S&P upgrades Avista

Standard & Poor's said it raised the corporate credit rating of Avista Corp. one notch to BBB-, senior unsecured ratings to BBB-, the preferred stock rating to BB and the short-term credit rating to A-3.

The outlook is stable.

S&P said the upgrade reflects Avista's adequate general rate case settlement in Washington that provided it with a 9.4% increase for electric customers and a 1.7% increase for its natural gas customers, effective Jan. 1.

The upgrade also reflects the company's sale of Avista Energy in June 2007 and expectation that the company will be successful in filing future rate cases that will be needed to keep pace with rising capital expenditures and upward pressure on costs, including fuel and purchased power expense, the agency said.

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