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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Annual rate adjustment would raise natural gas rates 5% for Avista customers in Idaho

 (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)

Avista Corp. has requested an annual rate adjustment in Idaho, which if approved by the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, would increase natural gas revenues by $3.3 million.

This request, called a purchased gas cost adjustment, is driven primarily by higher wholesale natural gas prices last winter. Those were caused by a Canadian pipeline disruption restricting natural gas flows into the region.

If approved, the average Avista residential customer in Idaho would see their monthly bill increase from $47.62 to $49.88, an increase of nearly 5%. The increase would take effect Nov. 1.

The request is separate from the electric utility’s July request for a fixed cost adjustment. If the Idaho Public Utilities Commission approves that request, the average residential natural gas customer in Idaho would see their monthly bills increase from $47.62 to $50.98, or about 7%.

The Idaho request follows one filed this week by Avista with the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission for rate adjustments based on lower levels of customer usage in 2018 related to a warmer-than-normal winter.

If regulators approve the changes, a typical household in Washington would see its monthly bills go from $81.59 to $82.16, an increase of 0.7%.

Natural gas customers would see a bigger increase, where a typical household would see its monthly bill go from $47.79 to $54.85, an increase of $7.06 per month, or 14.8%.