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Aug 12 , 2010
811 video, click to play
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Three of the fine gentlemen I met at Home Depot
who visited Avista's educational stations. |
Yesterday was National 811 Awareness Day. Avista and the Spokane Valley Home Depot celebrated this day of safety with an in-store event. Avista staffed three booths throughout the store, each focusing on a different element of 811 and reminding us all to call two days before you dig on your property.
In the couple of hours I was there, Home Depot customers were visiting the booths and getting their “passports” signed. Visitors earned a T-Shirt for visiting two booths. Home Depot also donated a nice BBQ grill as a raffle prize.
Check out this minute and a half video about the event, featuring Operations Tech Alicia Gibbs. And remember to always call before you dig.
Aug 06 , 2010
Avista and Home Depot remind home owners and contractors to call 811 at least 2 days before digging
Avista is partnering with Home Depot to celebrate National 811 day (Tuesday, Aug. 11). All are welcome to join Avista and learn more about 811 at the Spokane Valley Home Depot (5617 East Sprague Avenue) from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Aug. 11, National 811 Day.
Avista employees will be staffing booths where customers can learn more about 811 and why it’s important to call before you dig. While learning more about 811, customers can pick up free giveaways, enter to win a drawing and more! Each visitor will receive an “811 passport” which can get stamped at each booth. Customers who visit two booths will receive a free 811 T-shirt. Customers who visit all three booths will be entered to win a grand prize drawing.
On Aug. 11 and throughout the year, Avista wants to make sure homeowners and contractors alike to call 811 at least 2 business days before digging to eliminate risk of striking an underground utility line.
Aug 02 , 2010
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We took this picture of the Avista Stadium sign two weeks ago,
between customer interviews for Energy on the Street. If you want to
attend an Indians game this week – try to go tomorrow so your ticket
sales will benefit Project Share. |
Looking to attend a Spokane Indians game this week? How about tomorrow? Avista and the Indians have teamed up to donate money to Project Share for tickets sold for the game on Tuesday, August 3.
The Indians will donate 50 cents of every walk-up ticket sold for the game to the Avista Project Share program in order to raise funds and bring awareness of need in our area.
Project Share is a customer, community, and company-funded program that provides one-time emergency assistance to families in our region.
With the Project Share program, 100 percent of every dollar donated is forwarded to community action agencies for distribution to those who qualify. Energy assistance is provided without regard to the source of heat or providing utility company.
For fans who can't make it to the Indians game on the 3rd, but still want to donate to Project Share, there are three other ways to contribute. You can donate online at www.avistautilities.com, you can add a donation to your next monthly payment or send a check to Project Share, P.O. Box 3727, Spokane, WA 99202. Tuesday’s game against the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes starts at 6:30 p.m., gates open at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are available by calling the Avista Stadium Ticket Office at 509-343-OTTO (6886) or visiting www.spokaneindiansbaseball.com. You can also purchase tickets at any TicketsWest outlet, by calling 1-800-325-SEAT, or visit www.ticketswest.com. Jul 16 , 2010
Our Energy on the Street project continues today with customer interviews in downtown Spokane, near the Spokane Transit Plaza and tonight at Avista Stadium before the ballgame starts. If you’ve got a question for Avista – one that you’ve always wanted to ask, but never really had the chance, come find me today. If you can’t make it to one of these locations, you can always send us an e-mail at Conversation@Avistautilities.com.
I’ve really enjoyed the two full days of customer interviews in Stevens County and Coeur d’Alene City Park. I’ve spoken to customers who have nothing but great things to say about our company and customer service, but also those who have criticized aspects of our business. Whichever category you fall into (maybe both), we want to hear from you – that’s the whole point of the Energy on the Street project. We’ll have customer questions and employee answers up on our website later this summer.
Jul 13 , 2010
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Many attendees of Chataqua 2010, in Chewelah were kind enough to talk
energy with us last weekend. There is still time for you to participate,
contact us at Conversation@Avistautilities.com | Project gets answers to your most pressing energy questions
“Are you an Avista customer? Can I talk to you about energy?” I think I said that about a thousand times on Friday.
As part of a project called Energy on the Street, we’re interviewing Avista customers by getting their opinions and questions about energy on video. Friday I was at Chataqua 2010 in Chewelah, Wash., talking to customers from Stevens County (and all over Washington and Idaho) about what they care about regarding energy and Avista. We’re not just getting questions from you – we’re answering them too. Avista employees are providing answers to these questions, also on camera. Both the question and the answer will be posted later this summer on our conversation website.
Want to get in on the action? We’ll be at Coeur d’Alene City Park tomorrow for a few hours starting at 11 a.m. On Friday we’ll be in downtown Spokane at or near the STA Plaza in the afternoon and then at the Avista Stadium outer concourse at 5:30 p.m. until game time.
Look for the white shirts that say “Avista” on the front and “Ask Avista” on the back. Trust me, you can’t miss us.
What are people asking? They want to know about rates and costs, energy efficiency, renewable power, climate change and what the future of energy really looks like. I was pleased with how open and willing the customers I met on Friday were to talk about energy, especially since we were grabbing them out of the blue during a community event.
If you’re interested in getting a question answered on camera by an Avista employee (and you can’t come to the events listed above), send us an e-mail at Conversation@Avistautilities.com Jun 30 , 2010
The Shock is electric for sure, but this Shock is Spokane’s number one ranked national Arena Football League team.
And on July 2, the team’s home game against the number two-ranked Arizona Rattlers will do more than generate a lot of touchdown frenzy. Avista’s Project Share emergency energy assistance fund will receive $3 from every ticket sold when fans use the code word “Share” when they purchase their discounted $12 tickets through TicketsWest, over the phone (800-325-SEAT (7328)), or in person at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena Box Office, 720 West Mallon.
