Wwp Launches Avista

Washington Water Power Co. energized a company Monday that will take its energy marketing and trading operations national.

And officers of the new company, Avista Energy, announced formation of a unique partnership with the Chelan County Public Utility District that will help boost business immediately.

WWP has become one of the largest sellers of wholesale power in recent years, with operations last year producing $230 million in revenues.

Avista Vice President Alan Meyers said the company will take over all WWP wholesale marketing activity except that associated with selling the Spokane utility’s own surplus.

Federal regulations demand that any business between a utility and an affiliate be at arm’s length, he said, making any transactions all but impossible.

In fact, Meyers noted, Avista employees must move out of the WWP headquarters on East Mission to avoid even the appearance the companies work together.

Avista Energy and a twin in energy services, Avista Advantage, are holdings of Avista Corp., a new subsidiary of WWP.

President Lloyd Meyers no relation to Alan said Avista Energy will have about 30 employees by mid-summer.

Among those moving into a new facility in Spokane will be an employee of Chelan PUD who will determine the district’s likely energy requirements for the following day.

That load will be matched with the output from the three district-owned dams - two on the Columbia River, one at Lake Chelan.

The PUD’s interim general manager, Roger Braden, said the math will usually reveal a surplus that can be sold on the open market.

On cold days, when streamflows are low, the district may have to buy power, he said.

PUD employees have handled those transactions in the past, Braden said, but working with Avista should minimize power costs and maximize revenues from power sales.

He said the district chose to work with WWP because the utilities have a long-standing relationship, during which the Spokane utility has demonstrated innovation and reliability.

“You have to have allies you can trust,” Braden said.

Lloyd Meyers said the Chelan PUD’s generating capability will be an extremely valuable asset to Avista. The more than 500 megawatts the dams put in the company’s portfolio give customers the assurance they will receive power when extreme cold or other emergency makes electricity scarce.

And the more deals that Avista can make, the better the price the new partners can get for their megawatts, he said.

“A lot of marketers are in the game, but they don’t have any generating resources,” added Braden. “You’re not out there relying on somebody else to fulfill your deal.”

Meyers and Braden said combining the efforts of privately owned Avista and a public utility district will also reduce some of the distrust on both sides of the industry in the Northwest.

The partners will be able to approach small public utilities with proposals for power, as well as natural gas for industrial and commercial customers in their service areas.

“Each transaction is going to be tailor-made,” Braden said.

Meyers said Avista will be looking for other alliances that will give the company generating capacity to back up marketing efforts in other parts of the country.

, DataTimes