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Aug 27 , 2010
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Note the white sandbags, called weirs, lined up in the Spokane River. These temporary dams help divert
water during the aesthetic spill tests. They will be removed from the river once testing is complete. |
We received this message to conversation@avistautilities.com yesterday from a concerned customer. I thought this might be a question that other customers may be asking, so I’ve posted the full e-mail and our reply below.
E-mail
I have seen the crews at work on the Aesthetic Spill Pilot Test in the River Front Park area. It appears the purpose of this pilot test is to assess the feasibility of diverting water that would normally flow through the south channel to the north channel. Do any practical benefits exist for this kind of diversion? Or, as the pilot study name suggests, are the benefits purely aesthetic?
If the no practical benefits exist, I object to the use of my utility rates for a purely aesthetic project which only benefits a small portion of the rate paying customers.
Please shed some light on the driving force for this project.
-Jesse
Reply
Dear Jesse, Thanks for your inquiry about the work being done on the Spokane River channels in Riverfront Park.
As you may know, we received a new operating license for our hydro facilities last year. With the new license came some new conditions that we are required to meet. Among those is an aesthetic spill in the north and middle channels of the river.
Currently the requirement is for a minimum 500 cfs to be diverted from the south channel. But there is a provision in the license that allows us to attempt to modify the riverbed so that we can make the flows just as appealing with only 300 cfs.
What we are doing is filling in the artificial cuts in the rock that were done in the early days of Spokane’s development. These were done to divert naturally low river flows to various mill wheels and laundries, etc. Those same cuts prevent the aesthetic affect that people want to see in the river.
Presently we have a group of stakeholders evaluating the modified river flows for the most effective configuration. Once that is established we can begin to make permanent modifications and hopefully divert less generating water from the powerhouse at Upper Falls.
I hope that addresses your concerns. Please let me know if you have further questions.
-Hugh Imhof, Avista Communications Manager
Jul 16 , 2010
Our Energy on the Street project continues today with customer interviews in downtown Spokane, near the Spokane Transit Plaza and tonight at Avista Stadium before the ballgame starts. If you’ve got a question for Avista – one that you’ve always wanted to ask, but never really had the chance, come find me today. If you can’t make it to one of these locations, you can always send us an e-mail at Conversation@Avistautilities.com.
I’ve really enjoyed the two full days of customer interviews in Stevens County and Coeur d’Alene City Park. I’ve spoken to customers who have nothing but great things to say about our company and customer service, but also those who have criticized aspects of our business. Whichever category you fall into (maybe both), we want to hear from you – that’s the whole point of the Energy on the Street project. We’ll have customer questions and employee answers up on our website later this summer.
Jun 10 , 2010
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One birthday candle for the Avista Blog's first year! |
Just about a year ago, Avista launched this blog. To be quite honest, I wasn’t certain we’d survive for more than six months or so. It wasn’t that I questioned our commitment, only that we’d never done it before – in fact very few utilities actually had a blog (and most still don’t). The idea of a blog was a foreign concept for the company, but also for customers. We’d never tried to have conversations with you in such a public way before – and we didn’t know how you’d all react.
It’s pretty clear on our one-year anniversary (or birthday if you will), that we’ve been successful. My criteria for this judgment is both anecdotal and factual. First off, this blog gets a few thousand hits each month, so I know it’s being read. Secondly, through e-mails, Twitter messages and discussion forum links, customers and other stakeholders are talking with us about the topics we’re writing about.
I often get asked about how many comments we receive on the blog. Not that many, but that’s not discouraging to me. While comments aren’t jamming my inbox – e-mails to conversation@avistautilities.com certainly are. Since June of last year, we’ve noted more than 900 individual e-mail conversations alone. We’ve made a commitment to personally respond to every customer who e-mails us. That surprises some people, who assume replies to our e-mail blasts go into a black hole. I like these interactions because people are plainspoken and honest – honest about their surprise that a large company such as ours would take the time to respond to their comments. We’ll continue to respond to your e-mails as long as you keep sending them.
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Watch a video about Avista and social media. |
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Avista's social media work - especially on
discussion forums, has recieved regional and
national attention. | Since the blog is the centerpiece of our social media work, there are some ancillary pieces that keep us going. Avista has two Twitter accounts that keep track of the 140-character world out there. The @AvistaCares account is run by my co-worker and friend Jessie Wuerst, who focuses on those in need and talking about the communities we serve. My account @Dan_at_Avista helps promote the blog and interactions with customers. It’s also about my personal life and working at Avista. Never did I think 18 months ago, that Twitter would become a valuable tool for communications. It’s an early-warning system for outages and topics just bubbling to the surface. It’s also nice because it keeps each of us succinct in our tweets – poor grammar and abbreviations included.
