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Jan 30 , 2012
Avista adds 10 compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks to its fleet
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Meter readers learn how to fill the tank with CNG at
the fill station in the service area on the Avista
Mission Campus. |
CNG – compressed natural gas – is not the natural gas that can heat your home or cook your food. It’s a safe, clean-burning, cost-effective fuel for fleet vehicles. Avista has purchased 10 replacement Chevrolet Silverado half-ton pick-up trucks that run on CNG; seven of those will be allocated to meter readers in Spokane, two to the Spokane line dock and one will stay with Fleet operations. In addition to the CNG tank, the trucks have a 20 gallon gasoline tank, as back-up fuel.
Avista experimented with CNG-powered vehicles about 30 years ago, when the technology for CNG-powered vehicles was in its infancy. Today, the computerized systems within a CNG vehicle make it as easy to operate as a standard gasoline-powered truck. And in keeping with our commitment to environmental stewardship, CNG is a cleaner-burning fuel than gasoline or diesel, so it’s better for the air we breathe. It also helps our country become less dependent on foreign oil, because all of our natural gas supply is produced in North America.
“We’re rolling out CNG vehicles slowly so we can get a good idea how they perform for the kinds of work we do” said Chris Schlothauer, Fleet Manager for Avista. “They seem to operate best on route-type travel, like that which our meter readers drive every day – out from a base, with many stops along the way and then return to the garage.”
“We’ll look at how these trucks perform before we make decisions about expanding the fuel for use in other Avista fleet vehicles. We’re also deciding if and how we might offer CNG to other area businesses as they convert their fleet vehicles to use CNG fuel,” said Ken Boni, Avista strategic initiatives manager.
The trucks have a range of about 250 miles using CNG, averaging 11 to 13 miles per gasoline equivalent gallon, approximately the same as a gasoline-powered truck. And the cost savings from cheaper CNG fuel prices makes these vehicles cost-efficient as well. Typically a CNG gas gallon equivalent costs about $2 less than gasoline at the pump.
Filling up the new trucks is similar to filling up with gasoline – a nozzle is placed in the receptacle on the truck, but instead of hearing the liquid fuel go into the tank, the hiss of natural gas is heard as the tank fills with the gaseous fuel and is measured in pounds per square inch rather than gallons. Plans call for updating the Avista’s CNG fueling stations in Spokane at Mission Avenue and Dollar Road, as well as in Klamath Falls and Coeur d’Alene to replace aging equipment and accommodate new fast-fueling technology.
So when you think about natural gas, look beyond your furnace or your stove. Look out your window and perhaps you’ll see one of Avista’s new CNG-powered fleet vehicles drive by, keeping costs low and the air cleaner.
Jan 16 , 2012
Impacted: Energy Star dishwashers, clothes washers and fireplace dampers in Wash./Idaho
If your energy efficiency improvements for 2012 include buying an Energy Star dishwasher or clothes washer or installing a fireplace damper insert, make sure to submit your Avista energy efficiency rebate form by March 30, 2012. After that date, the rebate for an Energy Star clothes washer will be reduced to $25 and rebates for a fireplace damper insert and Energy Star dishwasher will be discontinued.
The changes are part of an on-going analysis by Avista’s energy efficiency experts to make sure our rebates line up with products and equipment that will provide the most energy savings for the dollar. The impacted rebates are/were only available in Idaho and Washington.
Lots of rebates remain for upgrading to high efficiency equipment like furnaces and water heaters and for other energy efficiency improvements around your home. Visit us at www.everylittlebit.com, where you can also learn about rebates for commercial and industrial customers.
Energy efficiency helps individual customers reduce their energy use during a time when energy costs continue to rise. Energy efficiency is a benefit to Avista too. Long-term, using less energy helps all customers by allowing us to delay building or acquiring more expensive generation to meet customer needs.
And, it costs less per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to help customers reduce their energy use through energy efficiency programs than it costs to purchase or generate new power to meet customer needs. Using our resources wisely has a positive impact on our community and on our environment.
I admit that I’m partial - I think Avista’s energy efficiency rebates are great. Along with thousands of other Avista customers, my family has received rebates for energy efficiency upgrades we’ve made that have helped us reduce our energy use while making our home more comfortable. You just can’t beat that combination.
Dec 08 , 2011
When you look around your garage, shed or home, can you spot what could be costing you up to $100 a year to run? If you have a refrigerator or freezer built before 1990, it’s consuming up to four times more energy than a new, more efficient model and costing you more to use.
