Avista hits hurdle, gives up plan to form holding company

Avista Corp. has abandoned its plans to form a holding company.

Since 2006, Avista’s board of directors had pursued the idea of changing the company’s corporate structure. The proposal was endorsed by Avista’s shareholders and public utilities commissions in Idaho and Washington, and it received conditional approval of federal regulators.

However, company officials couldn’t reach agreement with the Oregon Public Utility Commission, said Jessie Wuerst, an Avista spokeswoman.

Forming a holding company would have had little impact on Avista’s daily operations but would have given Avista flexibility in pursuing business interests outside of utilities, she said.

All of Avista’s subsidiaries are reviewed by public utility commissions during the electric and natural gas rate-setting process. A holding company would have provided greater separation between Avista’s regulated utility operations and non-utility business.

Avista has one major non-utility subsidiary, Advantage IQ, which manages utility bills – energy, water and telephone – for large multisite companies.