SPOKANE, Wash., Nov. 19, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Avista (NYSE: AVA)
received approval today from the Washington Utilities and
Transportation Commission (WUTC) on the all-party settlement
agreement, concluding the company's electric and natural gas rate
request in Washington. New
customer rates will be effective Dec. 1,
2010. Avista made the requests to the WUTC on March 23, 2010 followed by an all-party
settlement agreement on Aug. 25,
2010.
(Logo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20091223/AVISTALOGO)
"Avista is committed to providing our customers with the safe,
reliable energy they need at a fair price," said Avista Chairman,
President and Chief Executive Officer Scott
L. Morris. "We are pleased the Commission recognized the
need for our retail rates to reflect the increased costs necessary
to operate and maintain our energy delivery system."
The new prices reflect an overall electric increase of 7.2
percent in billed rates and a natural gas increase of 3.2 percent
in billed rates. These rates are designed to increase annual
electric revenues by $29.5 million
and natural gas annual revenues by $4.6
million. The approved overall rate of return is 7.91 percent
with a common equity ratio of 46.5 percent and a 10.2 percent
return on equity.
When the new prices become effective, a residential customer
will see an increase of $5.62, or 7.8
percent, for each 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity used per
month. A residential natural gas customer will see an increase of
$2.17, or 3.6 percent, for each 69
therms used per month. Avista serves more than 234,000
electric and nearly 147,000 natural gas customers in Washington.
Funding for Avista's Low-Income Ratepayer Assistance Program
(LIRAP), which provides energy assistance for qualifying customers,
will increase by 7.4 percent or $0.71
a month for electric customers and 2.9 percent or $0.62 a month for natural gas customers. With
this increase, the annual funding level for electric low-income
customers will be approximately $3.3
million and approximately $1.7
million for natural gas customers.
The approval will also allow Avista to increase funding for its
low-income weatherization program by $500,000, making a total of $2 million in assistance available to help
qualifying customers improve the energy efficiency of their
homes.
Information on energy assistance programs and energy efficiency
rebates and incentives for customers is available at
www.avistautilities.com.
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 357,000 customers and
natural gas to 316,000 customers. Our service territory
covers 30,000 square miles in eastern Washington, northern Idaho and parts of southern and eastern
Oregon, with a population of 1.5
million. Avista's primary, non-regulated subsidiary is
Advantage IQ. Our stock is traded under the ticker symbol
"AVA." For more information about Avista, please visit
www.avistacorp.com.
Avista Corp. and the Avista Corp. logo are trademarks of Avista
Corporation.
This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding
the company's current expectations. Forward-looking statements are
all statements other than historical facts. 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 on Form 10-K for the year
ended Dec. 31, 2009, and the
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2010.
SOURCE Avista Corp.