Skip to main content
Avista Logo
Avista Star Burst
  • {{data.CustomerName}}
    •  
      Your Profile
    •  
      Update contact info
    •  
      Update sign in info
    •  
      Notification center
    •  
      Sign Out
    • Your Account
      •  
        Account Management
        Account Summary
        Your Enrollments
        Your Profile
        Notification Center
        Manage Rental Properties
         
        Customer News
        Avista Connect
         
        Your Bill
        Pay your bill
        Comfort Level Billing
        Ways To Pay
        Billing History
        Manage Payments
        Compare Your Bills
        Understand Your Bill
         
        New Customers
        Residential / Business
         
        Moving?
        Start / Stop / Transfer Service
        High / Low / Average

        First time user?

        Register your account to manage it your way

        Register now

    • Save Energy
      •  
        Ways to Save
        Rebates
        Lighting Tips
        Energy Saving Advice
         
        Tools
        Fuel Cost Calculator
        Tools For Your Business
        Energy and Savings Profile
        Furnace Filter Program
        Find a Contractor
        Shop for Appliances
        Energy Checklist
         
        Green Options
        Support Renewable Energy
        Electric Transportation
        Compressed Natural Gas

        Avista Marketplace

        Find the best price, energy efficiency information, consumer ratings, and buy all in one place.

        Shop now

    • Safety
      •  
        Call 811 Before You Dig
        Natural Gas Safety
        Safety Videos
         
        Electric Safety
        Safety Around Trees and Dams
        Kid's Center
         
        Beware of Scams
        Emergency Responders
        Public Officials

        Call 811 before you dig

        State law requires you to call at least two working days before you dig

        Know what’s below

    • Outages
      •  
        Outage Report / Status
        Report An Outage
        Check Status
        Outage Map
         
        Safety and Preparation
        Outage FAQs
        Outage To-Do List
         

        Keep track of outages

        Outage information, including an outage map and an alert center, at your fingertips.

        Stay connected

    • About Us
      •  
        Avista At A Glance
        Our Company
        Working at Avista
        Quick Facts
        Shared Value Report
        Our Community
        Integrated Resource Planning
        About Our Energy Mix
        Avista Connect
         
        Electric and Gas Service
        Rates and Tariffs
        Services and Resources
        Doing Business With Us
        Smart Meters
         
         
        Environmental Stewardship
        Celebrate Our Rivers
        Our Commitment
        Climate Change
        Recreation
        Water Flow Information

        Our Commitment

        Avista declares clean electricity goal.

        Learn more

    • Contact Us
    ╳
    Address: {{data.ServiceAddress[0].Value}} (other addresses)
    Address: {{data.ServiceAddress[0].Value}} (other addresses)

    Too many failed attempts

    We're sorry, your account has been locked. For your security, please contact us at (800) 227-9187.

    Return to managed accounts

    Managed By: {{data.ManagerName}} and {{data.Managers.length - 1}} more

    Managers

    • {{manager.ManagerName}}
    Click Confirm below to remove the ability for this party to manage your account.
    {{clientManagerError}}
    Confirm
    Close

    About Rates

    It’s common to think that we can raise our rates whenever we want, but in fact, the opposite is true. Here's the detailed and regulated process that follows a rate request.

    Transcript

    Speaker 1: It's a product you almost never think about but you count on it 24 hours a day, seven days a week: energy. Flip the switch, the lights go on. Turn on the gas, now you're cooking. It's our job at Avista to deliver that energy safely and reliably every day. You may have heard about a rate case we filed and wondered: so what is a rate case anyway? 

    A rate case is the way we request to change prices or rates to recover our cost of delivering your electricity and natural gas. We're regulated by three state utility commissions, so before we can adjust our prices we must make the case that current rates are not sufficient to cover our costs. That's different from the way most companies operate. When costs change for, say, a gas station owner, he simply adjusts his price for a gallon of gas, sometimes even on a daily basis. But because we're regulated, we can't change prices whenever we see the need. We must first file a rate case to explain why our expenses are outpacing our income.

