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Beginning Jan. 1, 2014, an electric residential customer in Washington using an average of 989 kilowatt hours per month would see an additional increase of 2.0 percent or $1.60 per month, inclusive of the proposed ERM rebate, for a revised bill of $80.29. Natural gas customers in Washington using an average of 68 therms per month would see an increase of 0.9 percent or $0.57, for a revised monthly bill of $60.94.

As a result of the UTC approval, funding available for Avista's Low Income Rate Assistance Program (LIRAP) will increase by $176,000 in 2013 and $131,000 in 2014. In total, 2013 funding available for the LIRAP program will be approximately $3.8 million for electric customers and approximately $1.8 million for natural gas customers. In 2014 the funding level for electric customers will be approximately $3.9 million and for natural gas customers approximately $1.9 million. The LIRAP program is funded through a separate tariff.

Avista offers a variety of energy efficiency programs for residential, limited income, commercial and industrial customers. In addition to helping customers manage their energy use, the programs also help reduce the need for more costly energy resources to meet future customer demand.

In addition to support for energy assistance programs, Avista also offers services for customers such as comfort level billing, payment arrangements and Customer Assistance Referral and Evaluation Services (CARES), which provide assistance to special-needs customers through referrals to area agencies and churches for help with housing, utilities, medical assistance and other needs.

For more information about the rate process, visit www.avistautilities.com.

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 361,000 customers and natural gas to 320,000 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 Ecova, an energy and sustainability management company with over 700 expense management customers, representing more than 600,000 sites. Our stock is traded under the ticker symbol "AVA." For more information about Avista, please visit www.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, 2011 and the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2012.

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Contact:
Anna Scarlett
(509) 495-4916
anna.scarlett@avistacorp.com

Investors:
Jason Lang
(509) 495-2930
jason.lang@avistacorp.com

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