Avista Rates vs. Your Attic
What air sealing & R-60 actually saves
Avista's residential electric bill is up 42% since 2022, and another 13.9% is on the table for 2027. Here's what air sealing plus taking a Spokane attic from R-19 to R-60 blown cellulose will save you in a year, with every assumption shown.
Free attic inspections • Spokane & Coeur d'Alene • We'll tell you if you don't need it
The short version
Four numbers worth knowing before winter
Electric bill, 2022 to 2026
A typical Avista home went from $85.52 to $121.46 a month at about 945 kWh. Washington UTC benchmarks.
Gas rates since 2015
Twelve annual changes compounded, including the years gas went down. Electricity is up 36% over the same stretch.
Requested for 2027
Avista's electric request for next year, with more each year through 2030. Proposed, not approved, and being contested.
Expected savings, gas-heated home
1,500 sq ft attic, air sealing plus R-19 to R-60. Range $170 to $285. Electric-heat homes save more. Math below.
First, the bill
What Avista has done to Spokane rates
These are the annual rate changes the City of Spokane reported for Avista from 2015 through 2026. Gas follows the wholesale market, which is why it drops some years. Electricity has moved in one direction. The big jump for both was 2023 and 2024.
Check your own home's high, low and average usage on Avista's site →
Avista annual rate changes, Spokane
Show the table
Source: City of Spokane Public Works, April 2026. The 2025 and 2026 figures are approved base-revenue changes and are not identical to the change on an individual bill.
A typical Avista electric bill
The 2022 benchmark used 932 kWh. 2027 to 2030 apply the requested +13.9%, +4.7%, +3.5% and +2.8% to the 2026 estimate. Requests are not approvals.
What Avista has asked for next
Separately, an August 2026 adjustment would lower residential gas bills about 7.7% if approved and leave electric nearly unchanged. Two filings, opposite directions. You don't control the rate. You control how much you buy.
Second, the attic
Why R-19 to R-60 is not just "more insulation"
Heat moves through a ceiling in proportion to 1 divided by R. Going from R-19 to R-60 cuts conductive loss through the ceiling by 68%. The first inches matter most, which is also why a lot of Spokane attics stopped at R-19 in the first place.
The second piece is air sealing. Every light box, wire, plumbing stack and top plate is an open path between the house and the attic. Warm air leaves through the top and cold air gets pulled in low. Insulation slows conduction. It does nothing about that airflow. Sealing the attic plane does.
Heat lost through the ceiling in a Spokane winter
R-11 and R-30 shown for comparison. Settled or gappy R-19 often performs closer to R-15, which only makes the gap bigger.
Where the saved heat comes from
Insulation: 8.7 MMBTU from the R-19 to R-60 formula. Air sealing: 8% of a 60 MMBTU house heating load. Together 13.5 MMBTU, about 22% of the heating season.
Third, the dollars
What that is worth on an Avista bill
Same 13.5 MMBTU, priced three ways depending on how you heat. Gas uses Avista's over-70-therm residential rate of $1.355 per therm and a 92% furnace. Electric uses about 12.5 cents per kWh. A heat pump needs less than half the electricity of baseboard for the same heat, so it saves fewer dollars even though the house loses the same amount.
First-year savings by heating type
Conservative: R-19 performing as rated, air sealing worth 5% of the heating load. High: existing insulation performing at R-15, air sealing worth 12%. Central AC adds roughly $15 to $30 a summer.
Ten winters, with Avista's requested increases
Years 1 to 4 use the increases Avista requested for 2027 to 2030. Years 5 to 10 assume 3% a year, below gas's 4.75% average since 2015 and above electricity's 2.6%.
Your house, not the average one
Run your own numbers
Same formula as above with your attic size, what's up there now, and how you heat. This is an estimate, not a quote. The real number depends on how leaky the attic plane is, which we measure on site.
Want to compare against what you actually pay? Avista shows your home's high, low and average monthly usage here →
Every assumption, in one place
| Item | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Heating degree days, Spokane | 6,700 | Base 65°F, long-term normal for Spokane International |
| Ceiling heat loss | A × 24 × HDD × (1/R) | Standard steady-state conduction, BTU per year |
| Whole-house heating load | 6 BTU per sq ft of attic per degree day | About 60 MMBTU delivered for a 1,500 sq ft attic; matches a 650 to 700 therm Spokane gas home |
| Air sealing effect | 5% / 8% / 12% of heating load | Conservative / typical / leaky attic plane |
| Gas price | $1.355 per therm | Avista WA Schedule 101, over 70 therms, including riders, Aug 2026 |
| Furnace efficiency | 92% AFUE | Common condensing furnace; an 80% furnace saves more dollars |
| Electric price | $0.125 per kWh | Avista WA residential, upper block plus riders, 2026 |
| Heat pump seasonal COP | 2.4 | Cold-climate average including backup heat in Spokane winters |
| Rate escalation | Requested 2027 to 2030, then 3% | Electric +13.9 / 4.7 / 3.5 / 2.8%; gas +4.7 / 2.4 / 2.1 / 1.1% |
| Not counted | Comfort, ice dams, noise, resale | Real, but not on the bill |
Why homeowners call us first
Straight answers, since 2012
"We'll give it to you straight, even if that means telling you not to spend a dime."
Not every attic pays back. If you're already at R-49 with a sealed plane, we'll say so and leave. These four things decide whether the numbers above apply to your house, and they're what the free inspection checks.
A ruler, not a guess
Settled R-19 performing at R-13 is common. So is R-38 that's already fine. We measure and tell you which one you have.
Can lights, fans, chases, the hatch
The more we find, the more air sealing is worth and the more insulation alone would have missed.
Baffles and a working vent path
Burying a blocked soffit under R-60 is how you buy a mold problem. We fix the venting first.
Baseboard saves the most
Heat pumps save the fewest dollars but still cut the backup-heat hours that spike February bills.
Questions we get on every call
Frequently asked
Is R-60 overkill for Spokane?
No. Washington's energy code calls for R-60 in new attics in our climate zone, and Avista's own efficiency guidance points the same way. It's the point where adding more stops paying back.
Can you just add insulation without air sealing?
We can, and sometimes it's all that's needed. But a leaky attic plane will keep pulling heated air out of the house no matter how deep the cellulose is. We check first and tell you which you need.
How do I know I got the depth I paid for?
We set depth rulers to the quoted R-value before we blow and leave them in place. Open the hatch and read them.
What about rebates?
Programs change. We check what Avista and other programs are paying at the time of your job and hand you the paperwork, filled in.
How long does it take?
The inspection is about an hour. Air sealing and a blow-in on a typical attic is one day. Removal jobs run one to two.
What does it cost?
A written, line-item bid after the free inspection. No pressure, no "today only" pricing. If the attic's fine, the bid is zero and we'll tell you why.
Avista's not lowering your rate.
Lower how much of it you buy.
Free inspections • Spokane & Coeur d'Alene • 509-879-0495 Copied
