Avista base rates for Idaho customers won’t change in 2015

Avista Utilities has reached a settlement to keep its base rates for Idaho customers unchanged through the end of 2015. The settlement, which still requires approval the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, was worked out after Avista announced in March that it would seek a rate hike for its electric and natural gas customers in Idaho. After informal talks, the Spokane-based utility proposed a one-year extension of the rate plan. As part of the settlement, Avista agreed not to file a general rate case before May 31, 2015, for higher rates that would become effective on or after Jan. 1, 2016. “Our customers will benefit from the stability in their energy rates this proposed settlement provides,” said Dennis Vermillion, Avista’s senior vice president, in a news release. Idaho customers could still see a change in natural gas prices this fall through a power cost adjustment, which allows the utility to adjust its prices annually based on fluctuations in wholesale gas prices. As a result, customer’s gas rates sometimes go up or down, depending on whate the market price for gas is doing. But those fluctuations don’t affect Avista’s base rates for natural gas.