Avista rates jump Nov. 1

Starting Nov. 1, Avista Utilities’ Washington customers will see their natural gas rates jump by almost 24 percent, an average of $16 per month for the average household.

The increase, approved Wednesday by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, is an annual pass-through of the higher price the utility is paying for the commodity. Utilities are not allowed to profit on the increases.

Idaho regulators are likely to follow suit within the next couple of days and approve Avista’s requested 23.8 percent increase for customers in that state as well, said Gene Fadness, spokesman for the Idaho Public Utilities Commission.

Avista’s simultaneous request to increase base electric rates by 9 percent for residential customers in Washington prompted dozens of people to attend an Oct. 11 hearing held by the state commission in Spokane. The commission has received more than 350 comments opposing that request, which is pending. More than 100 elderly and disabled residents of a Spokane Valley apartment complex signed a petition opposing the increase.

However, the commission predicted in a news release Wednesday that Washington natural gas rates will not go up as much as the 30 to 70 percent increases that other parts of the country are experiencing. That’s because this region gets its gas primarily from Canadian and Rocky Mountain production sites, not from the Gulf Coast, where 54 percent of gas wells still are not producing following devastating hurricanes.

In addition, the commission said, utilities are required to plan long-term to secure lower-cost supplies by locking in rates ahead of time and storing gas purchased earlier in the year. That helps buffer customers from market volatility and ensure more stable prices, even as the price for the commodity rises.

Avista serves 135,000 natural gas customers in Washington and 66,000 in northern Idaho.