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Fair Value

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2022

NOTE 11. FAIR VALUE

The carrying values of cash and cash equivalents, accounts and notes receivable, accounts payable, and short-term borrowings as shown on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets are reasonable estimates of their fair values. The carrying values of long-term debt (including current portion and material finance leases) and long-term debt to affiliated trusts as shown on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets may be different from the estimated fair value. See below for the estimated fair value of long-term debt and long-term debt to affiliated trusts.

The fair value hierarchy prioritizes the inputs used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurement) and the lowest priority to fair values derived from unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurement).

The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are defined as follows:

Level 1 – Quoted prices are available in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. Active markets are those in which transactions for the asset or liability occur with sufficient frequency and volume to provide pricing information on an ongoing basis.

Level 2 – Pricing inputs are other than quoted prices in active markets included in Level 1, but which are either directly or indirectly observable as of the reporting date. Level 2 includes those financial instruments that are valued using models or other valuation methodologies. These models are primarily industry-standard models that consider various assumptions, including quoted forward prices for commodities, time value, volatility factors, and current market and contractual prices for the underlying instruments, as well as other relevant economic measures. Substantially all of these assumptions are observable in the marketplace throughout the full term of the instrument, can be derived from observable data or are supported by observable levels at which transactions are executed in the marketplace.

Level 3 – Pricing inputs include significant inputs that are generally unobservable from objective sources. These inputs may be used with internally developed methodologies that result in management’s best estimate of fair value.

Financial assets and liabilities are classified in their entirety based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The Company’s assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement requires judgment, and may affect the valuation of fair value assets and liabilities and their placement within the fair value hierarchy levels. The determination of the fair values incorporates various factors that not only include the credit standing of the counterparties involved and the impact of credit enhancements (such as cash deposits and letters of credit), but also the impact of Avista Corp.’s nonperformance risk on its liabilities.

The following table sets forth the carrying value and estimated fair value of the Company’s financial instruments not reported at estimated fair value on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021 (dollars in thousands):


	September 30, 2022				December 31, 2021
	Carrying Value		Estimated Fair Value		Carrying Value		Estimated Fair Value
Long-term debt (Level 2)	$	1,113,500	$	967,695	$	963,500	$	1,157,651
Long-term debt (Level 3)		1,200,000		890,658		1,200,000		1,366,619
Snettisham finance lease obligation (Level 3)		46,501		41,800		48,815		54,000
Long-term debt to affiliated trusts (Level 3)		51,547		40,908		51,547		43,299

These estimates of fair value of long-term debt and long-term debt to affiliated trusts were primarily based on available market information, which generally consists of estimated market prices from third party brokers for debt with similar risk and terms. The price ranges obtained from the third party brokers consisted of market prices of 61.29 percent to 104.10 percent of the principal amount, where a market price of 100.0 percent (adjusted for unamortized discount or premium) represents the carrying value recorded on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. Level 2 long-term debt represents publicly issued bonds with quoted market prices; however, due to their limited trading activity, they are classified as Level 2 because brokers must generate quotes and make estimates if there is no trading activity near a period end. Level 3 long-term debt consists of private placement bonds and debt to affiliated trusts, which typically have no secondary trading activity. Fair values in Level 3 are estimated based on market prices from third party brokers using secondary market quotes for debt with similar risk and terms to generate quotes for Avista Corp. bonds. Due to the unique nature of the Snettisham finance lease obligation, the estimated fair value of these items was determined based on a discounted cash flow model using available market information. The Snettisham finance lease obligation was discounted to present value using the Morgan Markets A Ex-Fin discount rate as published on September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021.

The following table discloses by level within the fair value hierarchy the Company’s assets and liabilities measured and reported on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021 at fair value on a recurring basis (dollars in thousands):


	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Counterparty and Cash Collateral Netting (1)			Total
September 30, 2022
Assets:
Energy commodity derivatives	$	—	$	95,579	$	—	$	(88,200	)	$	7,379
Level 3 energy commodity derivatives:
Natural gas exchange agreement		—		—		375		(375	)		—
Interest rate swap derivatives		—		10,384		—		—			10,384
Deferred compensation assets:
Mutual Funds:
Fixed income securities (2)		1,381		—		—		—			1,381
Equity securities (2)		6,076		—		—		—			6,076
Total	$	7,457	$	105,963	$	375	$	(88,575	)	$	25,220
Liabilities:
Energy commodity derivatives	$	—	$	101,311	$	—	$	(100,703	)	$	608
Level 3 energy commodity derivatives:
Natural gas exchange agreement		—		—		7,215		(375	)		6,840
Foreign currency exchange derivatives		—		221		—		—			221
Total	$	—	$	101,532	$	7,215	$	(101,078	)	$	7,669
December 31, 2021
Assets:
Energy commodity derivatives	$	—	$	34,119	$	—	$	(31,211	)	$	2,908
Level 3 energy commodity derivatives:
Natural gas exchange agreement		—		—		143		(143	)		—
Interest rate swap derivatives		—		2,319		—		(1,170	)		1,149
Deferred compensation assets:
Mutual Funds:
Fixed income securities (2)		1,809		—		—		—			1,809
Equity securities (2)		7,594		—		—		—			7,594
Total	$	9,403	$	36,438	$	143	$	(32,524	)	$	13,460
Liabilities:
Energy commodity derivatives	$	—	$	41,733	$	—	$	(40,300	)	$	1,433
Level 3 energy commodity derivatives:
Natural gas exchange agreement		—		—		7,914		(143	)		7,771
Foreign currency exchange derivatives		—		19		—		-			19
Interest rate swap derivatives		—		25,274		—		(1,170	)		24,104
Total	$	—	$	67,026	$	7,914	$	(41,613	)	$	33,327

