Today Avista
(NYSE: AVA) filed a multi-year rate
plan with the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission
(WUTC or Commission) that, if approved, would allow the Company to
recover increased operating and maintenance costs and ongoing
investments to infrastructure, technology and more. If approved,
new rates would be effective in Dec. 2024 and Dec.
2025.
“The effects of inflation impacted the entire
country, and the cost of doing business has gone up for all
companies and all industries. Utilities across the nation work to
replace infrastructure and meet increasing compliance obligations
while the costs of operating and maintaining our systems have
steadily increased. Avista is not unique in this regard, and our
costs to deliver energy continues to outpace our revenue. The
ongoing effort to align the rates customers pay with Avista’s costs
to serve is one of the main reasons we file general rate requests,”
Avista CEO Dennis Vermillion said.
“Our customers remain our primary focus as we
make decisions about how and where to invest across the company.
We’ve continued to make important and necessary investments in our
infrastructure. This includes upgrading substations and generation
facilities, investments in customer-facing technology, replacement
of deteriorating natural gas pipe, investments to increase wildfire
resiliency, replacement of other aging infrastructure, and steps to
meet our clean electricity goals.”
“We take our responsibility to provide our
customers with energy at an affordable price very seriously. The
fact that our region is fortunate enough to benefit from
hydrogeneration means that the total average monthly cost of
Avista’s residential electric service is almost 40% lower than the
national average for investor-owned utilities,”
Vermillion said.
Two-Year Rate Plan
If approved, the electric general rate request
is designed to increase annual revenue by $77.1 million (or 12.6%
on a billed basis) effective in December 2024, and $53.7 million
(or 7.8% on billed revenue basis) effective in December 2025.
If approved, the natural gas general rate
request is designed to increase annual base revenue by $17.3
million (or 6.3% on a billed basis) effective in December 2024, and
$4.6 million (or 1.6% on a billed basis) effective in December
2025.
The electric and natural gas requests are based
on a proposed rate of return of 7.61%, with a common equity ratio
of 48.5%, and a 10.4% return on equity.
Infrastructure Investments
Avista must continue to replace infrastructure
that has reached the end of its useful life, as well as respond to
the need for reliability and technology investments required to
build the integrated energy services grid that will take us into
the future. Among the projects included in today’s filing are:
- Investments in our clean energy
hydroelectric projects, such as Nine Mile, Cabinet Gorge, Post
Falls, and Noxon Rapids, as well as installation of new substations
to meet customer capacity requirements.
- Continued
investment in Avista’s Wildfire Resiliency Plan, which outlines
substantial steps that Avista has taken to guard against the
growing threat of wildfires including grid hardening, enhanced
vegetation management, and other industry-leading best practice
measures.
- Ongoing
systematic replacement of portions of natural gas distribution pipe
in Avista’s service area installed prior to 1987, as well as
replacement of other natural gas service equipment to strengthen
the integrity, safety, and reliability of the system.
- Technology upgrades that support
necessary business processes and operational efficiencies that
allow Avista to effectively manage the utility and serve
customers.
Beyond infrastructure investment, another important driver of
the Company’s electric requests over this multi-year rate plan
reflects the impact of updated power supply costs.
Colstrip
In year two of the proposed multi-year rate
plan, the Company, in compliance with Washington’s Clean Energy
Transformation Act (or CETA), has removed from customer rates the
costs associated with generation from the Colstrip Generating
Plant. Avista is a 15 percent owner of Units 3 and 4 at the plant.
As a part of CETA, by the end of 2025 all electric utilities must
eliminate coal-fired generation from serving Washington
customers.
WA Residential Customer Bills
Electric
Effective Dec. 2024: Residential electric
customers in Washington using an average of 945 kWhs per month
could expect to see a total billed increase of 13.3%, or $12.94 for
a revised monthly bill of $110.20. The monthly increase includes a
proposed $6.00 per month increase in the basic charge to a level of
$15.00 per month.
Effective Dec. 2025: Residential electric
customers in Washington using an average of 945 kWhs per month
could expect to see a total billed increase of 6.2%, or $6.87 for a
revised monthly bill of $117.07 from $110.20. The monthly increase
includes a proposed $5.00 per month increase in the basic charge to
a level of $20.00 per month.
