SPOKANE, Wash., March 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avista Corp. (NYSE: AVA), a Washington state-based energy company with operations spanning five states, has been recognized by Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, as one of the 2024 World’s Most Ethical Companies.

Avista has been recognized by Ethisphere for five consecutive years since 2020 and is one of only 8 honorees in the Energy and Utilities industry. In 2024, 136 honorees were recognized spanning 20 countries and 44 industries.

“We are honored to be recognized once again as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. This year marks Avista’s 135 years of service to our community. Since our founding in 1889, we have been committed to conducting business with the highest level of integrity and in a manner that is trustworthy, innovative, and collaborative. I am proud of all our employees who work daily to make this possible,” said Avista CEO Dennis Vermillion.

“It’s always inspiring to recognize the World’s Most Ethical Companies®. Through the rigorous review process, we see the dedication of these organizations to continually improving their ethics, compliance, and governance practices to the benefit of all stakeholders,” said Erica Salmon Byrne, Ethisphere’s Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Chair. “Companies that elevate best-in-class cultures of ethics and integrity set a standard for corporate citizenship for their peers and competitors to follow. Congratulations to Avista for achieving this honor and demonstrating that strong ethics is good business.”

Methodology & Scoring
The World's Most Ethical Companies assessment is grounded in Ethisphere's proprietary Ethics Quotient®, an extensive questionnaire that requires companies to provide over 240 different proof points on their culture of ethics; environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices; ethics and compliance program; diversity, equity, & inclusion; and initiatives that support a strong value chain. That data undergoes further qualitative analysis by our panel of experts who spend thousands of hours vetting and evaluating each year's group of applicants. This process serves as an operating framework to capture and codify truly best-in-class ethics and compliance practices from organizations across industries and from around the world.

Ethics & Performance: The Ethics Premium
The listed 2024 World’s Most Ethical Companies® Honorees outperformed a comparable index of global companies by 12.3 percentage points from January 2019 to January 2024.

Honorees 
To view the full list of this year’s honorees, please visit the World’s Most Ethical Companies website, at https://worldsmostethicalcompanies.com/honorees.

About Avista
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 our operating division that provides electric service to 416,000 customers and natural gas to 381,000 customers. Our service territory covers 30,000 square miles in eastern Washington, northern Idaho and parts of southern and eastern Oregon, with a population of 1.7 million. AERC is an Avista subsidiary that, through its subsidiary AEL&P, provides retail electric service to 18,000 customers in the city and borough of Juneau, Alaska. Our stock is traded under the ticker symbol “AVA”. For more information about Avista, please visit www.avistacorp.com.

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

SOURCE: Avista Corporation

About Ethisphere
Ethisphere is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that strengthen corporate brands, build trust in the marketplace, and deliver business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies build strong cultures of ethics and integrity. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World’s Most Ethical Companies® recognition program, provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA), and showcases trends and best practices in ethics with Ethisphere Magazine. Ethisphere also advances business performance through data-driven assessments, guidance, and benchmarking against its unparalleled data: the Culture Quotient dataset reflecting the ethical business practices of 3+ million employees around the world; and the Ethics Quotient dataset, featuring 240+ data points on the ethics, compliance, social, and governance practices of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. For more information, visit https://ethisphere.com.

Media Contacts

Avista Media Contact
Lena Funston
lena.funston@avistacorp.com

Ethisphere Media Contact
Anne Walker
VP, Media and Communications
Anne.Walker@Ethisphere.com

Source: Avista Corporation