Avista Ranked Top Utility Web Site in North America

100 U.S. and Canadian web sites benchmarked on meeting customers' online needs


SPOKANE, Wash., Aug. 20  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Avista's web site is the top-ranked electric and natural gas web site in North America for 2009, according to E Source, a national benchmarking service for utility and large energy users.

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"We set out to create a world-class web site that was user-friendly and offered numerous self-service options based on input from our customers," said Dana Anderson, director of service development and marketing for Avista. "We're very proud to receive this number one ranking and hope more of our customers visit http://www.avistautilities.com/ to discover the benefits and value of this great site."

E Source assessed the web sites of 100 U.S. and Canadian utilities to gauge how successful they are in serving residential customers. The studies have become the industry standard for assessing web site improvements as they relate to customers' contact preferences. For 2009, 31 web and mobile features, including content information and self-service tasks, were rated and reviewed. The reviews were conducted from the perspective of general web use, so the sites are rated and compared against the best in class across all web sites and not just utility web sites.

Andrew Heath, director of E Source Customer Satisfaction Services, said, "Avista's top ranking demonstrates its commitment to having a web site that gives customers what they need online."

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 353,000 homes and businesses and natural gas to 313,000 homes and businesses in three Western states, serving more than 492,000 customers. Avista's primary, non-regulated subsidiary is Advantage IQ.  Avista stock is traded under the ticker symbol "AVA."  For more information about Avista, please visit http://www.avistacorp.com/.

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

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DATASOURCE: Avista Corp.



CONTACT:  Debbie Simock of Avista Corp., [phone],

, or Avista 24/7 Media Line, [phone]



Web Site:  http://www.avistacorp.com/ 

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