Spokane7
53°
October 28, 2010 in City
Higher rates approved as Avista announces earnings
Starting Nov. 1, Avista’s Washington customers will pay about $4.50 extra on their combined monthly gas and electric bills.
The price hike is a result of higher wholesale natural gas costs and a reduction in a federal credit for electricity rates.
The Washington Utilities and Transportation recently approved Avista’s request to pass higher wholesale gas costs on to customers. Residential customers will pay about $3 extra on their monthly bills.
Electric rates will increase by about $1.42 per month for residential customers. That increase results from a reduction in federal power benefits through the Bonneville Power Administration’s residential exchange program. The program spreads to Northwest ratepayers the economic benefits of federally operated dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers.
In other news, Avista Corp. reported improved third-quarter earnings Thursday of $12.3 million, or 22 cents per share, compared with last year’s third-quarter earnings of $8.1 million, or 15 cents per share.
Scott Morris, Avista’s Chairman and CEO, said the Spokane-based utility is on track to meet its earning projections for 2010. However, he also said the year-end earnings will be influenced by a “challenging first quarter due to one of the warmest January to March periods on record,” which reduced energy demand.
For the nine month period ending Sept. 30, Avista’s net income was $66.7 million, or $1.20 per share, compared with $65 million, or $1.18 per share, for the same period last year.
Morris said Avista is projecting higher earnings in 2011. Winter weather conditions are expected to return to normal, he said, and the utility is anticipating additional revenue from general rate increases. But the sluggish economy will continue to affect business growth and energy demand, he said.
Idaho customers began paying higher electric and natural gas rates on Oct. 1, after the Idaho Public Utilities Commission approved Avista’s earlier request for a rate increase.
In Washington, Avista has reached a settlement in a pending rate case. The utility is asking for new rates to take effect Dec. 1.
Miners to return to Lucky Friday 
eagleproducer on October 28 at 4:51 p.m.
The WTC can bite me.
Wholesale rates for natural gas have fallen dramatically since Avista’s last rate increase request.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/dnav/ng/hist/n9190us3m.htm
Avista is not a responsible corporate entity. This is like raising taxes during a recession and higher energy rates always lead to slower development. During a recession this will make recovery even more difficult.
hawken on October 28 at 5:10 p.m.
What hypocrisy! from spoketucky
Spoketucky…. where…. where….? Have you opposed the Lieberal left’s raising of taxes?
Please… give me one cite! I’m open to instruction here!
hawken on October 28 at 5:13 p.m.
Sorry…. my typo…
Lieberal left’s raising of taxes?
Should read….
Liberal left’s raising of taxes…
west on October 28 at 5:18 p.m.
“Washington state regulators have approved small changes in electricity and natural gas rates for customers of Puget Sound Energy.
The Utilities and Transportation Commission says regulatory changes will result in a 2.6 percent decrease in electrical rates from November through March. A typical home’s monthly bill will drop about $2 to $98.
Higher natural gas costs will result in a 2 percent increase or about $1.50 for a typical bill.
The changes announced Thursday take effect on Monday.
The Bellevue-based utility has about 1 million electricity and 750,000 natural gas customers in Western Washington.”
So, is Spokane higher or lower???
lewis8457 on October 28 at 5:19 p.m.
yipee less food on my table
misjustice on October 28 at 5:37 p.m.
I’m glad that I heat my home with wood.
The increase for WA comes Dec 1st; Merry Christmas from Cathy’s corporate sponsors!
; )
Shylock13 on October 28 at 5:47 p.m.
Our friendly neighborhood predator, Avista, had 3rd quarter earnings “only” $12.3 million, which is only $4.2 million more than last year’s 3rd quarter earnings of “only” $8.1 million ! That percent INCREASE is a “mere” 50% increase!!!!!And the “poor” stock holders “only” earned 22 cents per share, compared with last year’s dreadful 15 cents per share! About another 50% increase for the fat cats!!!
And Avista is getting increases in both gas and electric rates, a “mere” $4.50 PER MONTH (a “mere” $54 per year) for the average victim (excuse me, “customer”).
How much per month and per year do those increases give Avista? I bet those figures will not be available!!
And Avista “is projecting higher earnings in 2011”! Then why do they need increases in rates?
Given the state of the economy, these increase are abominable, and should not have been allowed!!!
JBlim on October 28 at 5:51 p.m.
higher natural gas prices, huh?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Henry_hub_NG_prices.svg
misjustice on October 28 at 5:59 p.m.
Hey, guys, pretty soon Avista’s cheerleader, Dan the Corporate Man, will be along to tell everyone how good this all is!
hawken on October 28 at 6:04 p.m.
Lewis…. Might you be in agreement with me here? When I address the closing of the Valley Library?
