COEUR d'ALENE - Avista customers could receive a decrease in their electric prices and a slight increase in natural gas prices on Oct. 1 if the Idaho Public Utilities Commission approves two annual price adjustment requests filed Monday by the company - Residential Exchange Credit and Purchase Gas Cost Adjustment.

Residential and small-farm customers using an average of 956 kilowatt-hours per month could receive a $1.77, or 2.11 percent, decrease in their monthly electric bill due to an increase in benefits to be received from the Bonneville Power Administration's Residential Exchange Credit program.

Avista also made its annual Purchase Gas Cost Adjustment (PGA) filing with the IPUC, requesting an overall 1.53 percent increase in natural gas prices.

If the request is approved by the IPUC, a residential customer using an average 62 therms a month would see a 99 cents, or 1.63 percent, increase in their monthly rate for a revised monthly bill of $61.75. Commercial customers could expect increases of 2.05 percent for general service schedule 111, and 1.68 percent for interruptible sales service schedule 131. New rates would become effective Oct. 1, with annual natural gas revenues increasing about $1.1 million.