SPOKANE, Wash. — Washington Attorney General Nick Brown is fighting Avista’s proposal to increase electric rates for customers by 25% and gas rates by 10% over the next four years.
The Attorney General’s office argues that Avista could get rid of most of these increases while still maintaining a healthy profit over the next four years. The Attorney General’s Office also argues that shareholders should share the cost of its CEO and executive pay and incentives, investor relations expenses, trade group membership costs, and lobbying.
“Utilities should be prioritizing affordability for consumers, not increased dividends for wealthy investors,” said Brown. “Utility rates should reflect the actual cost of providing these services, which are far lower than this request.”
The Attorney General’s office says if the proposed rate increases are approved by the Utilities and Transportation Commission, the average household using Avista would see an electric rate increase by over $17 per month in January. Gas rates for the average household would be expected to increase by over $4 per month.
By 2030, the Attorney General’s office says the average customer’s electric bill would have increased by $33.71 a month, or roughly $404.52 per year, and their gas bill would have increased by $9.40 a month, or $112.80 per year, compared with current rates.
AG Brown argues that Avista has increased its payouts to shareholders every year for the past 24 years. Brown also says the current cost of living is too high and high utility prices are correlated with more evictions.
Avista says the rate increases are necessary to recover power generation costs, improve infrastructure, and fund wildfire safety efforts.
Avista defended its proposal in a statement to KXLY, saying: “This proposal allows us to provide safe, reliable electric and natural gas service for customers, every day.”
Avista services 275,000 electric and 179,000 natural gas customers in Washington.
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