Avista customers speak out

Avista Utilities’ Washington customers drove to Spokane from as far as Davenport, Colville and Moses Lake Tuesday night to tell state regulators what they think of the company’s proposed rate increase.

“It’s gotta stop someplace. There’s just too many people that are in Hurtsville,” said Flo Tillemans, a 75-year-old Spokane Valley resident who said she still works 40 hours a week because she can’t get by on Social Security alone. “When we see and hear about CEOs and big corporations that are getting so much money and we’re the ones paying for it, it makes us ill. We can’t afford to keep paying for them to have a fun life while we sit here and struggle with nothing and keep paying and paying and paying.”

Commissioners from the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, which will decide on the proposed rate increase, listened to speakers decry it for two hours. Avista proposes raising electric rates by an average of 7.7 percent, with residential customers seeing about a 9 percent increase. That would translate to about $5.22 more per month for the average Washington household. The proposal calls for natural gas rates to rise by about .6 percent, or about 57 cents a month for the average customer.

Avista has asked that the rates take effect Jan. 1.

The company has also requested a 24 percent increase in natural gas rates for Washington and Idaho customers, which is a pass-through of the higher costs Avista is paying for the commodity. The pass-through, which would amount to a $16 monthly increase for the average customer, wasn’t the subject of Tuesday’s hearing.

About 60 people attended the hearing at the Spokane Airport Ramada Inn. They came representing organizations that help low-income consumers, the disabled and the elderly. They came on behalf of big businesses with hundreds of employees. And they came representing themselves – regular citizens who are increasingly struggling with all the rising costs of living, from gasoline to power to natural gas.

Simon ffitch, the assistant attorney general charged with representing consumer interests, has opposed Avista’s proposed increase as too high, saying a 2.3 percent increase is more fair. Many of the speakers thanked him for his advocacy.

Representatives of community action agencies from several rural counties praised the company’s pledge to increase its low-income rate assistance contribution by $1.2 million over two years. However, they also said the requests for help with heating bills this winter have already started to roll in and only about 30 percent of those needs are met in Spokane County.

Representatives from Boise Cascade, J.R. Simplot and Inland Empire Paper Co. (owned by the parent company that also owns The Spokesman-Review) expressed concern about layoffs and lost business due in part to rising electric rates that can’t be passed on to customers because of competition.

“When I heard the announcement of additional energy rate increases, it had me concerned over the survivability of my operations and the welfare of my employees and my community,” said Chris Seymour, production manager for Boise Cascade’s Kettle Falls operations. Seymour said his plant is the second-largest employer in Stevens County, where the unemployment rate is 8.5 percent. Power costs are his second-largest expense, after payroll, he said.

Many speakers took issue with Avista’s proposed rate of return for investors of 10.4 percent, saying the company should be willing to offer a lower rate to shareholders when so many customers are struggling to pay bills.

Kelly Norwood, vice president of Avista Utilities, said investment in the company helps finance the generation and transmission systems all customers rely on and investors have a choice about where they spend their money. And if they don’t make a decent rate of return, he said, they’ll take their money elsewhere.