Another area that has drawn regional and even national attention is our participation in discussion forums, such as the comments section on local news outlets or blogs. Jumping into those discussions has been a challenge for me, given their immediacy for 24-hour-a-day responses, passionate participants and the fact that I’m often the ‘new kid’ in well-established online communities. But simply talking about the issues impacting Avista customers and providing answers when asked hasn’t been a challenge at all. It’s just a new place to talk about our company and customers, and provide direction when someone needs more information.
In our first post on June 1, 2009, I wrote this, “We hope that the blog will be a place where you can come and learn more about Avista, our actions and vision for today and the future. But it’s not all about us. We wouldn’t exist without you, and we know it. This blog will feature your stories, questions and opinions. And yes, you can disagree with us – that’s OK.
We also hope that this conversation will allow us to better respond to your concerns, while giving you an inside look into our company. Transparency is a good thing.”
Those statements are still true a year later. As I look at what’s ahead for the next year, I’m excited to continue this conversation and further integrate guest bloggers, opinions, podcasts, videos – and you. Our Conversation pages are getting a facelift very soon and I hope you’ll like the changes and join in on the discussions.
I’m just an Avista employee, like everyone else here, but I have the privilege of representing Avista online and talking to you all through each post, tweet, e-mail or comment. I know these same types of conversations are happening in person everyday with my co-workers throughout our service territory and that makes me proud. So, on behalf of every Avista employee, thank you for visiting our site, reading the blog and having conversations with us over the past year – we’re glad you did.
Apr 14 , 2010
Over the next few days, Avista will be sending out e-mails to Washington and Idaho customers (who have provided us their e-mail address through their utility account). The message, from Avista Utilities President Dennis Vermillion is pasted below in its entirety. The e-mail is a notification of our recent rates filings and directions where customers can learn more about the details of those requests.
Last year, we sent many customer conversation e-mails. They happened to coincide with three requests to lower natural gas rates throughout the year in Washington and Idaho. We received many thank you replies, but also many notes that asked us to continue sending informational e-mails when requests go the other direction. This e-mail recognizes that.
I, along with another co-worker, personally responded to anyone who replied to those e-mails – we’ll continue that practice as long as you continue to e-mail us back and find value in it.
If you don’t receive an e-mail from Avista by the end of the week, login to your MyAccount and double check that you’ve provided us your current e-mail address. You may also want to add conversation@avistautilities.com to your address book, so it doesn’t fall into your spam folder.
Below is the entire e-mail from Dennis Vermillion.
Taking a closer look at rates
You may have heard that Avista recently filed a request with the state utility commission to raise electric and natural gas rates. This request was necessary to recover the higher costs we are paying for energy as well as the increasing costs of getting that energy to your home or business.
State regulators will now conduct a public review process (which could take up to seven or 11 months). As a regulated utility, it is the state utility commission who will set our prices only after this thorough review is complete. You can learn more about how the process works by clicking here for a short video.
Our commitment to you is to listen and share information on energy issues that affect us all. We encourage you to visit our website at www.avistautilities.com where you will find more information about the current rate requests and the major investments we’re making to keep serving you well.
Since we launched our conversation web pages and blog last summer, thousands of you have visited, read posts, left comments through your MyAccount sign-in or e-mailed us at conversation@avistautilities.com. Thank you! We hope you’ll continue learning, sharing and joining this important conversation.
Sincerely,
Dennis Vermillion
President, Avista Utilities
Apr 05 , 2010
Post by Dan Kolbet
Over the past few weeks we’ve been posting a lot of materials on the blog and the rest of our website about our recently filed rate cases in Washington and Idaho. The more informed you are about our requests, the better you can form an opinion as an educated customer. No one around here is happy that we have to file rate cases for potential rate increases, but the fact is we must do so to operate the system our customers rely on.
Unless you’re me (or most Avista employees), you probably don’t go to bed every night thinking about energy – nor should you. That’s what we’re here for. As long as the lights turn on every day, the furnace fires up with natural gas every morning and your power is restored if it ever goes out, you probably don’t put much thought into your energy.
Of course we want you to take energy efficiency to heart, so don’t get me wrong, but for the most part, out of sight, out of mind, right? You think about us when the bill comes, or when it’s really cold outside and you know your home is cranking out the juice. Fair enough. Like I mentioned – that’s what we’re here for.
But, if in the next seven months (Idaho) or 11 months (Washington), as our electric and natural gas rate cases are being reviewed by state regulators, you want to learn more – check out this website. Here you can find out why we’ve requested rate increases and how they would impact you. Mar 30 , 2010
We’ve been engaging with customers online for some time now and over the last few weeks, I’ve spent a bit of time commenting on the discussion forums of our local news media. I’ve tried to correct misconceptions about our activities and direct people to places online where they can find more information about the subjects they are passionate about.
