Avista Utilities awaits prudency review outcome from Idaho PUC
A review by the Idaho Public Utilities Commission to determine the cost-effectiveness of Avista Utilities’ $10 million expenditures in 2014 and 2015 has commenced.
Avista customers have paid a 0.245 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) charge for an Energy Efficiency Rider that funds the company’s electric efficiency programs. These programs must be demonstrably cost-effective, and are screened by at least three cost-efficiency tests that determine whether the programs’ costs are warranted by the energy efficiency savings they create.
Efficiency riders cover the costs of efficiency programs run by all three of Idaho’s major investor-owned utilities. The programs they fund either encourage efficient electricity usage or lower demand on the electricity generation system.
Nexant, an independent contractor, conducted a review of the cost-effectiveness and prudency of Avista’s efficiency programs. The total savings benefit to Avista customers, according to Nexant, was $6 million in 2014 and $2.4 million in 2015.
Avista has reported that the rider did not cover all expenses incurred by its energy savings programs, which include customer rebates for the installation of low-cost lighting, water-saving fixtures and weatherization materials, as well as appliance recycling programs – through which the utility paid out more than $575,000 to residential customers.