It’s summer, why are we talking about energy assistance? Because the need for help in our community doesn’t go away just because the weather gets warmer.
Project Share is through donations from our customers, our community and our company. It provides one-time emergency energy assistance to families in our region regardless of the fuel they use for heating. This past heating season, Project Share provided more than $671,000 in energy assistance to 2,972 households in Spokane County. We work with our community Partner, SNAP, to make the grants. More information about Project Share is available on our website.
So, this holiday weekend think winning football team and a big score for Project Share, helping those in need in our community
Jun 16 , 2010
Back in March Avista filed for electric and natural gas rate increases in Idaho (and Washington). The Idaho Public Utilities Commission has up to seven months from the initial filing to make a ruling on our request. One of the important steps in this transparent process is for the commission to hear from you directly. Today the commission announced public workshops where commission staff will provide customers an overview of our rate request application and answer questions. Avista representatives will also be on hand for the workshop.
The workshops are Monday night, June 28, at the Brammer Building, 1225 Idaho St., in Lewiston and Tuesday, June 29, in the student union building on the North Idaho College campus, 1000 W. Garden Ave., in Coeur d’Alene. Both workshops begin at 7 p.m.
Tell me more about Avista’s Idaho general rate request filed in March.
What about Washington?
Public hearings/workshops have not yet been announced by the WUTC, but we’ll keep you posted when the information is available.
Tell me more about Avista’s Washington general rate request filed in March.
Jun 15 , 2010
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The reservoir behind Avista's Nine Mile Dam. |
Spillway, other projects to begin summer 2010
Avista will hold an information meeting at Lakeside High School tonight, June 15 at 6:30 p.m., to update interested residents, property owners and customers on projects that will take place beginning this summer at the Nine Mile Dam and reservoir.
The major project at Nine Mile Dam is installation of a new rubber spillway that will eliminate the need for the wooden flashboards. Construction on the new spillway will begin this summer, and will require an extended drawdown of the reservoir while work is in progress.
The new spillway will consist of a rubber bladder, which will raise and lower a metal plate when inflated and deflated respectively. The spillway will be much more flexible and precise when managing the reservoir elevation.
Avista’s environmental and hydro operations staff will discuss the spillway project and future generation upgrades to the powerhouse. They will also discuss the environmental and recreation projects that are planned for the Nine Mile area.
The projects are part of Avista’s 50-year Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license to operate its five Spokane River hydroelectric facilities (Post Falls, Upper Falls, Monroe Street, Nine Mile, and Long Lake).
For more information about the meeting, call Speed Fitzhugh at (509) 495-4998.
Jun 08 , 2010
Avista and the Northwest Gas Association (NWGA) are hosting a Power Breakfast concerning natural gas. We’ll discuss why this clean and efficient fuel will play an increasingly important role in helping the nation and our region meet the growing demand for energy while helping meet environmental standards.
As new technologies are developed, our access to natural gas will increase, which will continued to make it a cost-effective choice. Learn why the direct use of natural gas increases efficiency and discover how your business can benefit from Avista’s energy efficiency programs and incentives.
Speakers will include Dan Kirschner, Executive Director of the NWGA and Kevin Christie, Director of Gas Supply for Avista.
Event details
-June 15 - Spokane Valley, Wash: Mirabeau Park Hotel and Convention Center, North 1100 Sullivan Road.
8:15 a.m. - Registration, check-in
8:30 a.m. - Breakfast, Presentation
10:00 a.m. - Q&A, Networking
May 12 , 2010
The above video and the following story were originally run in Avista’s employee publication, e.view. But a few folks online commented that they’d like to see this video project I’d been working on. I’m really proud of this video and the employees who set up and then executed this mock accident. It truly shows our company’s commitment to safety and our employees’ dedication. Watch video now.
Realistic mock accident scenario brings out Avista’s best
Journeyman Lineman Mike Toutloff says there’s no handbook on how to rescue a lineman off a pole. Sure, we practice it in all of our various locations and we’re trained well, but rarely if ever do we go out into the woods and test our processes and procedures to see if we can make it happen during a crisis.
So he made it happen.
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During the mock accident scenario, employees give
CPR to the fallen co-workers. | On a rainy, muddy Wednesday morning in April, in a rural area just outside Addy, Wash., Toutloff and Safety and Health Specialist Jim Womble spearheaded a mock accident scenario with an unsuspecting line crew. The scenario was pretty simple. Two linemen come into electrical contact on a pole and the remaining crew members were tasked with doing everything they could to save them.
But here’s where ‘pretty simple,’ gets thrown out the window.
Would radios work this far out in the woods? How about cell phones? Who would respond and how would they find the crew down a one-lane dirt road, miles and miles from the main highway? How would communications with the Colville and Spokane offices play out? Would MedStar be able to land in adverse weather conditions? And finally, but most importantly, could we save our fallen co-workers?
Communications Manager Dan Kolbet was given complete access to every aspect of the on-the-ground scenario, and captured the morning’s events on video. The video, “ Avista Mock Electrical Accident,” tells the tale of the set-up, rationale and every step of the rescue process.
One key component of the mock electrical accident that is missing from the video is how our employees in Colville and Spokane performed when alerted of the surprise event. Many employees noted how real the process felt and that it created a few hours of tense work. Dozens of employees, from many departments came together in support of the crew on the ground from the initial call through the implementation of our Business Continuity Plan.
The event has been hailed as a success throughout the company for its breadth and depth, and for providing critical lessons that could only have been learn through such a challenging, yet simple scenario.
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