Ecova--a total energy and sustainability management company--today announced the planned acquisition of LPB Energy Management ("LPB"), a privately held energy management company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. With twelve years of experience providing utility expense management and energy procurement for clients, LPB grows Ecova's client base to nearly 700 commercial companies with multiple sites. The transaction is projected to close by January 31, 2012, to be funded by Ecova through an expansion of its credit facilities and an equity infusion from existing shareholders, and to be neutral to Ecova's earnings in 2012. LPB reported revenue of $18.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 and $15.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2011.

"Adding LPB's capabilities and skilled staff to Ecova solidifies our position in the energy and sustainability management industry," said Jeff Heggedahl, CEO of Ecova. "This acquisition significantly expands our geographical reach; our new offices in Dallas and Houston enable us to better serve clients in the important energy hub of Texas. Having multiple offices and data centers also provides added security and back-up capability, strengthening the support we can offer our customers for our software products."

The acquisition increases Ecova's scale, capacity and reporting options, as well as Ecova's overall capability for utility expense management. It gives the company an unrivaled ability to deliver insights based on energy cost and consumption across more facilities, increasing benchmarking capabilities and data. For Ecova's utility clients, this acquisition brings additional locations from which utilities can work with commercial customers to enhance existing commercial energy efficiency programs. Ecova's CEO Jeff Heggedahl will continue to lead the combined organization and the Dallas office will become Ecova's South Central regional office.

"LPB Energy Management has been helping clients save money by managing utility expenses and securing low energy rates in deregulated markets for more than a decade," said Matthew Berke, president of LPB. "Joining forces with Ecova makes sense for our company, our employees and our customers. We can now deliver the best thinking, data and service to our customers."

About Ecova

Ecova is the total energy and sustainability management company whose sole purpose is to see more, save more, and sustain more for its clients. Using insights based on consumption, cost and carbon footprint data spanning thousands of utilities, hundreds of thousands of business sites and millions of households, Ecova provides fully managed, technology-optimized solutions for saving resources, which in turn increase returns, lower risks, and enhance reputations. Ecova is the largest non-regulated subsidiary of Avista Corp (NYSE:AVA and avistacorp.com). For more information, visit the company's website at ecova.com, on LinkedIn at linkd.in/ecovainc, or follow Ecova on Twitter at @ecovainc.

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 Avista Corp's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2010 and the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2011.

Ecova
Wendy Carhart, 503-525-2700 ext. 465
wcarhart@ecova.com