These customer outreach efforts drew the attention of The Spokesman-Review recently, because frankly, there aren’t many companies doing what we’re doing online. Yesterday reporter John Stucke’s question and answer with me ran and I was honored to participate and talk about our efforts online. Read the article, " Avista social media man talks his trade." If you’ve been following this blog for any length of time, you know that it’s the centerpiece of our social media efforts. We write posts, do videos and podcasts for the blog, while promoting that work on twitter and discussion forums. We’re also participating in chats and other activities that allow you to talk with us about what’s on your mind. We even did a video earlier this year that discussed our social media focus.
When stories about Avista run in the news or people write about us in any format, we pay attention (just like any other company). I read what people say and what sparks their interest. Oftentimes the comments following these stories contain common misconceptions about how we do things, and that’s when I step in to offer some additional thoughts. Most people are simply offering their opinion and there’s nothing wrong with that. I don’t aim to change anyone’s mind, just offer additional resources so people can decide for themselves.
It’s certainly an interesting time to be online talking with people about the utility business – yes, even those who disagree with what we say or do. I’ll continue to talk to people online in reaction to comments and e-mails, but if you’d like us to spend some time talking about a particular subject on the blog, e-mail me at conversation@avistautilties.com. Feb 12 , 2010
Today we launch our first-ever podcast. I sat down with Avista’s Director of Energy Efficiency, Bruce Folsom to discuss our energy efficiency programs and the rebates and incentives that are becoming more and more popular every year.
Take a listen. (You will be directed to a blank web page, which may take a moment to load).
Feb 11 , 2010
I always enjoy customer comments on the blog, even if we don’t get flooded with them. I wanted to share this one from a customer named Vivian, who posted a comment on our announcement of a Washington electric rate decrease request in early January.
Vivian said: “Now, if this rate "decrease" is approved, will it be 7% off the new rate effective Jan 1st, just 43 days earlier, or will it be 7% off the old rate? It is very, very frustrating, to reduce our usage by 30 kwH/day, only to have our rates increased by 2.7%! This is on top of 3 increases for 2009. Gotta get it back some way, don't you? Frustrated, as I said.”
To which I replied: Vivian, I understand your frustration, we seem to have rate changes (up and down) a lot and it’s hard to keep track (even for me). To answer your question the requested 7% decrease in Washington would be based on the current rate being charged, which includes the increase in January. The timing isn’t very convenient, but it’s a decrease and it’s part of the regulatory process.
But the bottom line is this: This time last year a Wash. residential customer using 1000 kwh would be billed $75.94. Today its $77.14. If our decrease request is approved, the new rate would be $71.79 – down even from this time last year.
Since Avista is a regulated utility, we’re required to ask regulators for rate changes, up or down. It’s no surprise that people would rather see rates go down rather than up, but that’s challenging considering the increasing demand for energy. Sometimes we’re even required to request a rate change for various programs or adjustments based on regulatory requirements like the upcoming tariff filings in Washington and Idaho for energy efficiency programs. Sometimes the timing of rate filings is out of our control.
We’ve already stated publically that we anticipate filing a general rate case in Washington as early as the end of the first quarter 2010. General rate cases in Washington can take up to 11 months to come to resolution. (The length of a general rate case can be up to seven months in Idaho and 10 months in Oregon.)
So there is always some time in between the filing and the resolution, making both events seem independent, but they are really just bookends of the same public process. Unfortunately every filing, hearing, newspaper article, blog, TV interview or news release about a rate activity sounds like an increase and like Vivian said, that certainly can be frustrating.
So whether we’re requesting an increase or decrease; or whether it becomes effective in a few weeks or takes as much as 11 months – you’re probably like me – you want to know what impact any changes will have on your bill and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. Since regulators set our rates, we don’t know the result of our request until the state commission makes a decision. On the blog, we’ll always give you the details when we file and when a ruling by the state commission is announced.
So, don’t be surprised when you see Avista filing some type of rate activity in the future, whether it be an increase or a decrease, it’s part of the regulatory process. If you want more details about any of this stuff, we’re always here to talk with you. You can follow our rates activities online and even here on the blog. Feb 08 , 2010
You’ll get no argument from me. The utility business and energy is pretty complicated. Not everyone understands it completely, and that’s part of the reason Avista created this blog – to keep us all ‘in the know’.
Well, the folks at ESource have created a funny and interesting video, “to learn what everyday people think about the smart grid, utility bills, and how they can save energy.”
They approached people on the street and asked them some of the common things that utility folks talk about every day. I suspect that if you’re being honest, you’d have answered some of these questions the same way.
Feb 03 , 2010
Last night was great chatting with KHQ viewers about energy assistance and Avista. If you didn't have a chance to join in you can view the chat log here.
Do you find value in live chats? Should we do them more? E-mail me to offer your thoughts. We did a previous live chat in November - read about it here.
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