Avista reaches all-party, all issues settlement in Oregon general rate case

Avista (AVA), the Staff of the Public Utility Commission of Oregon, the Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board, Alliance of Western Energy Consumers, AWEC, and the joint intervenor Climate Solutions/Green Energy Institute at Lewis & Clark Law School, parties to the Company’s natural gas general rate case, have reached a settlement agreement that has been submitted to the Commission for its consideration, and which would resolve all issues in the proceeding. If approved, this settlement would result in a base revenue increase of $4.2 million, as compared to Avista’s original request of $7.8 million. The agreed-upon revenue requirement is predicated on a proposed rate of return of 7.219% with a common equity ratio of 50% and a 9.5% return on equity. As a part of the settlement, the parties agreed to accelerate the use of certain customer tax credits to partially mitigate the billed impact to customers, over a three-year period. As a result, the overall increase customers would experience is 2.0%.