Avista Q3 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Third-quarter consolidated earnings rose to $0.57 per diluted share from $0.36 a year earlier, while utility earnings edged up to $0.38 from $0.37. Avista reaffirmed 2026 utility earnings guidance of $2.52–$2.72 per share and expects to land near the midpoint.
• Avista has paused new large data center applications requiring significant generation or transmission investment for at least 12 months, while it develops safeguards to protect existing customers from costs. Other prospective commercial, manufacturing and mining projects could add about 85 megawatts of long-term load.
• The company plans to invest $3.6 billion in utility capital projects from 2027–2031, with additional peaking resources under consideration as peak-day demand grows. To meet financing needs, Avista expects to issue about $220 million in long-term debt and up to $110 million in common stock in 2027.

Avista NYSE: AVA reported higher third-quarter earnings and reaffirmed its full-year utility earnings outlook, while executives outlined plans to pause certain large data center applications and prepare for growing peak-day electricity demand.

The company reported consolidated earnings of $0.57 per diluted share for the third quarter of 2026, up from $0.36 a year earlier. Non-GAAP utility earnings, which exclude results from other businesses, were $0.38 per diluted share, compared with $0.37 in the prior-year quarter.

For the first nine months of 2026, consolidated earnings rose to $2.11 per diluted share from $1.51. Non-GAAP utility earnings increased to $1.76 per share from $1.67, Investor Relations Manager Stacey Walters said.

Chief Financial Officer Kevin Christie said the utility benefited from cost discipline and improved cost recovery. At Avista’s other businesses, net income was $29 million for the first nine months, compared with a $13 million loss a year earlier. Christie said market values had recovered from 2025 valuation losses and that third-quarter consolidated results reflected an increase in the valuation of ERock, Inc., an investment in an EIP fund that conducted an initial public offering in June.

Utility Outlook and Rate Cases

Avista affirmed its 2026 non-GAAP utility earnings guidance of $2.52 to $2.72 per diluted share and said it expects results in line with the midpoint. The forecast includes a $0.09 per share negative impact from its energy recovery mechanism, which the company recognized in the first three quarters.

Christie said an order supporting Avista’s proposed power supply costs could largely eliminate that drag, although he cautioned that future power supply market conditions are difficult to predict. The company expects a decision in its Washington general rate case in mid-December.

Among the issues in that case is the length of the proposed multi-year rate plan. Christie said Avista has sought a four-year plan, while some parties have raised concerns about its duration. Other matters under consideration include return on equity, capital recovery and tracking mechanisms, he said.

Avista expects to file its next Idaho general rate cases in the first quarter of 2027 and an Oregon case in the fall of 2027. Christie said the Oregon filing will be a five-year rate plan under the state’s new multi-year rate plan legislation.

Over the long term, the company continues to expect earnings growth of 4% to 6% from the midpoint of its 2025 earnings guidance. It also expects an approximately 9% return on equity at Avista Utilities, excluding the energy recovery mechanism, with that outlook incorporating about 0.6 percentage point of structural regulatory lag.

Data Center Pause and Other Growth

President and CEO Heather Rosentrater said Avista announced in September that it had paused processing new large data center applications requiring significant new generation or transmission investments. The pause is expected to last at least 12 months while regulators and local governments advance policy and regulatory frameworks.

Rosentrater said the pause is not a withdrawal from potential growth opportunities. She said Avista would not move forward with a new large data center customer unless it was confident the customer would cover its own costs and make significant contributions to support affordability for existing customers. The company is exploring potential regulatory and policy measures, including a possible state-level tariff, to strengthen those assurances.

Avista is also evaluating potential expansions by commercial, manufacturing and mining customers. Taken together, those opportunities could represent approximately 85 megawatts of prospective load over the long term, Rosentrater said. Christie added that bringing all of them on could raise average-day load by almost 10%.

Capital Spending and Resource Planning

Avista expects $615 million in capital spending at Avista Utilities in 2026, including $496 million invested through September. Its base capital spending plan for 2027 through 2031 is $3.6 billion and does not include compute-related growth, Christie said.

The company expects to file its 2027 integrated resource plan late this year or early next year. Rosentrater said the draft strategy includes additional peaking resources as peak-day needs outpace earlier predictions. Avista expects another all-source request for proposals after the plan is filed.

Separately, Christie said a definitive agreement on the North Plains Connector project is now likely in the first half of 2027. He estimated the overall build-out at about $6 billion, with Avista’s potential stake at roughly 10%.

To support its financing needs, Avista plans to obtain a short-term loan of up to $100 million in the fourth quarter because of increased regulatory deferrals and delayed recovery. In 2027, it expects to issue approximately $220 million of long-term debt and up to $110 million of common stock.

Wildfire Recovery

Rosentrater said the impact of the Spokane Complex wildfires on Avista’s facilities was not material. She said the company understands that the fires were human-caused and is confident its facilities were not involved.

Recovery and rebuilding in affected neighborhoods could take multiple years, she said, adding that some Avista infrastructure cannot be replaced until rebuilding begins. The company stands ready to reconnect customers when possible.

About Avista (NYSE:AVA)

Avista Corporation is an energy company headquartered in Spokane, Washington. Through its Avista Utilities subsidiary, the company provides regulated electric and natural gas services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers.

Avista's electric operations serve communities in eastern Washington and northern Idaho, while its natural gas service territory includes portions of Washington, Idaho, and Oregon. The company's utility activities include generating, purchasing, transmitting, distributing, and supplying energy, as well as maintaining the infrastructure needed to deliver those services.

The company traces its history to the founding of Washington Water Power in 1889.

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