Avista Corp. announced that Senior Vice President of External Affairs and Chief Customer Officer Kevin Christie, age 55, will become Treasurer and Senior Vice President Regulatory Affairs effective May 11, 2023, after Avista's Annual Meeting of shareholders. Avista's Executive Vice President and Treasurer Mark Thies has decided to retire.

Although his daily responsibilities will transition on May 11, 2023, following Avista's Annual Meeting, Mr. Thies will stay on as Executive Vice President until his official retirement on October 1, 2023. Mr. Christie joined Avista in 2005 and held various leadership roles in Avista's natural gas business. He was appointed the Senior Director of Finance in 2012 and named Vice President of Customer Solutions in 2015.

His responsibilities expanded to Vice President External Affairs and Chief Customer Officer in 2018 and was named Senior Vice President in 2019. Mr. Christie has extensive experience in finance and the energy industry. Prior to joining Avista, he worked for Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN), where he served initially as an accountant and then progressed to roles as the Director of Pipeline Marketing and Development and the Director of Pricing and Business Analysis.

He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting from Washington State University and has completed various finance programs at Harvard Business School. Mr. Thies retires after 15 years at Avista. He joined the company in September 2008 as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

He added responsibilities of Treasurer in 2013, led financial responsibilities in several Avista subsidiaries, and was named Executive Vice President in 2019.