20170908Press Release.pdf

Avista Corp.
141I East Mission P.O. Box 3727
Spokane, Washington 99220-3727
Telephone [phone]
Toll Free 800-727-9170
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September 7,2017
Diane Hanian
Commission Secretary
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
472W. Washington St.
Boise, lD 83702
Case No. AVU-G-17-03
Natural Gas Fixed Cost Adjustment Annual Rate Filing of Avista Corporation
Dear Ms. Hanian:
Enclosed for electronic filing with the Commission is a copy of the Press Release issued in Case
No. AVU-G-17-03. The Press Release was issued on September 1,2017. Please direct any
on this matter to me at [phone].
Patrick Ehrbar
Senior Manager, Rates and Tariffs
Enclosures
Corp.
Re:
Page I of I
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Contact:
Media: Casey Fielder (509) 49S4916 [e-mail]
Investors: Jason Lang [phone] [e-mail]
Avista 24ft Media Access [phone]
Avista Requests Natural Gas Price Changes for ldaho Customers in
Annual Cost Adjustment Filings
Reguesfs would result in change in naturalgas pnces effective Nov. 1, 2017
SPOKANE, Wash. - Sept. 1,2017,1:05 p.m. PST: Avista (NYSE: AVA) has made annual
rate adjustment filings with the ldaho Public Utilities Commission (IPUC or Commission) that if
approved, are designed to increase overall natural gas revenues by approximately $0.1 million
or 0.3 percent effective Nov. 1 ,2017. These annual filings are separate from the general rate
case request filed in June 2017 regarding base retail rates in ldaho, have no impact on the
company's earnings, and are not related to the proposed acquisition of Avista by Hydro One.
Purchased Gas Cost Adjustment (PGA)
The first rate adjustment is Avista's annual Purchased Gas Cost Adjustment (PGA). The PGA is
filed each year to balance the actual cost of wholesale natural gas purchased by Avista to serve
customers with the amount included in rates. This includes the natural gas commodity cost as
well as the cost to transport natural gas on interstate pipelines to Avista's local distribution
system. lf approved, Avista's request is designed to decrease natural gas revenues by $1.7
million or 2.7 percent.
The primary drivers for the requested PGA rate reduction include continued low natural gas
commodity costs due to the continued high production levels of natural gas, and a reduction in
the cost to transport natural gas to Avista's distribution system.
About 40 percent of an Avista natural gas customer's bill in ldaho is the combined cost of
purchasing natural gas on the wholesale market and transporting it to Avista's system. These
costs fluctuate up and down based on market prices, and are not marked up by Avista. The
remaining 60 percent covers the cost of delivering the natural gas - the equipment and people
needed to provide safe and reliable service.
Natural Gas Fixed Cost Adjustment
The second rate adjustment is related to Avista's natural gas fixed cost adjustment mechanism
(FCA). The FCA mechanism is designed to break the link between a utility's revenues and
customers' energy usage. Avista's actual revenue, based on therm sales, will vary, up or down,
from the level included in a general rate case and approved by the Commission. This could be
caused by changes in weather, energy conservation or the economy. Generally, under the FCA
Avista's natural gas revenues recorded each month based on the number of customers, rather
than therm sales. The difference between revenues based on sales and revenues based on the
number of customers is surcharged or rebated to customers beginning in the following year. For
natural gas operations, the rate adjustment is designed to increase revenues by approximately
$1.8 million, or 3.0 percent. This rate adjustment is driven primarily by a lower level of customer
usage in 2016 due in part to a warmer than normalwinter.
Customer Bills
lf the request is approved, Avista residential customers using an average of 61 therms per
month could expect their monthly bill to increase from $51.10 to $51.38, beginning Nov. 1,2017,
an increase of $0.28 or 0.6 percent.
PGA rate adjustments are generally applied based on a uniform cents per therm change for all
rate schedules. Because there are differences in the basic charges and energy charges
between the various rate schedules, the PGA percentage decreases for each customer rate
schedule are different. The increase related to the FCA filing, however, is 3.0% for Schedule
101 and Schedule 1 1 1.
The net effect of the requested natural gas rate changes by rate schedule are:
General Service - Schedule 101
Large General Service - Schedules 111 & 112
lnterruptible Service - Schedules 131 & 132
Transportation Service - Schedule 146
Overall
0.5%
-0.8o/o
0.00/o
0.0o/o
0.30/o
Rate Application Procedure
Avista's applications are proposals, subject to public review and a Commission decision. Copies of
the applications are available for public review at the offices of both the Commission and Avista, and
on the Commission's website (www.puc.idaho.qov). Customers may file with the Commission written
comments related to Avista's filings. Customerc may also subscribe to the Commission's RSS feed
(http://www.puc.idaho.qov/rssfeeds/rss.htm) to receive periodic updates via e-mail about the case.
Copies of rate filings are also available on Avista's website at www.mvavista.com/rates.
About Avista Gorp.
Avista Corp. is an energy company involved in the production, transmission and distribution of
energy as well as other energy-related businesses. Avista Utilities is our operating division that
provides electric service to 378,000 customers and natura! gas to 342,000 customers. lts
service tenitory @vers 30,000 square miles in eastem Washington, northem ldaho and parts of
southem and eastem Oregon, with a population of 1.6 million. Alaska Energy and Resources
Company is an Avista subsidiary that provides retail electric service in the city and borough of
Juneau, Alaska, through its subsidiary Alaska Electric Liqht and Power Company. Avista stock
is traded under the ticker symbol "AVA.' For more information about Avista, please
visit www.avistacorp.com.
This news release contains fonrard-looking stratements regarding the company's current
expectations. Fonrard-looking statements are all statements other than historicalfacts. Such
statements speak only as of the date of the news release and are subject to a variety of risks
and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's control, which could cause actual
results to differ materially from the expectations. These risks and uncertainties include, in
addition to those discussed herein, all of the factors discussed in the company's Annual Report
j)Estsra
on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31 , 2016 and the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the
quarter ended June 30, 2017.
SOURCE: Avista Corporation
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