Clarity from Avista

Avista is increasing electric rates for North Idaho, saying it’s to “cover costs accumulated in 2016.” However, another testimony claims it’s planning to spend $24.2 million between 2017 and 2019 on additions to Colstrip, a coal-fired power plant in Montana. So, which is it? And what is being “added” to this coal plant? Avista is not forthcoming with any details about this investment.

Nature is the primary reason I choose to live in North Idaho, and it would deeply sadden me to find that I am inadvertently contributing to the ongoing destruction of our environment and pollution of the air we breathe. My reporting of the coal pile spontaneously igniting at Heron, Montana, this summer, a month after the derailment, is a spectacular example of what can go wrong.

Is this Avista expense not better spent supporting renewable energy? Don’t we have a say in this, and the right to know what we’re investing in? Please, let’s all speak up and demand more transparency and advocate for energy resources we believe in.

Marjolein Nibbelink

Sandpoint