watch board and council agendas, budgets, capital improvement plans and rate filings. Our utility funding tracker and rate case & IRP tracker show where the money is coming from.

Selling to Idaho utilities

Start with the right person. Line, engineering, metering, IT and member-services managers usually define the need; the general manager or CEO and the board approve large purchases.
Use the networks. State public power and cooperative associations, joint action agencies and G&T co-ops shape purchasing and share vendor experiences.
Expect small teams. Many of the utilities on this list have only a handful of staff, so phone outreach and a clear reason to talk matter.

Read our guide to how public power, co-ops and water utilities buy, or see the largest public power utilities and largest electric co-ops nationally.

About this data

Source. EIA's "2024 Utility Bundled Retail Sales – Total" (Table 10), from forms EIA-861 and EIA-861S. Average price is EIA's revenue divided by sales.
Bundled customers only. The table counts customers who buy both energy and delivery from the utility, so it excludes distribution-only utilities and customers who buy energy from another supplier in retail-choice areas.
Community-owned utilities only. This page lists municipal, public utility district, state-owned and cooperative utilities. Investor-owned and federal utilities are left out.

Sources

U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2024 Utility Bundled Retail Sales – Total (Table 10): eia.gov

Public power utilities and electric co-ops in Idaho.