With Avista’s Refrigerator Recycling Program, you can earn $30 to recycle your old refrigerator or freezer. You also have the option of donating your rebate to Project Share - a customer, community and Avista funded program that provides one-time emergency energy assistance to help families in need in our region.
Here’s what you need to do: • Be an Avista electric customer • Own the appliance you want to recycle • Make sure your unit is in good working condition • See if it was manufactured in 1995 or earlier • Call (877) 577-0510 to schedule a free pickup or visit everylittlebit.com for more information • When scheduling your refrigerator or freezer pick-up, let the customer representatives know if you would like to donate your rebate to Project Share
Our partner JACO Environmental will pick up your old refrigerator or freezer which will be dismantled and recycled through a process that returns up to 95 percent of each unit back into the manufacturing stream.
If you’re purchasing a new Energy Star refrigerator or freezer, check out our energy efficiency appliance rebates at everylittlebit.com.
Dec 01 , 2011
If you have a creative high school student at your house, here’s an idea that can pay off in more ways than one – Avista’s third annual Every Little Bit video contest.
By creating and submitting a 30-second to two minute video about ways we can all limit our energy use, students attending high schools served by Avista could receive a $1,500 or $2,500 tech grant for their school. Plus, students could receive individual awards like an iPad 2, iPod Nano and iTunes gift card.
Videos must be uploaded to Avista’s website – www.everylittlebitvideo.com – by Dec. 16. Visitors to the site can vote online for their favorite video until Jan. 13, 2012, when a panel of judges will select the video winners. Judging criteria will include energy efficiency message, originality of approach, creativity, design and style.
Participating in the video contest could have lasting benefits. We hope that by engaging youth in the importance of energy efficiency today, it will help them value saving energy even more when they become customers tomorrow.
Dec 01 , 2011
If you’re an Avista customer who is renting your residence, you can receive a free energy efficiency kit to help make sure you aren’t being a powermonger, and all you need to do is “Like” us on our Every Little Bit Facebook page. While supplies last, we’re giving away 1,000 Powermonger kits that include a power timer socket, switch and socket insulators, shower coach, shrink-fit window insulation film and other energy savings tools. If you’d like a free kit, go to Every Little Bit Facebook page and “Like” us. If you aren’t on Facebook, you can get a kit by sending an email to kelly.conley@avistacorp.com.
The Powermonger kit is the newest addition to Avista’s suite of energy efficiency programs, all created to provide resources and incentives to help customers manage their energy use. That’s important because we’re using more electric devices to power our lives than ever before.
Nov 30 , 2011
If you’re looking for a unique gift for friends, family or your holiday exchange that will definitely be used, look no further than an Avista Housewarming Gift Certificate. Available in any amount and with no expiration date, a gift certificate can be applied to the recipient’s Avista account. Purchasing a gift certificate is easy – just complete an order form and attach it to a check or money order made payable to Avista, then mail to:
Avista
P.O. Box 3727 MSC 34H
Spokane, WA 99220-3727
To redeem a gift certificate, the recipient simply includes the gift certificate with a bill payment stub and mails them to Avista. The gift certificate and bill payment stub can also be dropped in an official Avista payment drop box.
There are no administration or processing fees associated with the Housewarming Gift Certificates. Your total gift amount goes directly to your recipient. Please allow up to five business days for processing your order form. Nov 29 , 2011
Powering Our Future Video
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The Powering Our Future event featured an interactive
game in resource planning. Participants worked in
small groups to build upon an existing resource mix
portfolio in order to meet the energy needs of their
customers over the next 20 years. |
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The purpose of the game was to educate our
customers about the complexities of the power
planning process and to help them understand how
Avista plans for our energy future while meeting
renewable portfolio standards in a cost-effective
way.
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Avista hosted another successful Powering Our Future event, the third in a series, on Thursday, Nov. 17 at CenterPlace in Spokane Valley. The evening was filled with thoughtful insight, conversation and even a game that put guests in the shoes of a power supply planner for a northwest utility company. The event required reservations, but was open to the public and free to attend.
Dick Storro, Avista’s Vice-President of energy resources, kicked off the event before keynote speaker, Jim Yost, from the Northwest Power and Conservation Council spoke about the importance of balancing the environmental and energy needs of the Northwest. Bob Lafferty, Avista’s Director of Power Supply, teed up the rest of the evening with an engaging discussion about how Avista plans to meet customers’ needs reliably and responsibly while integrating renewable resources.
