Just finished reviewing Avista's rate filing for 2025 here in Spokane. They're pushing through a 12.8% increase effective March 1st, citing infrastructure upgrades and wildfire mitigation costs. What caught my eye is the new Schedule 25 demand charge structure - they're moving from a flat $8.50/kW to a tiered system starting at $12.20/kW for the first 50kW. Anyone else in the Pacific Northwest seeing similar patterns? This could be huge for our commercial clients who weren't paying attention to their demand profiles.
Avista's 2025 Rate Case - Anyone Else Seeing This Pattern?
Mike, I'm seeing the exact same thing with PG&E up here in Santa Rosa. Their 2025 filing has a similar tiered demand structure, and they're calling it "grid modernization cost recovery." The kicker is they're also adding a new "resilience charge" of $0.02/kWh on top of everything else. I've got three clients who are going to see their bills jump 18-22% if we don't act fast. Have you run the numbers on load shifting for any of your Avista accounts?
This is exactly what we predicted in the 2024 AAUBA conference sessions. Utilities are using infrastructure and climate resilience as justification for these complex rate structures. The real opportunity is in the transition period - most of these new rates have a 90-120 day implementation window. Mike and Iris, are your utilities offering any grandfathering provisions or opt-out periods? That's where we can usually negotiate the best deals for existing customers.
Randy, Avista is offering a 6-month transition period for existing Schedule 31 customers, but only if they file a written request by February 15th. The catch is they have to commit to a 3-year rate lock at current pricing plus 8.5% annually. I'm running the math for a manufacturing client - even with the annual escalation, they'd save about $47,000 over three years compared to the new tiered structure. Worth every penny of our audit fee right there.
We're dealing with Xcel Energy's rate case here in Minneapolis, and they're doing something similar but with a twist. They're offering "smart rate" discounts for customers who agree to automated demand response. The savings can be 15-20% during peak months, but there's fine print about minimum participation requirements. Has anyone successfully negotiated modifications to these demand response contracts? Some of our industrial clients can't afford the production disruptions.
Donna, we've had good luck with partial participation agreements. PG&E allows customers to designate "critical process" loads that are exempt from curtailment. You just need to provide engineering documentation showing why those loads can't be interrupted. We got a food processing plant approved for 60% participation instead of the standard 80%, and they still qualified for most of the incentives. The key is getting the paperwork filed before the rate goes into effect.
Great point about the partial participation, Iris. For anyone following this thread, now is the time to be proactive. These 2025 rate cases are creating a perfect storm of opportunity. Document everything, file early, and don't be afraid to push back on utility interpretations of their own tariffs. I've seen too many auditors wait until after implementation to start fighting. By then, you're playing catch-up instead of staying ahead of the game.
Thanks everyone - this has been incredibly helpful. I'm putting together a client presentation for next week, and these insights are gold. Randy, do you have any templates for the grandfathering requests? I don't want to reinvent the wheel if there's already proven language that works across different utilities.