Natural Gas
Effective Dec. 2024: Residential
natural gas customers in Washington using an average of 66 therms
per month could expect to see a total billed increase of 6.7%, or
$6.36 for a revised monthly bill of $101.22. The monthly increase
includes a proposed $5.50 per month increase in the basic charge to
a level of $15.00 per month.
Effective Dec. 2025: Residential natural gas
customers using an average of 66 therms per month could expect to
see a total billed increase of 2.0%, or $2.04 for a revised monthly
bill of $103.26 from $101.22. The proposed monthly increase
includes a proposed $5.00 per month increase in the basic charge to
a level of $20.00 a month, offset by a decrease in the volumetric,
per-therm rate resulting in the $2.04 monthly increase.
Proposed Changes by Service Schedule
The requested electric increase by service schedule is as
follows:
Rate Schedule |
Dec. 2024Billing Increase |
Dec. 2025Billing Increase |
Residential Service - Schedule 1 |
13.8% |
6.7% |
General Service - Schedules 11/12 |
11.8% |
8.8% |
General Service Schedule – Transportation 13 |
11.8% |
8.7% |
Large General Service - Schedules 21/22 |
11.7% |
8.7% |
Large General Service Schedule – Transportation 23 |
12.1% |
9.4% |
Extra Large General Service - Schedule 25 |
11.7% |
9.6% |
Extra Large Special Contract |
11.4% |
9.4% |
Pumping Service - Schedules 31/32 |
11.8% |
5.9% |
Street & Area Lights - Schedules 42 – 48 |
11.9% |
6.2% |
Total |
12.6% |
7.8% |
The requested natural gas increase by service schedule is as
follows:
Rate Schedule |
Dec. 2024Billing Increase |
Dec. 2025Billing Increase |
General Service Schedule 101 |
6.9% |
1.7% |
Large General Service Schedules 111/112/116 |
4.5% |
1.1% |
Interrupt. Sales Service Schedules 131/132 |
5.2% |
1.3% |
Transportation Service Schedule 146 |
14.3% |
3.3% |
Total |
6.3% |
1.6% |
The actual percentage increase for electric and
natural gas customers will vary by customer class and depend on how
much energy a customer uses.
Customer Resources
When customers need help with their energy use
and billing, Avista has ways to assist. In Washington, Avista
recently launched My Energy Discount, a personalized monthly bill
discount program to help eligible customers lower their energy
bills. The program offers more inclusive eligibility guidelines,
quick and easy enrollment, and a two-year discount term. In
addition, billing options, such as Comfort Level Billing, preferred
due date, and payment arrangements, give customers more control
over how their energy costs are spread out.
For help with managing energy usage, Avista’s
Energy Manager and home energy audit tools, as well as
energy-saving tips, videos and money-saving rebates for
energy-efficient upgrades, are available. In addition, Avista
provides local community action agencies with funding for eligible
customers who need emergency grants, home weatherization and
heating system improvements. Customers with special health or
financial circumstances can also work directly with our Customer
Assistance Referral and Evaluation Services (CARES) team to be
connected with resources for help with housing, other utilities,
medical assistance, and more. For more information on assistance
options, customers can visit www.myavista.com/assistance.
About Avista Corp.
Avista Corp. is an energy company involved in
the production, transmission and distribution of energy as well as
other energy-related businesses. Avista Utilities is our operating
division that provides electric service to 411,000 customers and
natural gas to 377,000 customers. Our service territory covers
30,000 square miles in eastern Washington, northern Idaho and parts
of southern and eastern Oregon, with a population of 1.7 million.
AERC is an Avista subsidiary that, through its subsidiary
AEL&P, provides retail electric service to 17,000 customers in
the city and borough of Juneau, Alaska. Our stock is traded under
the ticker symbol “AVA”. For more information about Avista, please
visit www.avistacorp.com.
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 and the
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2023,
and its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31,
2022.
Avista Corp. and the Avista Corp. logo are
trademarks of Avista Corporation.
SOURCE: Avista Corporation
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