Avista Makes Annual Price Adjustment Requests in Washington
These annual filings are separate from the general rate case request filed in
Purchased Gas Cost Adjustment (
The first rate adjustment is Avista's Purchased Gas Cost Adjustment (
The primary driver for the company's requested decrease is a reduction in natural gas commodity costs due to a warmer than normal winter, an abundance of natural gas held in storage, and continued high production levels of natural gas.
About 50 percent of an Avista natural gas customer's bill is the combined cost of purchasing natural gas on the wholesale market and transporting it to Avista's system. These costs fluctuate up and down based on market prices. The costs are not marked up by Avista. The remaining 50 percent covers the cost of delivering the natural gas -- the equipment and people needed to provide safe and reliable service.
Residential Exchange Program
The second adjustment is related to the
Electric and Natural Gas Decoupling
The third rate adjustment, which affects both electric and natural gas service, is related to Avista's decoupling mechanisms. Decoupling is a mechanism designed to break the link between a utility's revenues and customers' energy usage. Avista's actual revenue, based on kilowatt hour and therm sales will vary, up or down, from the level included in a general rate case and approved by the Commission. This could be caused by changes in weather, energy conservation or the economy. Generally, our electric and natural gas revenues are adjusted each month based on the number of customers, rather than kilowatt hour and therm sales. The difference between revenues based on sales and revenues based on the number of customers is surcharged or rebated to customers beginning in the following year.
For electric operations, the rate adjustment is designed to increase revenues by
Change in Rates
If approved by the Commission, the rate changes would be effective
The percentage change for electric and natural gas customers varies by rate schedule and depends on how much energy a customer uses.
If approved, customers would see the following rate adjustments:
Electric | |||||
Residential Service - Schedule 1 | 2.7 | % | |||
General Service - Schedules 11 & 12 | - | 1.2 | % | ||
Large General Service - Schedules 21 & 22 | - | 1.5 | % | ||
Extra Large General Service - Schedule 25 | 0.0 | % | |||
Pumping Service - Schedules 31 & 32 | - | 1.5 | % | ||
Street & Area Lights - Schedules 41-48 | 0.0 | % | |||
Natural Gas | |||||
General Service - Schedule 1 01 | - | 4.8 | % | ||
Large General Service - Schedule 111 | - | 6.5 | % | ||
Ex. Large General Service - Schedule 121 | - | 4.9 | % | ||
Interruptible Sales Service - Schedule 131 | - | 1.7 | % | ||
Transportation Service - Schedule 146 | 0.0 | % | |||
Avista serves approximately 241,000 electric customers and 150,000 natural gas customers in
To help customers proactively manage their energy use, Avista offers a number of energy efficiency programs, energy-saving information, rebates and incentives. Avista also provides energy bill payment assistance programs and payment options for qualifying customers. Information about these customer programs and options is available at www.avistautilities.com.
About
This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding the company's current expectations. Forward-looking statements are all statements other than historical facts. Such statements speak only as of the date of the news release and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations. These risks and uncertainties include, in addition to those discussed herein, all of the factors discussed in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
Contacts:
Media:
(509) 495-4916
casey.fielder@avistacorp.com
Investors:
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lauren.pendergraft@avistacorp.com
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