Avista Corporation Successfully Enters CAISO Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM) Using PCI’s Enterprise Cloud Platform

NORMAN, Okla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Avista Corporation (Avista) successfully joined the Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM) operated by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) by leveraging the PCI Enterprise Cloud Platform for its optimized participation in the WEIM. With its go-live, Avista becomes the 11^th client of Power Costs, Inc., to successfully begin full participation in the WEIM.

PCI and Avista worked together for two years to deploy a fully integrated cloud-based platform to support the following functions for both Avista Merchant Group and Balancing Authority:

• PRSC Bidding and Scheduling to automate merchant bidding functions
• EESC Scheduling to support BA scheduling functions
• Energy Accounting to validate meter data
• Generation Outage Management to manage generation outages
• Transmission Outage Management to manage transmission outages
• Enterprise Analytics and Reporting to create custom reports

PCI is also providing Avista with turnkey, around-the-clock support for mission-critical operations.

“The WEIM go-live implementation went very smoothly,” said James Dykes, the Avista EIM Technology Program Manager and EIM Technology Operations Manager. “PCI’s extensive experience in working with multiple WEIM participants, technology platform with in-depth coverage, and implementation expertise were critical success factors for an on-time and on-budget delivery.”

PCI Sr. VP Khai Le added: “Working with the Avista team to achieve a seamless go-live is a testimonial for PCI’s continued success in supporting a majority of the WEIM participants.”

PCI’s CAISO WEIM Platform is a complete solution that provides benefits for WEIM players, including Transmission Service Providers (TSPs), EIM Entity Scheduling Coordinators (EESCs), and Participating Resource Scheduling Coordinators (PRSCs).

About Avista Corporation

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 403,000 customers and natural gas to 369,000 customers. Our service territory covers 30,000 square miles in eastern Washington, northern Idaho, and parts of southern and eastern Oregon, with a population of 1.7 million. AERC is an Avista subsidiary that, through its subsidiary AEL&P, provides retail electric service to 17,000 customers in the city and borough of Juneau, Alaska. Our stock is traded under the ticker symbol “AVA.” For more information about Avista, visit avistacorp.com.

About Power Costs, Inc., (PCI)

PCI is the leading provider of energy trading software, superior customer support, and value-added services for energy companies worldwide. Founded in 1992, PCI continues to refine and develop new solutions that meet the ever-evolving needs of its clients, including investor-owned, municipal, and cooperative utilities, renewable energy companies, energy marketers and traders, and independent power producers. PCI optimizes more than half the power generated in North America, and more than 70% of Fortune 500 Utilities in the U.S. are PCI customers. The firm is privately held and based in Norman (OK), with regional offices in Houston (TX), Raleigh (NC), Mexico City, and Sydney (AUS). To learn more, visit powercosts.com.