October 28, 2021 10:20 a.m. 

The Oregon Public Utility Commission recently approved an increase in natural gas rates for Avista Utilities customers due to an annual purchased gas adjustment, which goes into effect November first.

A release from the OPUC said Avista has experienced 12 rate decreases and 3 rate increases, due to this purchased gas adjustment.

The PUC approves adjustments annually to the rates of the three regulated natural gas companies, including Avista, Cascade Natural Gas and NW Natural, to reflect changes in the actual cost of wholesale priced natural gas.

The PUC approved an overall revenue increase of $10.5 million for Avista customers for the PGA annual filing when compared to 2020 company gross revenues. The increase is largely due to significant weather-related events and the increase in natural gas prices worldwide. Customer rate increases will include:

*For residential customers, the monthly bill of a typical residential customer using an average of 48 therms per month will increase by $5.19 or 8.4 percent, from $61.78 to $66.97

*For commercial customers, the monthly bill of a typical customer using an average of 202 therms per month will increase by $27.90, or 12.9 percent, from $215.29 to $243.09

*For industrial customers, the monthly bill of a typical customer using an average of 4,003 therms per month will increase by $550.89 or 28.5 percent from $1,993.45 to $2,484.34.

The release said, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s 2021 Winter Fuels Outlook, nearly half of U.S. households that heat primarily with natural gas will spend 30 percent more on average than they spent last winter.

Avista recently filed a rate case with the PUC seeking additional revenues for non-gas costs. A decision on this filing, which is scheduled for mid-2022, will further impact customer rates.