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Aug 31 , 2010
Today a different type of Avista rate request is in the news – the annual Purchase Gas Cost Adjustment (PGA) that we filed with the public utility commission in Oregon. Avista and other natural gas utilities in the Northwest typically file these requests each fall to true-up the difference between the costs of wholesale natural gas purchased to serve customers with the amount included in rates. PGAs have no impact on company earnings, since the cost of the natural gas is passed through to customers without being marked up.
Wholesale natural gas prices go up or down depending on market conditions, so some years the PGA may mean a rate increase to customers and some years a decrease in rates. Last year natural prices decreased by 21 percent for our Oregon customers and by about 30 percent for our Washington and Idaho customers. Robust natural gas supplies and lower demand caused the steep decline in wholesale natural gas prices that we passed on to our customers.
Today we requested to decrease natural gas prices for our Oregon customers by another 2.1 percent, effective on November 1. Since Avista is a regulated utility, any change in customer rates, including a decrease, must be thoroughly reviewed and approved by the state’s utility commission.
We’d like to hear what you think about natural gas prices or any other topic that’s on your mind. Post a comment in the block below or send us an email at conversation@avistautilities.com. Aug 25 , 2010
Today we announced a settlement agreement in the electric and natural gas rate requests Avista filed with the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC) last March. As in the Idaho requests, filed at the same time, the rate changes were requested to recover the costs of buying and generating power and upgrading the equipment needed to deliver the safe, reliable energy our customers need. Watch this video to learn more about the drivers of the rate filings and the rates process.
If the agreement is approved by the WUTC, a residential customer using an average of 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month would see an increase of $5.62 a month, or 7.8 percent, for a revised monthly bill of $77.41. A natural gas customer using an average of 69 therms a month would see a $2.17 increase, or 3.6 percent, for a revised monthly bill of $62.20. The new prices would take effect Dec. 1.
We know the rising cost of energy impacts families, especially those on limited incomes and seniors. That’s why the settlement agreement includes an increase in our Low Income Rate Assistance Program, or LIRAP, which provides energy assistance to qualifying customers. We’re also increasing funding for our energy efficiency programs for limited-income customers.
The next step in this rates request is a public hearing being held by the WUTC in Spokane on Oct. 6, at 5:30 p.m., in the Spokane City Council Chambers. This open meeting will provide customers with an opportunity to provide comments to the commissioners.
You may have questions about this proposed rate change in Washington or any other topic and we’d like to help answer them. You can post a comment on this blog or send us an email to conversation@avistautilities.com. Aug 06 , 2010
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If your appliances look
like these, it might be
time to take advantage
of state and Avista
rebates to become
more efficient. | Cash for Appliances, plus Avista rebates helps you double-dip on savings
If your home is like mine, the summer chore list can get pretty long. But there was one chore on our list that I couldn’t wait to check off – buying a new dishwasher. Our new dishwasher is great - it saves a lot more energy and water than the old one, plus we don’t have to shout to talk while it’s running. We even received an Avista rebate for purchasing the new high efficiency Energy Star appliance.
The only thing that could have made it better was if we had received an additional rebate. It’s too late for us, but it isn’t too late for you.
Washington State this week announced an expansion of its Cash for Appliances rebate program. The federally-funded statewide program now provides rebates for purchasing Energy Star freezers, dishwashers, electric heat pump water heaters, gas storage and gas tankless water heaters, and ductless heat pumps. That’s in addition to the existing rebates under the program for clothes washers and refrigerators.
Naturally, you can pair the Cash for Appliances rebates with available ones offered by Avista, which range from $20 to $200, for even more cash savings. Information and forms on Avista’s rebates are at www.everylittlebit.com. While you’re on the site, check out our Appliance Recycling Program for Washington and Idaho customers. We’ll will pick up your old refrigerator, recycle it and pay you $30 for it – what a deal! Idaho residents can still qualify for the Idaho Appliance Rebate Program when replacing older, working appliances with an eligible Energy Star appliance, so find out more at www.energy.idaho.gov/stimulus/appliance_rebate.htm. Idaho customers can also take advantage of the same Avista rebates and programs as our Washington customers. Jun 08 , 2010
Avista and the Northwest Gas Association (NWGA) are hosting a Power Breakfast concerning natural gas. We’ll discuss why this clean and efficient fuel will play an increasingly important role in helping the nation and our region meet the growing demand for energy while helping meet environmental standards.
As new technologies are developed, our access to natural gas will increase, which will continued to make it a cost-effective choice. Learn why the direct use of natural gas increases efficiency and discover how your business can benefit from Avista’s energy efficiency programs and incentives.
Speakers will include Dan Kirschner, Executive Director of the NWGA and Kevin Christie, Director of Gas Supply for Avista.
