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Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies (Policy)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

Share Repurchase Program Policy [Policy Text Block]

Stock Repurchase Program

On December 16, 2014, the Company announced that Avista Corp.'s Board of Directors approved the repurchase of up to 800,000 shares of the Company’s outstanding common stock, commencing on January 2, 2015, and expiring on March 31, 2015 (first quarter 2015 program). The number of shares repurchased through the first quarter 2015 program were in addition to the number of shares repurchased during 2014 under a separate stock repurchase program, which expired on December 31, 2014. The parameters of the first quarter 2015 program were consistent with the parameters of the 2014 program. Through March 31, 2015, the Company repurchased 89,400 shares under the first quarter 2015 program at a total cost of $2.9 million and an average cost of $32.66 per share. All repurchased shares reverted to the status of authorized but unissued shares.

Dividends [Policy Text Block]

Dividends

The payment of dividends on common stock could be limited by:


•	certain covenants applicable to preferred stock (when outstanding) contained in the Company’s Restated Articles of Incorporation, as amended (currently there are no preferred shares outstanding),


•	certain covenants applicable to the Company's outstanding long-term debt and committed line of credit agreements,


•	the hydroelectric licensing requirements of section 10(d) of the FPA (see Note 1), and

•

certain requirements under the Public Utility Commission of Oregon (OPUC) approval of the AERC acquisition. After July 1, 2015 (one year following the acquisition date), the OPUC does not permit one-time or special dividends from AERC to Avista Corp. and does not permit Avista Utilities' total equity to total capitalization to be less than 40 percent, without approval from the OPUC. However, the OPUC approval does allow for regular distributions of AERC earnings to Avista Corp. as long as AERC remains sufficiently capitalized and insured.

Under the covenant applicable to the Company's committed line of credit agreement, which does not permit the ratio of “consolidated total debt” to “consolidated total capitalization” to be greater than 65 percent at any time, the amount of retained earnings available for dividends at March 31, 2015 was limited to approximately $414.3 million.

Under the requirements of the OPUC approval of the AERC acquisition as outlined above, the amount available for dividends at March 31, 2015 was limited to approximately $278.4 million.

Nature Of Business

Nature of Business

Avista Corp. is primarily an electric and natural gas utility with certain other business ventures. Avista Utilities is an operating division of Avista Corp., comprising the regulated utility operations in the Pacific Northwest. Avista Utilities provides electric distribution and transmission, and natural gas distribution services in parts of eastern Washington and northern Idaho. Avista Utilities also provides natural gas distribution service in parts of northeastern and southwestern Oregon. Avista Utilities has electric generating facilities in Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Montana. Avista Utilities also supplies electricity to a small number of customers in Montana, most of whom are employees who operate Avista Utilities' Noxon Rapids generating facility.

On July 1, 2014, Avista Corp. acquired Alaska Energy and Resources Company (AERC), and as of that date, AERC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Avista Corp. The primary subsidiary of AERC is Alaska Electric Light and Power Company (AEL&P), comprising the regulated utility operations in Alaska. There are no AERC earnings included in the overall results of Avista Corp. in the first half of 2014. See Note 3 for information regarding the acquisition of AERC.

Avista Capital, Inc. (Avista Capital), a wholly owned subsidiary of Avista Corp., is the parent company of all of the subsidiary companies in the non-utility businesses, except Spokane Energy, LLC (Spokane Energy). During the first half of 2014, Avista Capital’s subsidiaries included Ecova, Inc. (Ecova), which was an 80.2 percent owned subsidiary prior to its disposition on June 30, 2014. Ecova was a provider of energy efficiency and other facility information and cost management programs and services for multi-site customers and utilities throughout North America. See Note 4 for information regarding the disposition of Ecova and Note 12 for business segment information.

