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Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2017
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Appropriated Retained Earnings [Table Text Block]
The appropriated retained earnings amounts included in retained earnings were as follows as of December 31 (dollars in thousands):
 
2017
 
2016
Appropriated retained earnings
$
33,917

 
$
25,564
Schedule of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) [Table Text Block]
Accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax, consisted of the following as of December 31 (dollars in thousands):
 
2017
 
2016
Unfunded benefit obligation for pensions and other postretirement benefit plans - net of taxes of $4,356 and $4,075, respectively
$
8,090

 
$
7,568
Schedule of Goodwill [Table Text Block]
There were no changes in the carrying amount of goodwill during 2016 and 2017 and the balance was as follows (dollars in thousands):
 
AEL&P
 
Other
 
Accumulated
Impairment
Losses
 
Total
Balance as of the December 31, 2016
$
52,426

 
$
12,979

 
$
(7,733
)
 
$
57,672

Balance as of the December 31, 2017
52,426

 
12,979

 
(7,733
)
 
57,672


Accumulated impairment losses are attributable to the other businesses.
Regulatory Liability For Utility Plant Retirement Costs [Table Text Block]
The Company has recorded the amount of estimated retirement costs collected from customers (that do not represent legal or contractual obligations) and included them as a regulatory liability on the Consolidated Balance Sheets in the following amounts as of December 31 (dollars in thousands):
 
2017
 
2016
Regulatory liability for utility plant retirement costs
$
285,786

 
$
273,983
Schedule of Inventory, Current [Table Text Block]
Inventories of materials and supplies, fuel stock and stored natural gas are recorded at average cost for our regulated operations and the lower of cost or market for our non-regulated operations and consisted of the following as of December 31 (dollars in thousands):
 
2017
 
2016
Materials and supplies
$
41,493

 
$
40,700

Fuel stock
4,843

 
4,585

Stored natural gas
11,739

 
8,029

Total
$
58,075

 
$
53,314
Allowance for Credit Losses on Financing Receivables [Table Text Block]
The following table presents the activity in the allowance for doubtful accounts during the years ended December 31 (dollars in thousands):
 
2017
 
2016
 
2015
Allowance as of the beginning of the year
$
5,026

 
$
4,530

 
$
4,888

Additions expensed during the year
5,317

 
6,053

 
5,802

Net deductions
(5,211
)
 
(5,557
)
 
(6,160
)
Allowance as of the end of the year
$
5,132

 
$
5,026

 
$
4,530
Schedule of Other Nonoperating Income (Expense) [Table Text Block]
Other Income - net consisted of the following items for the years ended December 31 (dollars in thousands):
 
2017
 
2016
 
2015
Interest income
$
2,162

 
$
1,823

 
$
653

Interest on regulatory deferrals
1,288

 
1,308

 
48

Equity-related AFUDC
6,669

 
8,475

 
8,331

Net loss on investments
(4,160
)
 
(2,152
)
 
(637
)
Other income
1,104

 
624

 
905

Total
$
7,063

 
$
10,078

 
$
9,300
Share-based Compensation, Activity [Table Text Block]
The following table summarizes the number of grants, vested and unvested shares, earned shares (based on market metrics), and other pertinent information related to the Company's stock compensation awards for the years ended December 31:
 
2017
 
2016
 
2015
Restricted Shares
 
 
 
 
 
Shares granted during the year
57,746

 
58,610

 
58,302

Shares vested during the year
(57,473
)
 
(52,385
)
 
(60,379
)
Unvested shares at end of year
106,053

 
109,806

 
106,091

Unrecognized compensation expense at end of year (in thousands)
$
1,853

 
$
1,853

 
$
1,705

TSR Awards
 
 
 
 
 
TSR shares granted during the year
114,390

 
116,435

 
116,435

TSR shares vested during the year
(107,649
)
 
(111,665
)
 
(171,334
)
TSR shares earned based on market metrics
158,262

 
132,887

 
222,734

Unvested TSR shares at end of year
218,507

 
222,228

 
223,697

Unrecognized compensation expense (in thousands)
$
2,849

 
$
3,409

 
$
3,219

CEPS Awards
 
 
 
 
 
CEPS shares granted during the year
57,223

 
57,521

 
58,259

CEPS shares vested during the year
(53,862
)
 
(55,835
)
 
—

CEPS shares earned based on market metrics
41,502

 
90,460

 
—

Unvested CEPS shares at end of year
108,581

 
110,452

 
111,887

Unrecognized compensation expense (in thousands)
$
1,856

 
$
1,671

 
$
1,840
Schedule of Compensation Cost for Share-based Payment Arrangements, Allocation of Share-based Compensation Costs by Plan [Table Text Block]
The Company recorded stock-based compensation expense (included in other operating expenses) and income tax benefits in the Consolidated Statements of Income of the following amounts for the years ended December 31 (dollars in thousands):
 
