Short-Term Borrowings

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Short-term Debt [Abstract]

Short-Term Borrowings

SHORT-TERM BORROWINGS

Avista Corp.

Avista Corp. has a committed line of credit with various financial institutions in the total amount of $400.0 million with an expiration date of February 2017.

The committed line of credit is secured by non-transferable First Mortgage Bonds of the Company issued to the agent bank that would only become due and payable in the event, and then only to the extent, that the Company defaults on its obligations under the committed line of credit.

The committed line of credit agreement contains customary covenants and default provisions. The credit agreement has a covenant which does not permit the ratio of “consolidated total debt” to “consolidated total capitalization” of Avista Corp. to be greater than 65 percent at any time. As of December 31, 2012, the Company was in compliance with this covenant.

Balances outstanding and interest rates of borrowings (excluding letters of credit) under the Company’s revolving committed lines of credit were as follows as of December 31 (dollars in thousands):

	2012			2011			2010
Balance outstanding at end of period	$	52,000		$	61,000		$	110,000
Letters of credit outstanding at end of period	$	35,885		$	29,030		$	27,126
Average interest rate at end of period	1.12		%	1.12		%	0.57		%

Ecova

In July 2012, Ecova entered into a $125.0 million committed line of credit agreement with financial institutions that replaced its $60.0 million committed credit agreement and has an expiration date of July 2017. The credit agreement is secured by all of Ecova's assets excluding investments and funds held for clients.

The committed line of credit agreement contains customary covenants and default provisions, including a covenant which requires that Ecova's “Consolidated Total Funded Debt to EBITDA Ratio” (as defined in the credit agreement) must be 2.50 to 1.00 or less, with provisions in the credit agreement allowing for a temporary increase of this ratio if a qualified acquisition is consummated by Ecova. In addition, Ecova's “Consolidated Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio” (as defined in the credit agreement) must be greater than 1.50 to 1.00 as of the last day of any fiscal quarter. As of December 31, 2012, Ecova was in compliance with these covenants.

Balances outstanding and interest rates of borrowings under Ecova’s credit agreements were as follows as of December 31 (dollars in thousands):

	2012			2011			2010
Balance outstanding at end of period	$	54,000		$	35,000		$	—
Average interest rate at end of period	2.21		%	2.38		%	—		%

During 2011, Ecova's committed line of credit balance was classified as short-term and was included in Short-term borrowings on the Consolidated Balance Sheet. During 2012, the balance has been classified as long-term and is included in Long-term borrowings under committed line of credit on the Consolidated Balance Sheet.