Basis Of Reporting

Basis of Reporting

The condensed consolidated financial statements include the assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses of the Company and its subsidiaries and other majority owned subsidiaries and variable interest entities for which the Company or its subsidiaries are the primary beneficiaries. Ecova's revenues and expenses are included in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income in discontinued operations; however, as of June 30, 2014 and for all subsequent reporting periods there are no balance sheet amounts included for Ecova. All tables throughout the Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements that present Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income information were revised to include only the amounts from continuing operations. Intercompany balances were eliminated in consolidation. The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include the Company’s proportionate share of utility plant and related operations resulting from its interests in jointly owned plants.

Taxes Other Than Income Taxes

Taxes other than income taxes include state excise taxes, city occupational and franchise taxes, real and personal property taxes and certain other taxes not based on net income. These taxes are generally based on revenues or the value of property. Utility related taxes collected from customers (primarily state excise taxes and city utility taxes) are recorded as operating revenue and expense and totaled the following amounts for the three months ended March 31 (dollars in thousands):



	2015		2014
Utility taxes	$	19,498	$	19,738

Other Income - Net

Other Income-Net

Other income-net consisted of the following items for the three months ended March 31 (dollars in thousands):



	2015			2014
Interest income	$	243		$	274
Interest income on regulatory deferrals	20			44
Equity-related AFUDC	2,215			2,034
Net loss on investments	(384		)	(40		)
Other income	137			288
Total	$	2,231		$	2,600

Materials And Supplies, Fuel Stock And Natural Gas Stored

Materials and Supplies, Fuel Stock and Natural Gas Stored

Inventories of materials and supplies, fuel stock and natural gas stored are recorded at average cost for our regulated operations and the lower of cost or market for our non-regulated operations and consisted of the following as of March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 (dollars in thousands):



	March 31,		December 31,
	2015		2014
Materials and supplies	$	33,271	$	32,483
Fuel stock	5,508		5,142
Natural gas stored	5,006		28,731
Total	$	43,785	$	66,356

Investments And Funds Held For Clients And Client Fund Obligations

Investments and Funds Held for Clients and Client Fund Obligations

In connection with its bill paying services, Ecova collected funds from its clients and remitted the funds to the appropriate utility or other service provider. Some of the funds collected were invested by Ecova and classified as investments and funds held for clients, and a related liability for client fund obligations was recorded. Investments and funds held for clients included cash and cash equivalent investments, money market funds and investment securities classified as available for sale. Ecova did not invest the funds directly for the clients' benefit; therefore, Ecova bore the risk of loss associated with the investments. As of June 30, 2014 and for all subsequent reporting periods there are no longer any investments and funds held for clients due to the disposition of Ecova.

The following is a summary of the disposition of available-for-sale securities for the three months ended March 31, 2014 (dollars in thousands):



	2014
Proceeds from sales, maturities and calls	$	11,403
Gross realized gains	3

Derivative Assets And Liabilities

Derivative Assets and Liabilities

Derivatives are recorded as either assets or liabilities on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets measured at estimated fair value. In certain defined conditions, a derivative may be specifically designated as a hedge for a particular exposure. The accounting for a derivative depends on the intended use of such derivative and the resulting designation.

The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) and the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (IPUC) issued accounting orders authorizing Avista Utilities to offset energy commodity derivative assets or liabilities with a regulatory asset or liability. This accounting treatment is intended to defer the recognition of mark-to-market gains and losses on energy commodity transactions until the period of delivery. The orders provide for Avista Utilities to not recognize the unrealized gain or loss on utility derivative commodity instruments in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income. Realized gains or losses are recognized in the periods of delivery, subject to approval for recovery through retail rates. Realized gains and losses, subject to regulatory approval, result in adjustments to retail rates through purchased gas cost adjustments, the Energy Recovery Mechanism (ERM) in Washington, the Power Cost Adjustment (PCA) mechanism in Idaho, and periodic general rates cases. Regulatory assets are assessed regularly and are probable for recovery through future rates.

Substantially all forward contracts to purchase or sell power and natural gas are recorded as derivative assets or liabilities at estimated fair value with an offsetting regulatory asset or liability. Contracts that are not considered derivatives are accounted for on the accrual basis until they are settled or realized, unless there is a decline in the fair value of the contract that is determined to be other-than-temporary.

