Avista efforts
Avista was founded on clean, renewable hydro power on the banks of the Spokane River in 1889 and has continued to maintain a generation portfolio that is more than half renewable. Additional examples of Avista’s strong track record of environmental stewardship include:
- In 2021, we entered into a contract with Chelan PUD for renewable hydropower from two PUD hydro projects on the Columbia River.
- In 2020, Avista doubled wind power generation—Rattlesnake Flat Wind and Palouse Wind projects together have 115 wind turbines, generating enough electricity to power nearly 75,000 homes.
- Forty years ago, Avista was one of the first utilities in the nation to establish an energy efficiency program, and since this program started, customer electric usage has been reduced by 15 percent.
- In the 1980s, the company built the first utility-scale biomass wood-fired power plant, improving air quality where waste from the timber industry was otherwise burned onsite without emissions controls.
Avista’s approach to reducing natural gas emissions includes investing in new technologies, like renewable natural gas (RNG), hydrogen and other renewable biofuels. We are evaluating how to best integrate RNG into our gas supply portfolio and researching hydrogen as another renewable fuel. Our other strategies include reducing consumption via conservation and energy efficiency and improving infrastructure.