The Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors on Sept. 15 unanimously approved a new Large Load Tariff establishing how IID will evaluate and serve very large electricity users, including data centers and other high-demand projects.
The tariff applies to customers requesting at least 20 megawatts of electric demand and meeting an 80 percent minimum load factor, the California public power utility said.
Under the new framework, large-load customers will be responsible for the costs and financial risks associated with serving their projects, including needed infrastructure and power supply, rather than shifting those costs to existing IID ratepayers.
The Board’s action follows a public review process that generated 243 comments and resulted in revisions to the proposed tariff before it returned for approval.
The tariff also establishes a formal process for determining whether IID can reliably serve a proposed large load and what system improvements may be required.
With Tuesday’s unanimous vote, IID now has a formal framework in place to consider large-load projects while protecting ratepayers, maintaining reliability, and providing a pathway for economic development, the utility said.