“yipee less food on my table”
hawken on October 28 at 7:23 a.m.
Judge White should hear from the hundreds of people and their children in the Valley, whom are losing their homes, whom are unemployed, scaling back significantly for Christmas and struggling to keep food on the table.
I’m sure that he’ll find their circumstances are a bit more dire than losing temporary access to a computer.
Do we have common ground here?
misjustice on October 28 at 6:07 p.m.
Awww, instead of Dan we got sqawky; I’m not sure which is worse.
Loudin on October 28 at 6:45 p.m.
Of course Avista needs raise rates…how else to pay for that new fleet of 2010 Dodge Ram 2500’s they recently purchased? Have you seen them around town? They’re very pretty, but I find it difficult to understand why Spokane County, not exactly a small entity, can get by with trucks approaching 30 years of age and yet Avista needs new, shiny Dodges.
Oh wait, I keep forgetting Avista is a state-approved monopoly; that’s why they can buy a new fleet of trucks and raise our rates. God bless deregulation and the free market system!
monkeyman on October 28 at 6:52 p.m.
I am doing my part - just switched to wood pellets for partial heating…
I apologize to Avista’s top management for cutting into their bonus.
Shylock13 on October 28 at 6:58 p.m.
Loudin,
Thank you! I did not know about the new fleet of 2010 Dodge Rams! “Consumer Reports” indicates that the price range is from $20,610-$42,650, and the MPG is 14!!! So much for Avista’s concern with reducing energy costs!!!! Dan, will you please tell us how many of these vehicles Avista bought, how much cost per vehicle, and why Avista bought these MPG 14 energy wasters??
johnclarke on October 28 at 6:59 p.m.
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9Mzc1MDUxfENoaWxkSUQ9MzczMzY0fFR5cGU9MQ==&t=1
You can find the compensation information on page 38.
The CEO only made 3 million. For those of you that are having trouble meeting your monthly expenses, imagine trying to squeak by on $250,000 a month.
monkeyman on October 28 at 7:12 p.m.
Here is a more accessible list. Not sure how hard these top executives have to work to keep ahead of the competition to the company profitable.
BASIC COMPENSATION
Name Fiscal Year Total
Morris, Scott 3,028,020
Thies, Mark 831,234
Durkin, Marian 791,090
Feltes, Karen 759,007
Vermillion, Dennis 733,929
http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyOfficers?symbol=AVA&WTmodLOC=C4-Officers-5
monkeyman on October 28 at 7:33 p.m.
“For the nine month period ending Sept. 30, Avista’s net income was $66.7 million… ”
As a rough guesstimate, the top ten executive probably skim off the 10% of the earnings. I don’t think there is a better word than “skimming” to describe this.
People should be picketing outside the CEO’s home. Where are the tea baggers when they are needed…
If you are interested in wood pellets (and in making a point), then you should check this out - http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/space_heating_cooling/index.cfm/mytopic=12570
On a related note - relatively speaking, Spokane area is a good location for cheap energy (hydro-electric and wood fuel). People on the east coast pay up to 4-5 times for electricity. Not sure about gas…
monkeyman on October 28 at 7:45 p.m.
Sorry, a final point. Again as a guesstimate each of the area households is paying about $5 towards the CEO’s bonus. So in effect, the rate increase could have been avoided by firing just the CEO.
(I don’t have the exact numbers, estimated 650,000 households and $3M for the CEO.)
I am not against rewarding performance, but if Avista makes a loss next year then the CEO should chip in the appropriate percentage from his personal assets.
Dan_at_Avista on October 28 at 8:13 p.m.
Sorry I’m late to the conversation everyone. I was attending Avista’s Powering our Future event with about 200 of our customers in the Spokane Valley today. I send out live tweets from the @Avistautilities twitter account throughout the afternoon, check out the stream of posts here: http://www.twitter.com/Avistautilities
You’ll note on this story that both electric and natural gas rate changes are pass through costs. One reflects what we paid for gas, the other is due to decreased funds from BPA through residential exchange. These are pass through costs, meaning that given the right conditions, which are out of our hands, those costs could have gone the other way.
If anyone on this thread would like to have some meaningful dialog about energy issues, send me an e-mail, Conversation@avistautilities.com. Same offer as aways. You may also want to keep an eye on our website, where soon we’ll be posting key highlights and discussions from our Powering Our Future event. http://www.avistautilities.com/COMMUNITY/POWERINGOURFUTURE/Pages/default.aspx
Shylock13 on October 28 at 8:14 p.m.
