Avista Corporation is an American energy company which generates and transmits electricity and distributes natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. Approximately 1,550 employees provide electricity, natural gas, and other energy services to 359,000 electric and 320,000 natural gas customers in three western states. The service territory covers in eastern Washington,

northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

Idaho, and parts of southern and eastern Oregon, with a population of 1.5 million. Avista Utilities is the regulated business unit of Avista Corp., an

investor-owned utility Investor-owned utilities (IOUs) are private enterprises The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit (economics), profi ...

headquartered in Spokane, Washington. Avista Corp.'s primary, non-utility subsidiary was Ecova, an energy and sustainability management company with over 700 expense management customers, representing more than 600,000 sites. In 2014, Ecova was sold to Cofely, a subsidiary of GDF Suez. The company was founded in 1889 as Washington Water Power Company. The board of directors approved a name change to Avista Corporation, effective January 1, 1999, and the company began trading under the Avista name on Monday, At that time, the company also bought naming rights for Spokane's minor league baseball park, Avista Stadium.

History

Washington Water Power was founded in 1889 helping the new city of Spokane Falls to have more power. Using the Spokane River, the idea was that the town could use hydroelectricity. Trustees of the

Edison Electric Illuminating Company The Edison Illuminating Company was established by Thomas Edison on December 17, 1880, to construct electrical generating stations, initially in New York City. The company was the prototype for other local illuminating companies that were establish ...

asked for people to back them up in their project from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

to build a power station on the river. The people in New York refused saying that water power had little to no value. Defying the people in New York, 10 stockholders stepped up to support the project themselves and formed Washington Water Power to build it. In the 1890s through the 1930s, Washington Water Power bought up streetcar companies in the city of Spokane and had cornered the transportation market by 1900. Despite seeing a peak in 1910, ridership declined through the 1930s and Washington Water Power's final streetcar line closed in 1936. The company would never again seek to enter the public transportation market. In 1892 Washington Water Power purchased a park called Twickenham Park on the banks of the Spokane River. The company renamed the attraction Natatorium Park and expanded it with a large swimming pool in 1895 and it became an all-purpose recreation site for the city. Washington Water Power eventually sold the park in 1929. Washington Water Power expanded in Oregon and into California by acquiring the natural gas operations of

CP National CP, cp. or its variants may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Cariyapitaka (Cp), a canonical Buddhist story collection * The Canadian Press, a Canadian news agency * Child pornography * ''The Christian Post'', an American newspaper * C ...

from

Alltel Alltel Wireless was a wireless service provider, primarily based in the United States. Before acquisitions by Verizon Wireless and AT&T, it served 34 states and had approximately 13 million subscribers. As a regulatory condition of the acquisition ...

in 1989. The California operations were sold to

Southwest Gas Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. () is an investor-owned utility based in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. The company provides natural gas service to over 2 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers in parts of Arizona, Nevada, and ...

in 2005. In 2014, Avista acquired

Alaska Electric Light & Power Alaska Electric Light & Power, also known as AEL&P, is the power utility for Juneau, the capital city of Alaska. AEL&P gets their electricity primarily through the Snettisham hydroelectric power plant, located in an uninhabited region Southeast ...

, the electric utility for

Juneau The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the se ...

in an all stock transaction worth $170 million. Avista supports adoption of electric vehicles. In 2016, Avista proposed a two-year pilot program that would install 265 charging stations for electric cars in the eastern part of Washington state. The program was estimated to cost around $3.1 million. It would install fast electric vehicle charging stations in 120 homes, 100 workplaces, and 45 public areas. In 2017, Ontario-based electrical utility Hydro One agreed to purchase Avista. In December 2018, The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission rejected the proposed takeover by Hydro-One, saying the

Ontario government The government of Ontario (french: Gouvernement de l'Ontario) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Ontario. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown—represented in the province by the lieutenant governor— ...

(its largest shareholder) led by recently elected premier Doug Ford, had interfered politically in Hydro One's business affairs, most glaringly ordering the removal of CEO Mayo Schmidt, who he dubbed "the Six Million Dollar Man" during the election and vowed to fire him if elected.

Lawsuits

On September 27, 2002, Avista was sued for issuing false and misleading statements concerning its business and financial condition, including failing to disclose that Avista was engaged in highly risky energy trading activities with Enron and Portland General Electric. On December 20, 2007, Avista agreed to a $9.5 million settlement.

Restatement

On February 20, 2002, the company had voluntarily adjusted the amount originally allocated to IPR&D and will restate its third quarter 1998 consolidated financial statements accordingly.

Other media

Matthew Modine Matthew Avery Modine (born March 22, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker, who rose to prominence through his role as U.S. Marine Private/Sergeant J.T. "Joker" Davis in ''Full Metal Jacket''. His other film roles include the title character ...

's character Louden Swain ( Vision Quest) can be seen running over the Monroe Street Bridge with “Washington Water Power” prominently displayed in the background on the historic Washington Water Power

Post Street Electric Substation The Post Street Electric Substation (also called the Washington Water Power Building, The Washington Water Power Substation) is an electric substation on the Spokane River in the city of Spokane, Washington. Built in 1910, the Post Street substat ...

References

External links

*
Avista Utilities.com

Avista Corp.com

Ecova.com

History
{{Authority control Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Energy companies of the United States Natural gas companies of the United States Energy companies established in 1899 Electric power companies of the United States Companies based in Spokane, Washington Hydroelectric power companies of the United States