Agreement cuts risk to Avista

Avista Utilities and state regulators reached an agreement that would ease a portion of the company’s financial risk when it must buy power to meet the needs of customers.

For years Avista has been dissatisfied with a part of a complicated state program called the energy recovery mechanism. Within this program is a provision called the “deadband,” which forces a regulated utility to absorb the first $9 million in cost if it must buy power to meet the demands of its customers. Conversely, the utility is allowed to pocket the first $9 million if it has excess power to sell on the open market.

Once the profit or loss exceeds $9 million, the utility shares the burden or windfall with its ratepayers.

Avista normally loses money each year on this deadband provision.

The agreement announced Thursday would lower the $9 million deadband to $4 million, if approved by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission.

Washington

Farm subsidies to be unraveled

The government took a step Thursday toward full disclosure of just who receives billions of dollars in farm subsidy payments each year.

The Agriculture Department released a file that will help unravel the complex web of corporations, partnerships, trusts and other organizations that receive farm payments.

The payments are public information, but tracking down how much individuals receive is difficult and, at times, impossible. The government reports payments to companies or organizations but has not always reported the names of owners or members.

The file released Thursday outlines many of these relationships.

However, it omits cooperatives, such as Arkansas-based Riceland Foods, the biggest recipient of farm payments over the past 10 years.

Also omitted is how much money people got. The department said that in August it will issue a detailed accounting of all payments to individuals since 2002.

Ken Cook, president of Environmental Working Group, said the file brings the public closer to knowing where their tax dollars go.

EWG has a subsidy database on its Web site.

The file lists an estimated 360,000 parent “entities” and about 671,000 individuals who have received payments.