(1)

The Company is permitted to net derivative assets and derivative liabilities with the same counterparty when a legally enforceable master netting agreement exists. In addition, the Company nets derivative assets and derivative liabilities against any payables and receivables for cash collateral held or placed with these same counterparties.

(2)

These assets are included in other property and investments-net and other non-current assets on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.

The difference between the amount of derivative assets and liabilities disclosed in respective levels in the table above and the amount of derivative assets and liabilities disclosed on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets is due to netting arrangements with certain counterparties. See Note 5 for additional discussion of derivative netting.

To establish fair value for energy commodity derivatives, the Company uses quoted market prices and forward price curves to estimate the fair value of energy commodity derivative instruments included in Level 2. In particular, electric derivative valuations are performed using market quotes, adjusted for periods in between quotable periods. Natural gas derivative valuations are estimated using New York Mercantile Exchange pricing for similar instruments, adjusted for basin differences, using market quotes. Where observable inputs are available for substantially the full term of the contract, the derivative asset or liability is included in Level 2.

To establish fair values for interest rate swap derivatives, the Company uses forward market curves for interest rates for the term of the swaps and discounts the cash flows back to present value using an appropriate discount rate. The discount rate is calculated by third party brokers according to the terms of the swap derivatives and evaluated by the Company for reasonableness, with consideration given to the potential non-performance risk by the Company. Future cash flows of the interest rate swap derivatives are equal to the fixed interest rate in the swap compared to the floating market interest rate multiplied by the notional amount for each period.

To establish fair value for foreign currency derivatives, the Company uses forward market curves for Canadian dollars against the US dollar and multiplies the difference between the locked-in price and the market price by the notional amount of the derivative. Forward foreign currency market curves are provided by third party brokers. The Company's credit spread is factored into the locked-in price of the foreign exchange contracts.

Deferred compensation assets and liabilities represent funds held by the Company in a Rabbi Trust for an executive deferral plan. These funds consist of actively traded equity and bond funds with quoted prices in active markets. The balances disclosed in the table above exclude cash and cash equivalents of $0.1 million and $0.1 million as of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively.

Level 3 Fair Value

The following table presents the quantitative information which was used to estimate the fair values of the Level 3 assets and liabilities above as of September 30, 2022 (dollars in thousands):


	Fair Value (Net) at			Valuation	Unobservable	Range and Weighted
	September 30, 2022			Technique	Input	Average Price
Natural gas exchange agreement	$	(6,840	)	Internally derived weighted average cost of gas	Forward purchase prices	$3.37 - $4.56/mmBTU $3.92 Weighted Average
					Forward sales prices	$3.48 - $9.06/mmBTU $6.23 Weighted Average
					Purchase volumes	130,000 - 310,000 mmBTUs
					Sales volumes	75,000 - 310,000 mmBTUs

The following table presents activity for the natural gas exchange agreement derivative assets (liabilities) measured at fair value using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3) for the three and nine months ended September 30 (dollars in thousands):


	Three Months Ended September 30:						Nine Months Ended September 30:
	2022			2021			2022			2021
Beginning balance	$	(2,289	)	$	(6,078	)	$	(7,771	)	$	(8,410	)
Total gains (realized/unrealized):
Included in regulatory assets/liabilities (1)		(4,551	)		(4,971	)		3,144			(1,482	)
Settlements		—			—			(2,213	)		(1,157	)
Ending balance (2)	$	(6,840	)	$	(11,049	)	$	(6,840	)	$	(11,049	)

(1)

All gains and losses are included in other regulatory assets and liabilities. There were no gains and losses included in either net income or other comprehensive income during any of the periods presented in the table above.

(2)

There were no purchases, issuances or transfers from other categories of any derivatives instruments during the periods presented in the table above.

Nonrecurring Fair Value Measurements

The Company holds equity investments through its non-utility subsidiaries without readily determinable fair values. These assets are adjusted on a nonrecurring basis as a result of observable changes in fair value as of the measurement date, such as the date of a transaction involving the underlying asset, using the measurement alternative. These assets are measured using the market approach, and are Level 2 assets.

The carrying value of these equity investments without a readily determinable fair value was $43.2 million and $24.2 million as of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively. The Company recognized a $3.8 million gain in the three months ended September 30, 2022, and a $5.0 million gain in the three months ended September 30, 2021 due to fair value adjustments. Gains recognized as a result of fair value adjustments were $12.7 million and $5.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. In addition to these gains recognized in 2022, the Company made additional capital investments. On a cumulative basis, the Company has recognized a net gain of $24.1 million for fair value adjustments on equity investments without a readily determinable fair value held as of September 30, 2022.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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