Avista Corporation : Avista contributes $100,000 for area energy assistance programs

18 non-profit organizations receive funds to help clients with winter heating costs

SPOKANE, Wash. Jan 3, 2012: Avistawill partner with eighteen community service agencies in eastern Washington to make grants for energy assistance to qualifying Avista customers in need this winter. Avista has contributed a total of $100,000 to the agencies for customers who have exhausted all other available energy assistance resources.

The funds come from a Washington state tax credit Avista receives for the company's Low-Income Rate Assistance Program (LIRAP) which is administered through eastern Washington's community action agencies. LIRAP provides energy assistance to Avista customers using qualifications similar to the federal government's Low-Income Heating Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

"The organizations that received these donations were identified by Avista's representatives (Customer Assistance Referral and Evaluation Service), who are specially trained and who work closest with our most vulnerable customers," said Dennis Vermillion, president of Avista Utilities. "Community non-profits are an important safety net for so many in our service territory. They provide assistance that helps those most in need meet the costs of housing, food and medicine, and in keep their homes warm this winter."

In addition to the CARES contributions, Avista and its employees donated more than $226,000 to Project Share in 2011 to further support energy assistance within our service territory.

2011 CARES Donations

Organization Name	City
ACCOIN	Spokane Valley	$ 3,000
Cancer Patient Care	Spokane	$15,000
Caritas Center	Spokane	$ 1,000
Catholic Charities	Spokane	$ 7,500
Colville Volunteer Food & Resource Center	Colville	$ 5,000
Martin Luther King, Jr. Family Outreach Center	Spokane	$ 1,000
New Hope Resource Center	Colbert	$ 2,000
Our Place Community Ministries	Spokane	$10,000
Saint Augustine's	Spokane	$ 3,000
St Vincent DePaul	Colville	$ 2,000
St. Vincent DePaul	Clarkston	$ 8,500
Salvation Army of Lewiston*	Lewiston, ID	$ 3,000
Salvation Army of Spokane	Spokane	$ 7,500
Scottish Rite	Spokane	$ 1,500
Spokane Tribe of Indians	Wellpinit	$ 2,000
Spokane Valley Partners	Spokane Valley	$17,000
The Greenhouse	Deer Park	$ 3,000
Volunteers of America	Spokane	$ 8,000

*Serving residents of Clarkston, Wash.

Avista Corp. is an energy company involved in the production, transmission and distribution of energy as well as other energy-related businesses.   is our operating division that provides electric service to 358,000 customers and natural gas to 317,000 customers.  Our service territory covers 30,000 square miles in eastern Washington, northern Idaho and parts of southern and eastern Oregon, with a population of 1.5 million.  Avista's primary, non-utility subsidiary is , an energy and sustainability management company with more than 500 multi-site commercial and utility customers, representing more than 450,000 sites.  Our stock is traded under the ticker symbol "AVA."  For more information about Avista, please visit .

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