20060509Comment.pdf

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Marian O'Reilly
206 N. Fourth Avenue PMB 213
Sandpoint, 1083864
[phone]
YachtHalo~yahoo.com
May 4, 2006
Re: A VU-06-
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
Thank you for the opportunity to comment. I am both a ratepayer! customer of A vista
Corp. and a long time shareholder.
I strongly urge you to reject Avista's application to form a holding company. They say it
will protect their utility from the volatility of other investments. In their proxy statement
they state that it will give them more ability to borrow money in support oftheir
nonutility investments. They also state that the only assets of the holding company will
be stock in the utility and the other owned companies. How will they repay loans that go
bad, when the utility is their major holding, with no impact on the utility?
Rate payers may be theoretically protected from such risky behaviors, but financial losses
are offset by operational "efficiencies " reduced investment in infrastructure, etc. Avista
is just now recovering financially from their last attempt to be entrepreneurial. They are
an excellent utility but jeopardize that business when wandering into other markets andenterprises.
We would not want to compare Avista with Enron, but there are many lessons to be
learned from that debacle. One is that their utility holding, PGE, has been wounded for
the coming decades trom the fmancial woes of its holding company parent.
Please protect Idaho ratepayers who rely on having their utility company focus on
delivering reliable, low cost power to customers: vote against A V A Formation Corp.
Sincerely,
Marian O'Reilly