Spokane-based Avista Corp. has filed a proposal with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission that would raise rates for Idaho customers.

The proposals are intended to help the company's utility operations recover costs for fixed expenses and ongoing investments in infrastructure and technology.

“These expenses are necessary to ensure that we can continue to provide our customers with safe, efficient, and reliable power,” says Avista President and CEO Heather Rosentrater in a press release. “We're managing these expenses on behalf of our customers, because we understand the need to minimize the cost impact that our customers experience.”

The proposal is a two-year rate plan, with new rates taking effect in September 2025 and September 2026, if approved.

As proposed, electric customers in Idaho would experience a roughly 14% rate increase in September and about a 5% increase a year later.

Natural gas customers in the state would have a roughly 10% increase in rates this September and about 1% increases in September 2026.

The actual percentage increase for electric and natural gas customers would vary by customer rate group and how much energy a customer uses.

For Avista, the proposed electric general rate request is designed to increase annual base revenues by $43 million starting Sept. 1 and $17.7 million effective a year later.

“We aim to save our customers money in a variety of ways, including implementing intentional purchase plans, offering natural gas for the same price we pay, and continuing to be thoughtful in how we prepare our generation mix,” Rosentrater says. “Even with these efforts in place, the costs to purchase power can and do fluctuate, and we need to continue to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in our system every year to continue providing safe, reliable service for our customers now and into the future.”

Avista's service territory covers 30,000 square miles in Eastern Washington, northern Idaho, and parts of southern and eastern Oregon.