Insurance Balancing Account – Applicable to Washington Electric and Natural Gas The Insurance Expense Balancing account tracks the difference in insurance expense incurred by Avista to the base level of expense approved by the Commission in customer rates. The difference is rebated to, or collected from, customers annually. The rate changes proposed reflect the higher level of expense incurred for electric customers and lower expense incurred for natural gas customers, compared to the approved amount. Wildfire Balancing Account – Applicable to Washington Electric The Wildfire Expense Balancing account tracks the difference in wildfire expenses incurred by Avista to address the growing frequency of extreme and dangerous wildfires in Avista's service territory to the base level of expense approved by the Commission. The difference is rebated to, or collected from, customers annually.