Company plans for market entry by April 2022

SPOKANE, Wash., April 25, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avista (NYSE: AVA), a leader in clean electricity, today announced it signed an agreement with the California Independent System Operator for the utility to participate in the Western Energy Imbalance Market (EIM), furthering its commitment to integrate renewable energy into its electric generation resource mix.

The Western EIM is a real-time energy wholesale market that automatically provides the lowest-cost electricity resources available to meet utility customer needs.  This permits the Western region to share generation resources over a large geographic area, resulting in a more efficient use of renewable energy at the lowest available cost for customers.

This announcement bolsters Avista’s long-standing history of and well-established approach to providing clean, reliable and affordable energy to the customers and communities it serves.  

“Avista has always been committed to balancing reliability and affordability while maintaining responsibility for our environmental footprint, and our actions demonstrate these values,” said Jason Thackston, senior vice president, energy resources, Avista. “Joining the EIM will not only expand our ability to integrate additional renewable energy but also continue to reliably meet the energy needs of our customers and share resources more cost effectively across a larger geographic area.”

Learn more about Avista’s commitment at www.myavista.com/greener.

About Avista Corp.
Avista Corp. is an energy company involved in the production, transmission and distribution of energy as well as other energy-related businesses. Avista Utilities is our operating division that provides electric service to 388,000 customers and natural gas to 355,000 customers. Its service territory covers 30,000 square miles in eastern Washington, northern Idaho and parts of southern and eastern Oregon, with a population of 1.6 million. Alaska Energy and Resources Company is an Avista subsidiary that provides retail electric service in the city and borough of Juneau, Alaska, through its subsidiary Alaska Electric Light and Power Company. Avista stock is traded under the ticker symbol "AVA."  For more information about Avista, please visit investor.avistacorp.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding the company’s current expectations. Forward-looking statements are all statements other than historical facts. Such statements speak only as of the date of the news release and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company’s control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations. These risks and uncertainties include, in addition to those discussed herein, all of the factors discussed in the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2018.

SOURCE: Avista Corporation

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