8-K

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF

THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): August 8, 2019

AVISTA CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Washington	1-3701	91-0462470
(State of other jurisdiction of incorporation)	(Commission file number)	(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

1411 East Mission Avenue Spokane, Washington 99202-2600

(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

Registrant's telephone number, including area code: 509-489-0500

Web site: http://www.myavista.com

None

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of Each Class	Trading Symbols	Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered
Common Stock	AVA	New York Stock Exchange

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

☐ Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

☐ Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

☐ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

☐ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

 Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨

Section 1 – Registrant's Business and Operations

Item 1.01 Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.

On May 10, 2019, the Board of Directors of Avista Corporation (Avista Corp. or the Company) named Dennis P. Vermillion, 57, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Avista Corp. effective October 1, 2019. On August 8, 2019, the Board of Directors named Mark T. Thies, 55, Executive Vice President Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Treasurer of Avista Corp. effective October 1, 2019. Mr. Thies has served as the Company’s Senior Vice President CFO and Treasurer since January 1, 2013 and previously served as the Company’s Senior Vice President CFO since September 29, 2008.

Effective October 1, 2019, Mr. Vermillion’s base salary will be $670,000.

Section 5 – Corporate Governance and Management

Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Principal Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Principal Officers.

Karen S. Feltes, 63, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, informed the Board of Directors that she plans to retire effective February 1, 2020. Also see Item 1.01 for other changes to Avista Corp.’s executive officers. For further details, refer to the press release filed as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report, which is incorporated herein by reference.

For a description of changes to base compensation for Mr. Vermillion, see Item 1.01.

Section 9 - Financial Statements and Exhibits

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d)	Exhibits
99.1	Press release dated August 12, 2019, which is being filed pursuant to Item 5.02.
101.INS	XBRL Instance Document. The instance document does not appear in the interactive data file because its XBRL tags are embedded within the inline XBRL document.
101.SCH	XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document
101.CAL	XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document
101.LAB	XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document
101.PRE	XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document
101.DEF	XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document

Neither the filing of any press release as an exhibit to this Current Report nor the inclusion in such press releases of a reference to Avista Corp.'s internet website shall, under any circumstances, be deemed to incorporate the information available at such website into this Current Report. The information available at Avista Corp.'s internet website is not part of this Current Report or any other report furnished or filed by Avista Corp. with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

		AVISTA CORPORATION
		(Registrant)
Date:	August 9, 2019	/s/    Marian M. Durkin
		Marian M. Durkin
		Senior Vice President, General Counsel,
		Corporate Secretary and Chief Compliance Officer

EX-99.1

Exhibit 99.1

Contact:

Media: Casey Fielder (509) 495-4916 casey.fielder@avistacorp.com

Investors: John Wilcox (509) 495-4171john.wilcox@avistacorp.com

Avista 24/7 Media Access (509) 495-4174

Avista Announces Changes in its Officer Team

SPOKANE, Wash. – Aug. 12, 2019, 4:05 a.m. PDT: Avista Corp. (NYSE: AVA) today announced changes in its officer team, approved by the Board of Directors. All changes will take effect on Oct. 1, 2019.

Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Karen Feltes has announced plans to retire on Feb. 1, 2020, after serving the company and its customers for 21 years.

Feltes started with Avista in 1998, after a career that spanned domestic and international human resources in public and private sectors, which included corporate leadership positions at Microsoft, King County in Seattle, and Federated Department Stores. Throughout her career with Avista, she has been responsible for developing strategic plans for enterprise-wide people systems and leading employee engagement initiatives, internal communications, safety, leadership development and succession planning, labor relations, benefits and compensation strategy, as well corporate and craft training programs. Feltes has been a board member for Avista’s subsidiary company in Alaska, AELP, since July 1, 2014, as well as being the key executive to Avista’s board committee for Compensation and Organization since 2002.

“We want to thank Karen for her 21 years of service to Avista. Her leadership in human resources has played an important role in shaping the culture at Avista and establishing a standard of highly engaged employees who go the extra mile to safely serve our customers and communities,” said Avista Corp. Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer Scott Morris. “We appreciate her service, expertise and dedication, and wish her the best in her retirement.”

A number of other near-term changes have also been approved to further align the leadership team’s structure with the needs of the organization, ensure continuity of leadership and to establish the senior leadership team that will be in place through the CEO transition. The approved officer team changes are as follows:

• Mark Thies has been promoted from Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. He will retain his current areas of responsibility.

• Heather Rosentrater has been promoted from Vice President, Energy Delivery to Senior Vice President, Energy Delivery. Her area of responsibility will continue to include the day-to-day operations of the utility, including electric and natural gas engineering, operations and shared services such as fleet, facilities and supply chain.

• Kevin Christie has been promoted from Vice President, External Affairs and Chief Customer Officer to Senior Vice President, External Affairs and Chief Customer Officer. His areas of responsibility will continue to include communications, community outreach

and philanthropy, as well as customer energy efficiency and conservation activities, regulatory affairs and new products and services.

As the transition occurs, this group, along with current senior officers, will determine the next steps needed to deliver on the Company’s vision and best meet the needs of its stakeholders.

“We are pleased to make these changes within the senior leadership team to further leverage the strengths of our leaders and ensure we are well-positioned for the future, said Morris. “This team will work closely with incoming CEO Dennis Vermillion on the strategic needs and focus of the organization moving forward.”

About Avista

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 electric service to 395,000 customers and natural gas to 362,000 customers. Our service territory covers 30,000 square miles in eastern Washington, northern Idaho and parts of southern and eastern Oregon, with a population of 1.6 million. AERC is an Avista subsidiary that, through its subsidiary AEL&P, provides retail electric service to 16,000 customers in the city and borough of Juneau, Alaska. Our stock is traded under the ticker symbol “AVA”. For more information about Avista, please visit www.myavista.com.

Avista Corp. and the Avista Corp. logo are trademarks of Avista Corporation.

XML

Document and Entity Information Document Document	Aug. 08, 2019
Document Cover [Abstract]
Amendment Flag	false
Title of 12(b) Security	Common Stock
Entity Information, Former Legal or Registered Name	None
Entity Incorporation, State or Country Code	WA
Document Type	8-K
Document Period End Date	Aug. 08, 2019
Entity Registrant Name	AVISTA CORPORATION
Entity File Number	1-3701
Entity Tax Identification Number	91-0462470
Entity Address, Address Line One	1411 East Mission Avenue
Entity Address, City or Town	Spokane
Entity Address, State or Province	WA
Entity Address, Postal Zip Code	99202-2600
City Area Code	509
Local Phone Number	489-0500
Trading Symbol	AVA
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
Written Communications	false
Soliciting Material	false
Pre-commencement Tender Offer	false
Pre-commencement Issuer Tender Offer	false
Entity Emerging Growth Company	false
Entity Central Index Key	0000104918