Avista CEO Supports Rate Hike

37 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

• 

  Cabbage Boy on February 26 at 8:18 a.m.

  “among the region’s most green, reliable and inexpensive power providers,”

  Are they “among” the top 5 only because there are only 5?

  They sure aren’t inexpensive in my book. Each year we improve our home, windows, fireplace insert…, but each year the cost of the lower amount of electricity dwarfs what we paid the year before.

• 

  Kibby on February 26 at 8:32 a.m.

  The rest of us are suffering thru paycuts and job losses, the end of unemployment benefits etc. Maybe the benevolent people at Avista could take paycuts and use that “revenue” for the urgently needed improvements they talk about.

• 

  Duffer on February 26 at 8:40 a.m.

  Natural gas commodity prices ($4.05 today) are HALF of what they were at this time last year (~$8.00) and less than a third of last summer’s high (~$14.00).

  So, why an increase in our gas prices now? I thought they divested their poorly run trading company.

• 

  Duffer on February 26 at 8:43 a.m.

  Here’s a link to the NYMEX historical chart:

  http://futures.tradingcharts.com/chart/NG/M

• 

  nic on February 26 at 8:55 a.m.

  Am I buying what Avista President/CEO Scott Morris is selling?

  1. That he’s not getting all the money from the rate hike? Yes… kinda. I’m sure his salary will go up, but he won’t be the only Avista pencil pusher getting a “bonus” out of this.

  2. That a rate increase will “ultimately” be a benefit for Avista customers? No. He’s delusional in believing that making people pay more for less is a benefit. How about shoe stores raise prices 3-8%, but then they take the laces out of the shoes… either pay more for the laces or wear the shoes without the laces. In no reasonable logic is paying more for less a benefit to the consumer.

  3. That it’s a difficult concept for customers? Yes, absolutely. We’re not as gullible as he wishes.

  4. Avista’s rape & torture pricing? Unfortunately, yes, I have to have power at my house. I have to be able to cook dinner, and keep my kids’ rooms warm.

• 

  JeanC on February 26 at 9:58 a.m.

  Not buying it at all and making me seriously look at how to get off the grid and find alternative ways to power our house. Solar and wind are getting to where it is almost affordable.

  No matter what we do to insulate and cut power use, we are paying more and more for using less and less. That isn’t the way it is supposed to work.

• 

  Joker on February 26 at 11:00 a.m.

  Nic,

  Equating rate hikes to rape and torture is a little over the top.

• 

  Digger on February 26 at 11:12 a.m.

  I was talking with someone last night about installing a wind turbine - they run about $56,000 - but you can hook them up into your meter and feed whatever energy you don’t use back into the power-grid. (ie make your meter go backwards).

  You then begin to accumulate credits with the power company and, at least in Idaho, it was thought that after a year of credits Avista would have to pay you for the credits you didn’t use.

  Now, installing the turbine is expensive and at an average of $500 per month in power it would take 10 years to pay for itself. But my question is why hasn’t someone taken the time to install a couple of these devices, feed them back onto the grid, and reap the cash benefits?

• 

  Digger on February 26 at 11:15 a.m.

  Or better yet, why hasn’t Avista made investments in building and operating their own wind farms?

• 

  JeanC on February 26 at 11:44 a.m.

  There are some almost affordable turbines, if you have 10 grand to spend:

  http://www.enviro-energies.com/products.htm

  I love watching Living with Ed and he’s planning on installing the 1.5 KW on his home to supplement the solar and I am looking forward to seeing how it works.

• 

  Escapee on February 26 at 12:34 p.m.

  If Wind-power becomes the norm someday, I’m sure that the utility companies will find a way to charge you for each breeze that blows your way.

• 

  nic on February 26 at 12:48 p.m.

  “Equating rate hikes to rape and torture is a little over the top.”

  Not when you’re on a single family income, with kids, living paycheck to paycheck. Everytime Avista raises rates, something else has to go… that usually means another bill doesn’t get paid.

• 

  Kage_Mann on February 26 at 12:59 p.m.

  In the winter I use space heaters and don’t use the furnace.I turn my heaters off when it’s time for bed, so I try to pare down my bill as much as possible.The more they raise their power rates the less electricity I use.

• 

  Joker on February 26 at 1:06 p.m.

  Nic,

  You can NOT justify equating rape and torture with a rate hike from a power company. It’s a flawed premise and doesn’t make much sense.

  I realize rate hikes hurt families and seniors, and I am not excusing Avista. I don’t agree with their increases at all.

  However, it’s not rape. Go find some women who have been raped and ask which was worse: Rape or paying more for their power.

• 

  Kage_Mann on February 26 at 1:11 p.m.

  Nic, I agree with Joker on this. It’s offensive to use the words rape and torture and equate it with a rate increase. F’shame

• 

  Jessie_Wuerst on February 26 at 4:17 p.m.

  I appreciate the civil tone of this blog and the comments I’ve read today. Regarding wind projects: Avista has acquired the development rights for a wind farm project near Reardon, Wash. The cost to develop the 50 megawatt capacity project is over $125 million in today’s marketplace. We made a choice to delay construction on this project for about 3 years to help reduce costs. Just as an fyi…about 2 percent of Avista’s power currently comes from wind.

• 

  trishgannon on February 26 at 4:17 p.m.

  Oh, sweet Avista.

  Three years ago (four?) my November electric bill was $400. I immediately called Avista to see what was going on. The lady I spoke with (typewriter keys clicking in the background) told me that my normal usage, their rate hike, and the current weather combined suggested this amount was probably pretty accurate. No problem, pay the bill.

  In the following months, the bill kept increasing, and the house was damn cold. Every month I called. Typewriter key sounds, “nope, this looks totally in line with your normal usage.”

  By February (bill $550) I got a friend in construction to come out and look at my place and see what could possibly be wrong (we were thinking some kind of electric ground fault or something).

  I have a doublewide mobile home. (oh, excuse me, manufactured home). My friend crawled underneath and explained what he found. Turns out there’s a crossover vent from the side of the trailer where the furnace is to the ducts on the other side. The crossover vent is made of the same material your dryer vent is made of. A packrat had ripped a large hole in mine and made himself a nest.

  For months I had been sending my heat outside. “Perfectly normal usage” my butt.

  March bill was $525 (billed before I fixed the vent). I paid $475. Two weeks later (two weeks!) Avista shut my power off. It cost me a $600 deposit to turn it back on.

  Late March I bought a wood stove and I dream of the day I will be totally off the electric company teat.

  Do I believe Avista? Not even close.

• 

  nic on February 26 at 4:25 p.m.

  Kage, Joker… according to the dictionary…

  Rape: noun
  1 : an act or instance of robbing or despoiling or carrying away a person by force

  Rape’s definition includes more than just a sexual meaning.

• 

  DFO on February 26 at 4:32 p.m.

  Jessie Wuerst; thanx for posting your comment on the HBO blogosphere. Your expertise and position add much to the discussion. For you Merry Hucksters, Jesse is the spokeswoman for Avista. You see, some high-class characters frequent this cyber joint.

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