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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Huckleberries Online

Trish: ‘Sweet’ Avista Socked It To Me

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)/Trish Gannon, River Journal (shown in condom dress she'll wear to Blogfest '09 with daughter). Full comment below.

Question: Do you have a sweet Avista horror story re: winter bills?

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.



Huckleberries Online

D.F. Oliveria started Huckleberries Online on Feb. 16, 2004. Oliveria's Sunday print Huckleberries is a past winner of the national Herb Caen Memorial Column contest.