20040505Press Release.pdf

IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
For Immediate Release
Case No. A VU-04-1, A VU-04-
May 4, 2004
Contact: Gene Fadness [phone]
Website: www.puc.state.id.
Avista case workshops planned for Coeur d' Alene, Moscow
Boise - Staff from the Idaho Public Utilities Commission will conduct public workshops May 25
and May 26 regarding Avista Utilities' application to increase both its electric and gas rates.
The workshops will give A vista customers an opportunity to hear from commission staff
regarding the company s application and then to ask questions of staff and company
representatives.
Avista, which has about 105 000 customers in its northern Idaho territory, is requesting an
average 24.1 percent increase in electric rates and a 9.2 percent average increase in gas rates.
A vista is also proposing a reduction in its annual power cost adjustment surcharge that would
lessen the 24.1 percent increase to residential customers to about 13.5 percent. Avista proposes
an increase in the monthly customer service charge from $4 to $5 per month for electric
customers.
Commission staff, which includes auditors, engineers and attorneys, is investigating the utility
application. The company s application, as well as other documents related to the case, are
available on the commission s Web site at www.puc.state.id.. Click on "Avista rate case" in
the upper right-hand comer of the page. The application can also be viewed during regular
business hours at the commission s office at 472 W. Washington St. in Boise and at the Idaho
offices of Avista utilities.
Intervenors in the case include Potlatch Corporation, Coeur Silver Valley, Inc., and the
Community Action Partnership of Idaho. Coeur Silver Valley owns two silver mines between
Osborn and Wallace. The Community Action Partnership of Idaho is a non-profit corporation
consisting of six community action agencies across the state, representing the interests of
primarily low-income citizens.
The workshop schedule is as follows:
Coeur d' Alene - Tuesday, May 25, at 7 p.m. in the Blue Creek Echo Bay Room of the
Student Union Building, North Idaho College 1000 West Garden Avenue.
. Moscow - Wednesday, May 26, at 7 p.m. at the Best Western University Inn, 1516
Pullman Road.
Fonnal hearings in the case are scheduled for July 26 in Kellogg and Sandpoint and for July 27
in Lewiston.
According to the company s calculations, a residential electric customer using 1 000 kWh a
month would see an increase from $60.15 to $68.37 if Avista s proposal were accepted. That
includes the proposed reduction in the power cost adjustment surcharge.
A vista s proposed electric increases for other customer classes, including the proposed reduction
in the power cost surcharge, are 8.7 percent for general service, 10.1 percent for large general
service and 12.1 percent for irrigation customers.
A vista claims the electric increase is needed because of the addition of new generation, a
reduction in wholesale sales revenue, increased natural gas costs, a decline in electric use by
customers, record low-water conditions and unprecedented high wholesale market prices that
resulted in credit ratings below investment grade and increased financing costs.
Gas rates for residential customers would increase by 10 percent under A vista s proposal from
78.69 cents per thenn to 86.56 cents. The company proposes an increase from $3.28 to $5 per
month in the customer service charge for gas customers. Under the company s proposal, the
monthly bill for a residential gas customer using an average of 70 thenns of natural gas would
increase from $57.68 to $63.26.
The company claims the gas rate increase is needed because of a decline in natural gas use by
customers, a growth in the number of customers and general increases in expenses since the last
rate increase 14 years ago.
Last fall, the commission extended for one year a 19.4 percent surcharge added to electric
customers' bills to recover costs associated with the record-low stream flow conditions and high
market prices during the energy crisis of2000-01. Under the company s proposal, that surcharge
would be reduced and spread over two years, reducing the size of the general rate increase on
customers.