Avista proposes decrease to Fixed Cost Adjustment for electric, natural gas service

Avista proposed Monday decreases of approximately 5 percent for residential electric customers and 4.2 percent for residential natural gas service in its recent annual Fixed Cost Adjustment (FCA) filings with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC).

The PUC is now accepting comments regarding the proposals.

If approved, the electric rate changes would result in a decrease of $4.16 per month for the typical residential customer using 910 kilowatt-hours per month. The change would take effect on Oct. 1 and continue through September 2019. The deadline to submit comments on the electric FCA proposal is Sept. 13.

The natural gas FCA proposal would reduce the monthly bill of a typical residential natural gas customer using an average of 63 therms per month by $2.03. The change to the natural gas FCA would take effect Nov. 1 and run through October 2019. The deadline to submit comments on the natural gas FCA proposal is Sept. 20.

The proposed changes, Avista said, are due primarily to increased energy use among customers this past year, in part because of a winter that was colder than usual.

With commission approval, Avista adjusts the FCA for each service annually via a surcharge if expenses exceed revenue or a rebate if FCA revenue exceeds costs. The FCA is designed to incentivize the utility to promote energy efficiency and conservation among its customers. It enables the utility to recover its fixed costs if energy sales are lower than expected due to reduced energy consumption by customers. Fixed costs include expenses such as those associated with infrastructure and employee salaries.