Event details
-June 15 - Spokane Valley, Wash: Mirabeau Park Hotel and Convention Center, North 1100 Sullivan Road.
8:15 a.m. - Registration, check-in
8:30 a.m. - Breakfast, Presentation
10:00 a.m. - Q&A, Networking
Jun 02 , 2010
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Col. Richard McReynolds (far right) and Sgt. Ken Heywood (right)
present the Patriot Award to Dennis Vermillion, Scott Morris and
John Schwendener (left to right). | Post by Sarah Hilbert
Avista was awarded the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) Patriot Award last month in Medford, Oregon. Sgt. Ken Heywood, an Avista Medford Operations Inspector, and Col. Richard McReynolds, the Southern Oregon Area Four Chairperson with the ESGR Oregon Committee presented the award to Medford Area Coordinator John Schwendener.
The Patriot Award is an award not all employers receive or deserve. The award is given to employers who employ civilian soldiers and support them in times of deployment or annual training. Continuing benefits and salary play a major role in the success of civilian soldiers.
According to the ESGR website, “The ESGR is a Department of Defense organization that seeks to promote a culture in which all American Employers support and value the military service of their employees.”
Heywood nominated Avista for the Patriot Award based on his experiences as a soldier in the National Guard.
“I nominated Avista because of the understanding I received when I was activated and sent to Louisiana for the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts and for understanding that I may have to perform duties on short notice,” Heywood said.
“Another reason was because Avista continues a military salary and benefits, understanding that we, as soldiers don’t make a lot of money. We do this ultimate job for our country because we want to, not because we have to. In the past 21 years of my service to our state and country, I have had some employers that were less than understanding. It means a lot to have a company that understands what it means to be a civilian soldier.”
Congratulations and special thanks to Sgt. Heywood and all who have served our country.
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 23 , 2010
Click to play podcast
Anytime we file a rate case, it’s certain to generate questions and concerns from customers and there’s nothing wrong with that. So in order to provide you with the answers, you no doubt seek I interviewed Avista Vice President for State and Federal Regulation, Kelly Norwood.
This episode is about 5 minutes long and offers a great insight into the reasons Avista filed for rate increases in Washington and Idaho.
We also discuss what a rate case is, the expected timeline for these cases, what’s in them, power supply and infrastructure needs, executive compensation, profits and shareholders and more.
UPDATE: This post was updated July 1. Click onthe graphic above to play the podcast.
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Feb 15 , 2010
Kudos to our customers who in 2009 saved enough electricity to power over 6,800 Inland Northwest homes for a year and enough natural gas to serve over 3,000 homes! These savings show that every little bit we do in our homes and businesses to save energy really do add up.
What did customers do to save so much energy last year? They looked for the Energy Star ® label when buying new appliances, installed high efficiency water heaters and furnaces, and upgraded windows and insulation to help keep their homes warm in winter and cool in summer.
For their efforts, customers qualified for rebates and incentives from Avista and reduced the amount of energy used in their homes. Commercial customers also received incentives for making energy efficiency improvements which helps manage their operating costs.
In total almost 35,000 rebates and incentives totaling about $18.1 million were given to residential, commercial, industrial and limited-income customers in 2009 through energy efficiency programs. But offering energy savings programs to customers is nothing new to us – we’ve been doing for more than 30 years.
To make sure we’re able to keep up with the increasing demand from customers for the popular energy efficiency programs, we filed requests today with the utility commissions in Washington and Idaho for modest increases in the natural gas tariffs which fund these programs. If approved by the utility commissions, residential natural gas customers in Washington will see a $2.54 increase in their bill starting March 15, and Idaho residential customers will see a $1.52 monthly increase.
This leads to the question – why do we help customers use less of our product? Because generally it costs less to help customers reduce their energy use than it would cost to build new power plants or purchase additional energy to meet customer demand. Plus, using less energy is the best option for our environment.
Dec 23 , 2009
Yesterday the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC) issued a decision on Avista’s electric and natural gas general rate case. I wrote a post about this pending decision on Dec. 18., noting that this case has been in the works since Jan. 23, and discussed the activities in the case since it was originally filed.
In the news release announcing the decision yesterday, the WUTC said it approved a 2.8 percent increase in annual electric revenue, or $12.1 million a year, and a 0.3 percent natural gas increase, or $557,000 in additional revenue.
In addition, the commission authorized deferred accounting treatment for the Lancaster power plant which would equal approximately $12 million. Avista will have the opportunity to recover these costs in a future rate case.
A partial settlement agreement between Avista and interveners in the case was reached on Sept. 4 that reduced Avista’s original electric request from $69.8 million to $38 million, mainly because of decreased power supply costs.
The decision document is 148-pages and we didn’t get it until late Tuesday afternoon, so our rates folks are still reviewing it. Watch this blog for more information about your rates and feel free to e-mail us with any questions.
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