Avista uses different kinds of fuel to produce the electricity that powers the lives and businesses of our customers. In addition to the diverse mix of fuel that we use to generate power, we also have long and short-term purchased power contracts in place and purchase power on the wholesale market. It all adds up to a diverse energy mix that provides our customers with clean, reliable power at fair, reasonable rates.
Avista-owned generation includes eight hydroelectric projects and eight thermal generation facilities. We also have long-term contracts for additional hydro and wind power. Over 50 percent of company owned generation is renewable energy.
In addition, customers purchased the environmental offsets associated with 68,863,500 kilowatt-hours of new renewable wind and solar power in 2017 through Avista’s Buck-A-Block program. These participating customers paid for and received the benefit of the renewable energy offset, so it is not reported in Avista’s energy mix.
Note: The Washington State Department of Commerce issues in its annual report the types of fuel used to generate the power that utilities in the state deliver to their customers. The fuel mix of purchased power is based in part on all generating resources of the regional electrical system, plus utility-owned generation and fixed contracts. The recently released 2017 Utility Fuel Mix Disclosure data is available at commerce.wa.gov (key word search: fuel mix disclosure).