Washington Breaking News
OPUC Approves All-Party Settlement on Avista's General Rate Case
9/26
OPUC Approves All-Party Settlement
on Avista's General Rate Case
(September 26) The Oregon Public Utility Commission (OPUC) has
approved an all-party settlement agreement that provides early resolution to Avista
Utilities' natural gas general rate case, which the company filed in April.
Avista filed the price increase request to address the increased
costs of operating the company's natural gas distribution system. This marks Avista's
first general (non-gas-cost related) rate increase since the company acquired the Oregon
unit in 1991. During that time, the company implemented general rate decreases in 1991,
1995 and 1997.
The settlement agreement resolves all remaining issues in the
case and results in an overall rate increase of just under 10 percent, or an annual
revenue increase of $6.3 million. The parties had previously reached a stipulation
agreement on cost of capital issues. The agreements provide an overall rate of return of
8.88 percent and a return on equity of 10.25 percent.
The OPUC had earlier approved a 12.25 percent price increase --
known as a purchased gas cost adjustment -- to cover the higher cost of natural gas
purchased by Avista to serve its customers. Purchased gas cost adjustments (PGAs) are
filed annually by Avista to reflect changes in wholesale gas costs. Avista reduced its
rates in Oregon by 23 percent through purchased gas cost adjustments in 2002.
Price increases will vary for each class of customer. With the
general price increase and the purchased gas cost adjustment, the average residential
customer using 55 therms of natural gas per month would see a monthly bill increase of
$10.75 for a total bill of $53.08. Commercial rates would increase by 21.94 percent and
large commercial and industrial rates would increase by 19.21 percent. The new rates will
go into effect on October 1.
According to Avista, this is its first general rate increase
since acquiring the Oregon gas properties in 1991.
Source: www.avistautilities.com
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