AVISTA CORPORATION (NYSE:AVA) Files An 8-K Other EventsItem 8.01 Other Events.
On August 10, 2017, Avista Corporation's (Avista Corp. or the Company) Power Cost Rate Adjustment (PCRA) filing was dismissed by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (Commission or UTC). The PCRA, which had been filed by the Company on May 26, 2017, proposed an overall increase in billed electric rates of 2.9 percent (designed to increase annual electric revenues by $15.0 million). This filing was separate from the electric and natural gas general rate cases also filed on May 26, 2017.
This filing was made following meetings with UTC Commissioners, UTC Commission Staff and other parties involved in ratemaking proceedings, and was designed to be a starting point to get cost recovery back on track for the Company's Washington electric operations. The UTC’s December 2016 order in the 2016 rate case provided no revenue increase for 2017, which has resulted in the electric base rate increase request of 12.5 percent in Avista Corp.’s pending general rate case in Washington to be higher than it otherwise would have been. The proposed PCRA increase was designed to make incremental progress with a 2.9 percent rate increase to customers on September 1, 2017, and a second-step increase effective at the conclusion of the general rate case on or around April 26, 2018.
Avista Corp.’s power supply costs, on a normalized basis, are much higher than those built into current base retail rates, and a revenue increase is needed to recover these increased costs on a going-forward basis. The increased levels of cost are included in the Company's pending general rate case in Washington, which is scheduled to be concluded by April 26, 2018.
About AVISTA CORPORATION (NYSE:AVA)
Avista Corporation is an electric and natural gas utility with certain other business ventures. The Company operates through two business segments: Avista Utilities, and Alaska Electric Light and Power Company (AEL&P). Avista Utilities segment generates, transmits and distributes electricity, and distributes natural gas serving electric and natural gas customers in eastern Washington and northern Idaho and natural gas customers in parts of Oregon. AEL&P is a utility providing electric services in Juneau, Alaska. It operates other businesses, including sheet metal fabrication, venture fund investments and real estate investments, as well as certain other investments of Avista Capital, Inc., a subsidiary of the Company. Through Advanced Manufacturing and Development (AM&D), doing business as METALfx, the Company performs custom sheet metal fabrication of electronic enclosures, parts and systems for the computer, construction, telecommunication, renewable energy and medical industries.