Where, oh where, has Don gone? Where, oh where can he be? With his facts so short, and his spin so long, where, oh where can he be??????????? I am willing to bet that none of us will get any response from Avista, unless it is a whitewash!! Avista DOES NOT CARE about us, only about $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$, including the bloated compensation for the CEO!! I am retired, but I have many years of administrative experience. I am willing to serve Avista for $100,000 per year, with the difference in compensation being returned to the folks who are forced to have Avista. Dan, what do you say to that? If you want, I can provide my bona fides, but only in writing.
Shylock13 on October 28 at 8:16 p.m.
How do these “state regulators” (HAH) get their positons? And how can we “little people” (Lenora Helmsley) get rid of them?????????????
Dan_at_Avista on October 28 at 8:21 p.m.
Theodore, you’re about one minute late with that 8:14 post. Scroll up.
-Dan
eagleproducer on October 28 at 8:31 p.m.
tjbear: They are appointed rubber stampers.
How can anyone running a monopoly with state guaranteed profit structures be worth three million dollars? Couldn’t most of those executives simply vanish and the company would still be guaranteed to make money?
Hawken: I’m not sure what raises in taxes you are talking about. My taxes have gone down since Obama became POTUS. Yours have too.
west on October 28 at 8:31 p.m.
Just curious, what if Avista’s customers cut their utility usage by 30 percent. How would Avista survive?
lewis8457 on October 28 at 8:42 p.m.
west they would raise rates by 30% is my guess.
Hawkins yes we are on the same page.
Shylock13 on October 28 at 9:00 p.m.
Dan,
Your post was not there when I wrote my 8:14 post. And you DID NOT ANSWER ANY QUESTION I RAISED!!! Why not? Is Avista afraid to give answers??
Shylock13 on October 28 at 9:04 p.m.
Dan, my message was POSTED at 8:14. It was drafted a few minutes earlier. Even you should be able to understand that! There was no way I could have seen your 8:15 post. You are avoiding the issues!!
Albert on October 28 at 9:11 p.m.
Oh good friends, neighbors, and donors to the corruption of power. Olympia is controlled by the democraps, and as Ms. J has pointed out, Avista contributes to the repulsivecans as well.. Money & graft, and we all get to pay for it - until of course we are homeless. Sickening is the best word to describe the unbridled “influence” of a “monopoly” of private enterprise called Avista.
“Dan” the canned man, sits back and laughs at all of us, while he collects his very comfortable six figure income. We are the losers…and ultimately pay the price for their profits.
PlanB on October 28 at 9:28 p.m.
Same old story. Poor WWP, errr.. I mean Avista. Massive profits AND a rate increase. That leftist liberal socialist Roosevelt sure failed us, didn’t he?
Teseract on October 28 at 9:47 p.m.
Why can’t the S.R. post percentages or better yet the numbers in kWh for electricity and therms for natural gas rather than saying what the “average” amount will be? What is “average” is of no use to anyone but Avista. It’s like the S.R. doesn’t want the average consumer to be able to do *gasp* MATH on their own. Or maybe Avista just wants them to post the “$4.50 on average” when they know full well that people with older homes and non-apartment dwellers will be paying much more than their announced “average”.
Also, why doesn’t Avista have to put a notice of the rate change and how much it is on their billing statements? All I ever see on my bill is “RATE CHANGE” next to the amount with no other explanation. It amounts to either obfuscation through intent, or perhaps just due to raw incompetence!
I don’t know about the rest of you, but my city utilities are going up 15% on average over the next couple months due to “conservation billing”. My health insurance premiums have been announced to be increasing by 15.75% and 7.5% for dental. My Avista rates are going up twice in two months (though what percentage of increase it is no one appears to want to say). The only thing NOT going up is my income, and what’s shocking to me is that I’m much better off than many other people I know, even though I live in a ramshackle rental home in East Central because I can’t afford to live anywhere else and every time I eake out a few bucks more a month it’s gone plus more into the coffers of the politicians and the CEOs of companies I have no choice but to pay money to, unless I want to live on the street and put my kids in foster care.
All the people in government and big business seem to think we’ve all got bottomless pockets, but at the rate we’re going, they’re not going to have anyone left who can absorb these continual increases on costs, including their own employees.
nslopeofw on October 28 at 9:53 p.m.
Spoketucky.
Feel free to list how our taxes have gone down under Obama. And, don’t list anything that GW enacted.
My mom just got her SS supplemental insurance hikes due to the futurizing of the insurance bidness. DOUBLE! On her fixed income, that is impossible. The insurance co.’s are preparing for the inevitable cost increases from Obamacare (if the newly elected repubs actually vote to pay for it)
Now this (under Obama/Gregoire)
D Statler on October 28 at 10:18 p.m.
