AVISTA CORP

Overall Results

Net income for the three months ended March 31, 2025 increased compared to the three months ended March 31, 2024, primarily due to the effects of general rate cases. These increases in earnings from general rate cases were partially offset by expected increases in operating expenses, depreciation and amortization expense, income taxes and losses recognized at our other businesses.

More detailed explanations of the fluctuations in revenues and expenses are provided in the results of operations and business segment discussions (Avista Utilities, AEL&P, and the other businesses) that follow this summary.

Tariffs on Imports

The President of the United States of America has imposed tariffs on certain imported goods and has announced plans to impose tariffs on others. The imposition of tariffs would impact the cost of other equipment and materials that are critical to our business, increasing capital and operating expenses, and could create supply chain disruptions. The tariffs have not had a material impact on our operations or financial performance to date. At this time, we are unable to reasonably estimate the effects of the tariffs, and have not made any adjustments to our capital or operating budget to account for increased costs resulting from tariffs.

We import a significant amount of natural gas from Canada, both to serve our retail natural gas customers and as fuel for electric generation. We do not expect these imports to be impacted by the current trade tariffs as they are covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, but the future of trade tariffs on energy commodity imports is uncertain. The impact of an increase in resource costs on our results of operations (directly or indirectly resulting from tariffs) would be substantially mitigated by various deferral and recovery mechanisms (ERM, PCA, and PGAs), but there could be an immediate impact on our cash flow.

We are closely monitoring the impacts of tariffs and the potential impact they may have on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

Resource Adequacy and 2025 IRP

Our 2025 electric IRP was filed with the WUTC and IPUC in December 2024. While the IRP is subject to change from time to time due to changing circumstances, assumptions and projections, given the exit of Colstrip (222 MW) from our system by December 31, 2025 and the expected retirement of the Northeast combustion turbine (65 MW) in 2030, our preferred resource strategy includes the addition of approximately 490 MW of generating capacity by 2030 and a total addition of approximately 950 MW through 2035. We believe the additional capacity would likely consist primarily of wind resources and a natural gas combustion turbine. The new capacity would likely be a combination of resources owned by the Company and resources committed under PPAs, to be determined on a case-by-case basis depending upon financial, tax and regulatory considerations.

We also expect expanded transmission infrastructure will provide access to additional resources and improve reliability in our region. In November 2024, we signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to join the North Plains Connector transmission line project, constructing a transmission line from Bismarck, North Dakota to Colstrip, Montana.

For 2025, we expect generation at our hydro facilities to be approximately 92 percent of normal.

Regulatory Lag

Regulatory “lag” is inherent in utility ratemaking; a result of the delay between the investment in utility plant and/or the increase in costs and the receipt of an order of a public utility commission authorizing an increase in rates sufficient to recover such investment or costs. Regulatory lag can be mitigated to some extent by the incorporation of reasonably expected forward-looking information into an authorization of increased rates. However, there is no protection against unexpected inflation and increased interest rates, as experienced in 2022 and 2023. Increased costs associated with tariffs as discussed above could result in additional regulatory lag. See “Regulatory Matters” for additional discussion of the general rate cases.