AVA Avista Corp

SPOKANE, Wash., Dec. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Avista Corp. (NYSE:AVA) today announced that it has completed the sale of 3,162,500 shares of common stock in its public offering, including the full exercise of the over-allotment option granted by the company to purchase up to 412,500 shares by the sole underwriter UBS Investment Bank. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040128/SFW031LOGO ) The shares were priced to the public at $25.05 per share, resulting in net proceeds to the company of $77.7 million, after deducting the underwriting discounts and the commissions. The intended uses of the net proceeds of the offering include funding capital expenditures, such as the completion of a five-year major transmission infrastructure construction program and the first steps in upgrading our Cabinet Gorge and Noxon Rapids hydro generation projects to increase efficiency and productivity. In addition, proceeds of the transaction will be used to pay maturing debt and short-term borrowings under the company's committed line of credit, and other corporate purposes. 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 a company operating division that provides service to 341,000 electric and 298,000 natural gas customers in three Western states. Avista's non-regulated subsidiaries include Advantage IQ and Avista Energy. Avista Corp.'s stock is traded under the ticker symbol "AVA". For more information about Avista, please visit http://www.avistacorp.com/. NOTE: Avista Corp. and the Avista Corp. logo are trademarks of Avista Corporation. This news release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the use of proceeds from a common stock offering. Such statements are subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors, most of which are beyond the company's control, and many of which could have a significant impact on the company's operations, results of operations and financial condition, and could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. For a further discussion of these factors and other important factors, please refer to the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2005 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2006. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release speak only as of the date hereof. The company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement or statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date on which such statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all of such factors, nor can it assess the impact of each such factor on the company's business or the extent to which any such factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040128/SFW031LOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Avista Corp. CONTACT: investors, Jason Lang, +1-509-495-2930, or , or Avista 24/7 Media Access, +1-509-495-4174 Web site: http://www.avistacorp.com/

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