2017
 
2016
 
2015
Stock-based compensation expense
$
7,359

 
$
7,891

 
$
6,914

Income tax benefits (1)
2,576

 
2,762

 
2,420

Excess tax benefits on settled share-based employee payments (2)
2,348

 
1,597

 
—
Effective Rate On Allowance For Funds Used During Construction [Table Text Block]
The effective AFUDC rate was the following for the years ended December 31:
 
2017
 
2016
 
2015
Avista Utilities
 
 
 
 
 
Effective AFUDC rate
7.29
%
 
7.29
%
 
7.32
%
Alaska Electric Light and Power Company
 
 
 
 
 
Effective AFUDC rate
9.48
%
 
9.40
%
 
9.31
%
 
Taxes Other Than Income Taxes [Table Text Block]
Taxes other than income taxes consisted of the following items for the years ended December 31 (dollars in thousands):
 
2017
 
2016
 
2015
Utility-related taxes
$
64,012

 
$
57,745

 
$
59,173

Property taxes
40,074

 
38,505

 
35,948

Other taxes
2,666

 
2,485

 
2,536

Total
$
106,752

 
$
98,735

 
$
97,657
Public Utility Property, Plant, and Equipment [Table Text Block]
For utility operations, the ratio of depreciation provisions to average depreciable property was as follows for the years ended December 31:
 
2017
 
2016
 
2015
Avista Utilities
 
 
 
 
 
Ratio of depreciation to average depreciable property
3.12
%
 
3.11
%
 
3.09
%
Alaska Electric Light and Power Company
 
 
 
 
 
Ratio of depreciation to average depreciable property
2.43
%
 
2.39
%
 
2.42
%

The average service lives for the following broad categories of utility plant in service are (in years):
 
Avista Utilities
 
Alaska Electric Light and Power Company
Electric thermal/other production
41
 
41
Hydroelectric production
78
 
42
Electric transmission
57
 
41
Electric distribution
35
 
40
Natural gas distribution property
42
 
N/A
Other shorter-lived general plant
10
 
16
The gross balances of the major classifications of property, plant and equipment are detailed in the following table as of December 31 (dollars in thousands):
 
2017
 
2016
Avista Utilities:
 
 
 
Electric production
$
1,392,017

 
$
1,346,332

Electric transmission
726,240

 
682,529

Electric distribution
1,617,451

 
1,525,175

Electric construction work-in-progress (CWIP) and other
322,144

 
296,912

Electric total
4,057,852

 
3,850,948

Natural gas underground storage
46,233

 
44,672

Natural gas distribution
1,027,197

 
954,298

Natural gas CWIP and other
63,803

 
57,601

Natural gas total
1,137,233

 
1,056,571

Common plant (including CWIP)
588,833

 
527,458

Total Avista Utilities
5,783,918

 
5,434,977

AEL&P:
 
 
 
Electric production
97,883

 
94,839

Electric transmission
21,413

 
20,252

Electric distribution
21,061

 
20,057

Electric production held under long-term capital lease
71,007

 
71,007

Electric CWIP and other
7,341

 
7,190

Electric total
218,705

 
213,345

Common plant
8,524

 
8,651

Total AEL&P
227,229

 
221,996

Other (1)
36,783

 
30,764

Total
$
6,047,930

 
$
5,687,737

 
(1)
Included in other property and investments-net and other non-current assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Accumulated depreciation was $11.6 million as of December 31, 2017 and $11.2 million as of December 31, 2016 for the other businesses.
Unbilled Accounts Receivable [Table Text Block]
Accounts receivable includes unbilled energy revenues of the following amounts as of December 31 (dollars in thousands):
 
2017
 
2016
Unbilled accounts receivable
$
68,641

 
$
72,377
Reclassification out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income [Table Text Block]
The following table details the reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive loss by component for the years ended December 31 (dollars in thousands):
 
 
Amounts Reclassified from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss
 
 
Details about Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss Components
 
2017
 
2016
 
2015
 
Affected Line Item in Statement of Income
Amortization of defined benefit pension items
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Amortization of net prior service cost
 
$
(4,381
)
 
$
(1,171
)
 
$
31

 
(a)
Amortization of net loss
 
36,833

 
(7,602
)
 
2,623

 
(a)
Adjustment due to effects of regulation (b)
 
(33,255
)
 
7,360

 
(749
)
 
(a)
 
 
(803
)
 
(1,413
)
 
1,905

 
Total before tax
 
 
281

 
495

 
(667
)
 
Tax benefit (expense)
 
 
$
(522
)
 
$
(918
)
 
$
1,238

 
Net of tax

(a)
These accumulated other comprehensive loss components are included in the computation of net periodic pension cost (see Note 10 for additional details).
(b)
The adjustment for the effects of regulation during the year ended December 31, 2016 includes approximately $2.1 million related to the reclassification of a pension regulatory asset associated with one of our jurisdictions into accumulated other comprehensive loss.