BOISE - Get ready to pay up: Idaho Power customers will start paying more for electricity starting Saturday.

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission approved the increase Thursday – and it will go into effect almost immediately.

Residential customers will see about a $3 increase on their bills each month.

Rates paid by residential customers will increase by just under five percent, all other customers will see a 5.65 percent increase.

An Idaho Power spokesperson says it is an increase in the base component of the electricity rate: the amount that pays for power poles, trucks and the operating side of the company.

Idaho Power said the increase is necessary to pay for $300 million dollars in investments.

“We are asking for money that we have already spent,” Dennis Lopez with Idaho Power said. “It’s a recovery of monies we spent to improve the system both for growth in the number of customers and growth in the amount of electricity our customers are using.”

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission says rate increases are becoming more frequent across the nation due to rising electrical demand, long overdue transmission upgrades and the continued increase in wholesale prices of oil and natural gas.

This is the third rate increase Idaho Power customers have seen in the last eight years.  Rates last went up in 2005.

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission has financial assistance programs available for customers on low or fixed incomes that are impacted by the rate increase.