Last March a
posting on this blog told you about the request we made of the utility commissions in Washington and Idaho requesting rate changes to recover the costs of buying and generating power and upgrading the pipes, poles and wires that bring you energy when you want it. Today a settlement agreement was filed with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (IPUC) that would result in an overall electric rate increase of 9.3 percent and a 2.6 percent increase in natural gas rates for our Idaho customers. The settlement must still be approved by the IPUC. The request in Washington is still pending.
Partially offsetting the increase for the next three years will be a bill credit customers will receive to return the balance of Avista’s deferred Idaho state income taxes from prior years.
Today Avista also filed its annual Power Cost Adjustment, also known as PCA, which requests an overall 2.6 percent increase in electric rates. The PCA is the difference between Avista’s actual costs of generating and purchasing power over the past 12 months and the cost currently included in customer rates.
It’s a lot of detailed rates information with ups and down. But, the bottom line - if you are a residential customer in Idaho using an average 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month, you could expect to see a $5.37 month increase beginning on October 1, for a revised bill of $86.27. If you’re a natural gas customer, your bill would increase about $1.71 per month for a revised bill of $59.40, also beginning October 1.
Avista also agreed to increase annual low-income weatherization programs and to increase funds for low-income energy efficiency and education. Idaho Community Action Programs administer these programs.
We see everyday how the rising cost of energy impacts families in the communities we serve. It’s one of the reasons we offer many programs to help customers with
energy assistance. Nobody likes an increase in their costs of everyday living like gasoline, food and energy. But the fact remains, that we need to make these requests to continue to provide you with the safe, reliable energy you depend on.
You may have questions about this rate change in Idaho and we’d like to help answer them or provide more information. You can post a comment below in the block or send us an email to
conversations@avistautilities.com.