    While we work hard to keep those expenses down, the cost of delivering energy continues to go up, costs like all the equipment and people it takes to maintain thousands of miles of pipes and wires, or repairing damages and restoring service after storm outages, or investing in upgrading and optimizing our system. It can add up to millions of dollars every year.

    As part of this process, we conduct extensive analysis and provide thousands of pages of documents to regulators and other parties when we file a rate case. Depending on the state, regulators have between seven and 11 months to review the details and make a final ruling, setting rates that are fair and reasonable both for customers and for Avista.

    It takes a lot to deliver the electricity and natural gas you rely on every day. Now, if you hear about a rate case, you'll know the role it plays in delivering that energy. You can be sure the next time you flip the switch or turn on the gas, it will be there. 

    How rates work

    What are rates?

    The rates you pay for energy cover two types of costs:

    1. The cost of generating or purchasing energy;
    2. The cost of delivering that energy to customers.
    What do customers pay?
    • Electricity: An average of $2.69 a day (or 11 cents per hour).
    • Natural Gas: About 7 cents per hour.
    Are rates regulated?

    Yes. Utility commissions in each state set the prices you pay for energy.

    Can Avista raise your rates anytime?

    No. Rates can only be changed with approval from state public utility commissions. It's a carefully regulated process that typically takes several months.

    What is the rate change process?

    Avista files a request with the commissions any time there is a need to adjust rates. The commissions in charge (Washington, Idaho, Oregon) investigate the request and follow the following steps:

    • Scrutinize costs or part replacements, upgrades, and more
    • Review thousands of pages of information about the projects, business cases, or items we are requesting to include recovery for in rates
    • Invite public testimony and review comments

    The commissions then determine and set fair and reasonable rates.

    Residential electric bill comparisons

    You can see our effort to keep rates low in the Northwest when you compare them to national averages:

    Avista Idaho: $102.6
    Avista Washington: $89.96

    US Average: $137.62

    Here's a detailed breakdown:

    National rate comparison chart

    All about costs

    What's the cost breakdown?

    In your bill:

    • 50 percent of your bill pays for the generation of the electricity you use – the actual cost of turning water, gas, or wind into power.
    • 50 percent covers the costs to safely and reliably deliver that energy to your home or business.

    Where does Avista spend the money it uses from rates?

    Equipment, maintenance, and planning. We're fortunate to own and operate the majority of the power we generate. This gives us more control over the entire energy-delivery process, from generation to transmission to distribution. Here's how we focus on upkeep to ensure the systems work efficiently:

    • Replacing power lines, poles, transformers, substations and more, many of which have been in operation for 70 years
    • Upgrading hydroelectric turbines
    • Keeping vegetation clear of our more than 18,000 miles of power lines
    • Inspecting and maintaining over 240,000 wooden poles
    • Managing a transmission system that meets national reliability requirements and can carry additional power

    More resources

    • Fair and reasonable rates
    • Imagine life without it
    • Take a look behind your light switch
    • An investment in Avista and community
    • Executive salaries
    • Rates
    • Rate Filing Definitions
    • Compensation
    • Profits & Shareholders
    • Our Company
    • Our Commitment
    • Our Rates and Tariffs
      • About Rates
      • Washington - Electric
      • Washington - Natural Gas
      • Washington - Rate Requests
      • Idaho - Electric
      • Idaho - Natural Gas
      • Idaho - Rate Requests
      • Oregon - Natural Gas
      • Oregon - Rate Requests
    • Celebrate Our Rivers
    • Our Community
    • Services and Resources
    • Smart Meters
    • Doing Business with Us
    • Contact Us
    Contact Us Investors Careers Policies and Guidelines

    ©2019 Avista Corporation. All Rights Reserved