Where were all of you when I was standing in front of AVISTA with a sign the day of the last rate hearing? (HI Dan,It’s me)There were only 25 people show up and speak at the UTC forum. Sit in front of your PC and complain or do something about it.We the people were represented by a pretty little gal from the Attourney Generals office(just starting her carreer). The UTC was represented by a fatcat in a expensive suit from the attourney generals office.CONFLICT OF INTEREST maybe? AVISTA showed up with their regular clan of suits.We the people need to sue the Washington State Attourney General for lack of fair representation.Then VOTE OUT Rob McKenna at the soonest opportunity. The UTC is in bed with AVISTA and we can do nothing about it. AVISTA is doing what any other greedy company would do in this case. Guess what? AVISTA intends to file another increase request early next year! The UTC will undoubtedly grant it too.The problem here is AVISTA is regulated by a entity that benefits from their profits. AVISTA also purchased full page ads in the review and the Inlander the week of the public forum.All the local news stations were notified and NOBODY showed up or gave the public warning about the meeting.They are all too afraid to be taken off of AVISTA’s feeding nipple.I did have a good visit with AVISTA’s financial manager and he assured me the next increase request would only be a single digit request instead of their usual double digit requests.He went on to discuss why we had the recent increases and I would probably have GRANTED 3 to 5 % if I were in charge.The UTC is our enemy! AVISTA is our blood thirsty predator easily controled with an honest UTC supervisory panel. Our next move needs to be to hire a fatcat attourney to sue the Attourney Generals office for mis representation.Then they will be forced to do somthing with the UTC.Nothing will ever change as long as the UTC stays on it’s current path. Have a GREAT day Dan! :^(
ps. the 3 million dollar man received a $400,000 raise last year
D Statler on October 28 at 10:33 p.m.
Teserat, AVISTA slipped a notice of intent in with your bill a few months back. They are legally responsible to give a notice whenever a rate change is requested.Remember that AVISTA will gladly take anything the UTC approves.AVISTA does pay alot more for poles,transformers and wire than ever before.This is more than grounds for a small increase. The UTC guarantees AVISTA a 10.2% or better rate of return no matter what or how AVISTA performs.AVISTA negotiated a 7.4% increase in electricity rates that will be finalized November 2,2010. The UTC can still reduce the amount granted to AVISTA after hearing public comments on the matter.The final increase will be made public NOV 2. Another increase will be requested early next year. I suggest you write your congressmen about the Attourney Generals CONFLICT OF INTEREST representing the people of EasternWashington / AVISTA customers and the UTC crooks.
monkeyman on October 28 at 10:39 p.m.
Looks like Dan@avista has to take breaks. Perhaps they should outsource his propaganda job and get 10 people to cover the comment boards round the clock. Spokane county would have willing candidates, no need to go overseas.
I want instant and best propaganda service if I am paying for it anyway…
worthasecondlook on October 28 at 11:58 p.m.
i have a new energy efficient home and we dont use much so I dont mind if they raise it. Sure beats filling up propane tanks and using batteries.
Teseract on October 29 at 12:23 a.m.
@worthasecondlook - That’s a wonderful idea, let’s all buy new energy efficient houses, we’d help the housing market recover, and thus the economy recover and cut Avista’s profits! Why didn’t I think of that?
OK guys, I know you were all looking forward to eating out this upcoming Saturday, but we need to tighten our belts and put the $150,000 we’d have spent at McDonalds and buy a new energy efficient house. We can always go to McDonalds next week, after all.
Wait a second… worthasecondlook, is your real name Scott Morris?
Orange on October 29 at 6:26 a.m.
I can’t wait til January when I’ll be finally rid of Spokane, once and for all. Avista, you know what you can kiss. I pay rates outside of Spokane during the week far, far less than what you charge. Seriously, $20-30 a month is all I pay. Come back to Spokane, and what awaits? A $300 power bill. Pucker up Dan
eagleproducer on October 31 at 7:35 p.m.
Dan’s busy concocting the latest false rationale that essentially boils down to “let ‘em eat cake.”
Conserving energy is the best advice I can offer to hit Avista where it matters. Spend what you can sealing out the cold and keeping in the heat. Put on layers of clothes. Lower your thermostat when you are gone. Run a humidifier to help hold heat in your home. There are lots of ways to offset this increase and reduce further our consumption of their product.
Why hasn’t anyone invented a lightweight, affordable, battery powered heated suit that can be worn around the house? That makes more sense to me than heating huge spaces when all you really are trying to do is keep people warm. That way your thermostat could be set in the low 50’s and Avista would be scrambling to pay those huge salaries.
eagleproducer on October 31 at 7:39 p.m.
nslope: A reduction in payroll taxes was a huge part of the stimulus bill.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/15/tax-day-2010-protesters-i_n_538556.html
I could provide hundreds of other links that prove taxes have been reduced for most U.S. citizens at the federal level.