AVA Avista Corp

Dick Storro named vice president for energy resources SPOKANE, Wash., Dec. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Avista Corp. (NYSE:AVA) has tapped Dennis Vermillion to be president of Avista Utilities, the regulated business unit of the corporation, effective Jan. 1, 2009. He will remain a vice president of Avista Corp. Previously, Vermillion was vice president of energy resources in the utility. At the same time, the company has named Dick Storro to the position of vice president, energy resources. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040128/SFW031LOGO) "We have developed a strong leadership team within our company, with breadth of experience and depth of knowledge," said Scott Morris, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Avista Corp. "Vermillion is an accomplished leader with extensive experience in the energy sector. His excellent business acumen and broad understanding of the diverse elements of the energy and utility sectors will be valuable assets in managing the business." Morris continued, "By naming Dick Storro to head up the energy resources area of the utility, we will benefit from his years of experience and keen insights to keep us focused on our primary goal of providing reliable energy resources to our customers through our regulated utility operations." Dennis Vermillion joined Avista in 1985. His experience covers a broad range of activities, including leadership, trading, marketing, risk management, scheduling, resource operations, power/transmission contracting, resource planning and coordination, regulatory issues, and production cost modeling. Vermillion was president and chief operating officer for Avista Energy from February 2001 until its sale to Shell in 2007. Vermillion is a 1985 graduate of Washington State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. He is a long-time member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Storro is a 1973 graduate of the College of Idaho and the University of Idaho with bachelor's degrees in physics. He joined Avista upon graduation and has held positions in business development, operations, construction and engineering in both the generation and production and the power supply areas of the utility. 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 service to 352,000 electric and 310,000 natural gas customers in three Western states. Avista's primary, non-regulated subsidiary is Advantage IQ. Our stock is traded under the ticker symbol "AVA." For more information about Avista, please visit http://www.avistacorp.com/. Avista Corp. and the Avista Corp. logo are trademarks of Avista Corporation. To unsubscribe from Avista's news release distribution, send reply message to . http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040128/SFW031LOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Avista Corp. CONTACT: Avista 24/7 Media Access, +1-509-495-4174, media, Jessie Wuerst, +1-509-495-8578, , or investors, Jason Lang, +1-509-495-2930, , all of Avista Corp. Web site: http://www.avistacorp.com/

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