Avista, UTC in vicious cycle

Must be nice for Avista to seek rate increases based on those of other utilities. Who do they compare themselves with? Do these other companies have the low-cost power associated with an abundance of free natural resources?

Each time the Utilities and Transportation Commission approves rate increases, they begin a vicious cycle of “they got an increase, all we want to do is use them as a comparable.” Then they use us and a circle is formed.

Why does a monopoly get to budget forecast? Make them recover cost, not anticipate expenses. The UTC should tell them no once in a while. Maybe the company will not get a 9.9 percent rate of return. Who gets that in the economies of the past eight years?

My bank tries to convince me that a 1 percent return on my cash is good. Maybe that is the message that we should be sending to a private company promising high returns that is a monopoly.

Avista makes too much money, pays out too much in salaries and dividends, then goes to the UTC, not me, and makes its annual appeal for more. If the company came directly to the ratepayer, you can rest assured that it would not be an automatic yes.

Bill Tibbits

Liberty Lake