Idaho Public Utilities Commission
Case Nos. AVU-E-08-01, AVU-G-08-01
April 18, 2008
Contact: Gene Fadness (208)
334-0339, 890-2712
Website: www.puc.idaho.gov
Commission begins investigation of
Avista rate requests
The Idaho Public Utilities
Commission has set a May 9 deadline for those wanting to file as “intervenors”
in the Avista Utilities electric and gas rate increase case. The commission
also suspended the effective date for a proposed rate increase for up to six
months from the company’s requested effective date of May 5.
Persons who petition the
commission to intervene become parties to the case for the purpose of presenting
evidence, cross-examining witnesses and participating in settlement or
negotiation conferences. Intervenors typically represent organizations acting
on behalf of customers. In the last Avista rate case in 2004, intervenors
included Potlatch, the Community Action Partnership of Idaho and Coeur Silver
Valley. There will also be opportunities
for individual ratepayers to submit written comments and participate in
workshops and public hearings, which have yet to be scheduled.
Avista serves about 120,000 electric
customers and 71,700 natural gas customers from Grangeville north to Sandpoint.
It is seeking an average 15.8 percent electric rate increase and a 5.8 percent
natural gas increase.
The commission’s staff of
auditors, engineers and attorneys now begins a thorough investigation of the
company’s application that could take up to six months. As the case progresses,
dates and places for public workshops and hearings within Avista’s territory
will be announced as well as a deadline for public comment.
A prehearing conference to
establish how the case will progress has been set for Wednesday, May 14, in the
commission hearing room at 472 W. Washington St. in Boise. The purpose of the
conference is to identify intervening parties, identify issues not readily
apparent in the company’s application and to establish future dates for
hearings and deadlines for filing testimony.
The company claims the increase
is needed to pay for increasing power supply costs, capital investment in
upgrading aging infrastructure, costs incurred in the relicensing process for
the Spokane River Hydropower Project and the company’s investment in advanced
meter reading.
Part of the
commission’s job will be to determine if the added investment and
infrastructure upgrade was needed and if the company was prudent in its
financial decision-making. The commission has the authority to accept, deny or
modify the company’s proposal. The commission must consider all rate increase
requests. State statute requires that regulated electric utilities be allowed
to recover all prudently incurred expenses in addition to a rate of return that
must be reasonable for customers, but enough to attract capital investment in
new transmission, distribution and generation. When the commission denies cost
recovery to a utility, it must be able to legally demonstrate why the utility’s
costs were not prudently incurred or in the best interest of customers. All
commission decisions can be appealed to the state Supreme Court.
Avista
customers can read all the documents filed in the Avista case thus far,
including testimony from Avista executives, by going to www.puc.idaho.gov. Click on the electric
icon, then on “Open Electric Cases,” and scroll down to Case No. AVU-E-08-01.