GreenVolts Secures $10 Million Series A Financing

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - October 30, 2007) - GreenVolts (www.greenvolts.com), a leader in high concentrating photovoltaic technology and wholesale distributed energy, today announced that it has secured $10 million in Series A funding. The company also announced that its CarouSol™ tracking system has begun producing energy at Avista's Clean Energy Test Site, and that it is on track for deployment of its GV1 plant in late 2008.

GreenVolts announced these milestones yesterday evening from the stage at the annual California Cleantech Open (CCTO) awards ceremony, held at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. GreenVolts was the winner in the renewable energy category at last year's event and received the 2007 CCTO Alumni award this year for progress made in customer acquisition and funding.

GreenVolts concentrated solar technology targets industrial or utility-scale distributed generation applications. The company's technology maximizes energy yield from high efficiency solar cells, resulting in high energy density. Compared to conventional solar panels, the GreenVolts solution requires less land while producing twice the energy at half the cost. The GreenVolts system does not require large remote tracts of land and associated investments in new transmission lines. GreenVolts' ability to produce clean power at a levelized cost of energy that is competitive with peak fossil fuel rates is redefining the rules of solar economics.

Earlier this year, GreenVolts was chosen by Pacific Gas & Electric Company to build GV1, a two-megawatt facility that will be the largest concentrating photovoltaic plant in the world when completed. The company is on track to deliver the first phase of this facility in late 2008.

GreenVolts' Series A round of funding was led by Greenlight Energy Resources, an operator of renewable energy projects and an investor in early stage renewable energy companies, and included Avista Corporation and several other investors.

"Our investment threshold begins with applications that will advance the adoption of renewable energy. GreenVolts' technology will enable utility-scale solar near the point of use at competitive prices -- an important milestone for solar applications," said Jim Trousdale, Director of Greenlight Energy Resources, Inc. "GreenVolts brings all the major pieces together -- a next-generation technology, customer traction, and an experienced management team to grow the business."

"GreenVolts has shown steady progress on this promising technology with its keen focus on serving utilities and disciplined approach to product development," said Roger Woodworth, VP for Sustainable Energy Solutions at Avista Utilities and a strategic adviser to GreenVolts. "We're pleased to continue our support as a minority investor in GreenVolts and its capable leadership team."

GreenVolts believes that utility-scale distributed generation is the key to a future for clean, renewable energy. The company's CarouSol tracking system concentrates 625 times the sun onto its solar cells, producing breakthrough efficiency using less land and half the capital investment of competitive technologies. The design of this system also allows it to be plugged into the grid nearer to the demand than any other technology, delivering up to 20MW of solar energy where it is needed most. GreenVolts has designed its system so it can scale production quickly and cheaply.

"We selected Greenlight Energy Resources for this round because we wanted a group of smart, experienced investors with real-world renewable energy experience who could help us build a company positioned for long-term success," said Bob Cart, founder and CEO of GreenVolts, Inc. "Avista Corp.'s understanding of the power markets and grid technologies gives us a great advantage in the marketplace, and they can apply their history of innovation and launching successful companies to help us build industry-specific solutions and technologies."

About Greenlight Energy Resources, Inc.

Greenlight Energy Resources, Inc. uses proven technologies to produce clean, renewable energy and fuels. The company's biodiesel, solar and wind power companies help address current energy issues. The company is also engaged in the development of new technologies to convert ocean waves into energy, with an emphasis on utility scale facilities located offshore. Greenlight Energy Resources is an active investor in early-stage renewable energy companies and projects.

About Avista Corp.

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 service to 348,000 electric and 305,000 natural gas customers in three Western states. Avista's primary, non-regulated subsidiary is Advantage IQ. 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. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding the company's current expectations. Forward-looking statements are all statements other than historical facts. Such statements speak only as of the date of the news release and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations. These risks and uncertainties include, in addition to those discussed herein, all of the factors discussed in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2006, and the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2007.

About GreenVolts

GreenVolts, Inc., based in San Francisco, was founded in 2005 to deliver solar power at costs competitive with that derived from fossil fuels. The company's breakthrough high concentrating photovoltaic technology efficiently integrates tracking and optics into a system that dramatically lowers energy cost. Through low cost and high efficiency the company can access large markets previously inaccessible to solar. GreenVolts changes the economics of solar energy.

Contact Information: Press Contact: Michael Azzano Cosmo PR for GreenVolts 415/596-1978