For interest rate swap agreements, each period Avista Utilities records all mark-to-market gains and losses as assets and liabilities and records offsetting regulatory assets and liabilities, such that there is no income statement impact. This is similar to the treatment of energy commodity derivatives described above. Upon settlement of interest rate swaps, the regulatory asset or liability (included as part of long-term debt) is amortized as a component of interest expense over the term of the associated debt.

Fair Value Measurements

Fair value represents the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. Energy commodity derivative assets and liabilities, investments and funds held for clients, deferred compensation assets, as well as derivatives related to interest rate swap agreements and foreign currency exchange contracts, are reported at estimated fair value on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. See Note 9 for the Company’s fair value disclosures.

Regulatory Deferred Charges And Credits

Regulatory Deferred Charges and Credits

The Company follows the accounting practices for regulated operations for its regulated utility businesses because:


•	rates for regulated services are established by or subject to approval by independent third-party regulators,


•	the regulated rates are designed to recover the cost of providing the regulated services, and


•	in view of demand for the regulated services and the level of competition, it is reasonable to assume that rates can be charged to and collected from customers at levels that will recover costs.

Regulatory accounting practices require that certain costs and/or obligations (such as incurred power and natural gas costs not currently included in rates, but expected to be recovered or refunded in the future) are reflected as deferred charges or credits on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. These costs and/or obligations are not reflected in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income until the period during which matching revenues are recognized. If at some point in the future the Company determines that it no longer meets the criteria for continued application of regulatory accounting practices for all or a portion of its regulated operations, the Company could be:


•	required to write off its regulatory assets, and


•	precluded from the future deferral of costs not recovered through rates at the time such costs are incurred, even if the Company expected to recover such costs in the future.

Contingencies

The Company has unresolved regulatory, legal and tax issues which have inherently uncertain outcomes. The Company accrues a loss contingency if it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of the loss or impairment can be reasonably estimated. The Company also discloses losses that do not meet these conditions for accrual, if there is a reasonable possibility that a loss may be incurred. As of March 31, 2015, the Company has not recorded any significant amounts related to unresolved contingencies.

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss [Policy Text Block]

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss

Accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax, consisted of the following as of March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 (dollars in thousands):



	March 31,			December 31,
	2015			2014
Unfunded benefit obligation for pensions and other postretirement benefit plans - net of taxes of $(4,115) and $(4,247), respectively	$	(7,642	)	$	(7,888	)

The following table details the reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive loss by component for the three months ended March 31 (dollars in thousands). Items in parenthesis indicate reductions to net income.



	Amounts Reclassified from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss
Details about Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss Components	2015			2014			Affected Line Item in Statement of Income
Realized gains on investment securities	$	—		$	3		(a)
	—			3			Total before tax
	—			(1		)	Tax expense (a)
	$	—		$	2		Net of tax
Amortization of defined benefit pension items
Amortization of net prior service cost	$	273		$	38		(b)
Amortization of net loss	(3,688		)	(1,990		)	(b)
Adjustment due to effects of regulation	3,037			1,782			(b)
	(378		)	(170		)	Total before tax
	132			59			Tax benefit
	$	(246	)	$	(111	)	Net of tax


(a)	These amounts were included as part of net income from discontinued operations (see Note 4 for additional details).


(b)	These accumulated other comprehensive loss components are included in the computation of net periodic pension cost (see Note 6 for additional details).

Reclassification, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Reclassifications

Certain prior year amounts on the Company's Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and Condensed Consolidated Balances Sheets were reclassified to conform to the current year presentation. In the current year Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows, "Decrease (increase) in collateral posted for derivative instruments," "Income taxes receivable," and "Income taxes payable" were added as their own line items. These were previously included in "Other current assets" and "Other current liabilities" in the operating activities section. In the current year Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets, "Income taxes payable" was added as its own line item. This was previously included in "Other current liabilities."