Avista Corp. Names Kensok Vice President, Chief Information Officer

SPOKANE, Wash., Dec. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Avista Corp. today announced that on behalf of the board of directors, Chairman and CEO Gary Ely named Chief Information Officer James M. Kensok to vice president and chief information officer effective Jan. 1, 2007.

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"Jim has led the company through investments in technology that have significantly improved service to our customers and gained efficiencies in our operations. Avista is fortunate to have an executive with Jim's talent to lead our company in technology innovation and improvement," said Scott Morris, president of Avista Corp.

As vice president and chief information officer, Kensok will have responsibility for enterprise information technology and systems strategies.

Kensok joined Avista in 1996 as an internal information systems auditor. He has held positions as manager and director of information systems and chief security officer, and he has been the chief information officer since February 2001.

Prior to joining Avista, Kensok served as director for an information technology professional services practice as well as manager of technology support services for a large international financial services software and computer hardware development company. Kensok has more than 25 years of national and international experience in developing and managing information systems, network communications, strategic sourcing and executive leadership of advanced enterprise technology environments.

Active in community and industry associations, Kensok serves as vice chairman of the University of Idaho's Utility Executive Course advisory board and is an advisory board member of Eastern Washington University's College of Science, Health and Engineering and Foundation. Kensok is also a member of the Western Energy Institute's Corporate Services program development team and serves on the Edison Electric Institute technical advisory board.

Kensok, a graduate of Eastern Washington University, and his wife Wendy live in Spokane and are the parents of three children.

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 a company operating division that provides service to 341,000 electric and 298,000 natural gas customers in three western states. Avista's non-regulated subsidiaries include Advantage IQ and Avista Energy. Avista Corp.'s stock is traded under the ticker symbol "AVA." For more information about Avista, please visit http://www.avistacorp.com/.

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