The evening then shifted gears with an interactive game in power planning. Participants worked in small groups to build upon an existing portfolio of resources in order to meet energy needs of customers over the next 20 years. They were able to choose from a mix of resources such as solar, wind, coal, nuclear power, natural gas, conservation, biomass and hydroelectric power.
Once the groups decided on their preferred resource strategy, they were able to see the impact of their decisions on a computer module. The module displayed how their choices impacted carbon emissions, energy costs, the ability to meet peak demand and whether or not their preferred mix satisfied Washington State renewable energy credits.
“The interactive element of the program helped our guests understand the complexities of the power planning process,” Lafferty said. “By giving them a game to play, they were able to see the cost and environmental tradeoffs of their decisions as well as whether their choices met peak demand.”
The event was capped off with a lively question and answer session followed by a social hour where attendees were given the opportunity to mingle with speakers and Avista employees. The purpose of the event was to educate customers about how Avista plans for the future of energy while also meeting renewable portfolio standards in a cost-effective way.
Nov 21 , 2011
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Whitworth student body president Eric Fullerton is
joined by Avista’s Chris Drake for a special award
ceremony. |
Whitworth’s Cornerstone Hall was one of the top
three living groups in the entire competition. Here,
students receive a $500 award to be used for non-
energy consuming dorm improvements. |
Students earn school the title of Most Energy Efficient University in 2011, via Power Down, Add Up
Pirates know how to Power Down, Add Up - at least the ones at Whitworth University do. The school celebrated October’s National Energy Awareness Month by competing in (and earning top honors for) the Avista Power Down, Add Up, energy conservation challenge between all the universities in Avista’s service territory.
Together with students from Washington State University, the University of Idaho, Gonzaga University, and North Idaho College, students recorded an estimated savings of 78,470 kilowatt hours, which is enough power to supply 2,841 homes for a day.
At the end of the competition it was Whitworth students who conserved the most energy, earning them the title of Avista’s Most Energy Efficient University in 2011.
Congratulations to everyone who participated. The energy efficiency habits learned through this challenge should serve you well for the rest of your collegiate career and beyond.
Nov 10 , 2011
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Joe Brabeck, manager of Avista’s Home Energy Audit
Program on camera with KHQ's morning show,
discussing Avista and energy efficiency. |
Some days start a lot earlier than others. This morning between 5:00 and 6:15 a.m., Avista’s own Joe Brabeck, manager of Avista’s Home Energy Audit Program, shared tips with KHQ’s Matt Rodgers on low-cost ways to make your home more energy efficient this winter. Because making sure that the warm air you heat stays in your home is important to everyone, here’s what you can do:
1. Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs or LEDs lights.
2. Set back the thermostat at night or when at work to 68 degrees. For convenience, install a programmable thermostat that will automatically adjust the temperature for you. If you have a heat pump, look for a programmable thermostat that is compatible with it.
3. Check the furnace filter every month and change it when dirty. Pleated paper filters remove finer particles and need more frequent changing.
4. Keep the hot water tank set to approximately 120 degrees.
5. Seal air leaks around doors, windows and behind light switch plates and outlet covers. If you can see daylight through a crack/gap, you are losing heat from your home.
6. Take advantage of the radiant heating of the sun by opening curtains/blinds on the south and west side of the house on sunny days. Close drapes on cold, cloudy days and at night.
Nov 04 , 2011 slideshow
Last evening more than 350 individuals stopped by Avista’s Energy Fair at the West Central Community Center in Spokane. Fairgoers were treated to energy efficiency demonstrations and provided free samples to get their home projects underway this heating season. It’s time to keep the warm air in and the cold air out.
Community agencies: SNAP, Second Harvest Food Bank, Money Management Int. and WorkSource were on hand to provide information.
Avista customer service representatives met with customers on site and discussed any account or billing questions.
Kids of all ages learned about energy, energy efficiency and safety from Wattson, Avista’s Energy Watchdog, who sang and danced his way into their hearts.
A hearty meal was also provided through Christ Kitchen.
Events like this are free to the community, but often are invaluable for our customers. Similar events, which are staffed by Avista employees, have been held previously in Spokane, Coeur d’Alene and Clarkston. Stay tuned to the blog for the next event in early 2012.
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