Avista Corp. utilities in four northwestern states have committed to helping communities rebuild from the Covid-19 pandemic, but they are getting hit in real time from the loss of demand.

CEO Dennis Vermillion during a conference call to discuss third quarter earnings said the safety and health of customers, employees and communities were the top priorities “as we continue to actively manage through the Covid-19 global pandemic and recent storms in our service territory.”

Consolidated earnings “were below our expectations, primarily due to higher bad debt expense for Avista Utilities. However, we anticipate being authorized to defer additional bad debt expenses through a Covid-19 deferral in the fourth quarter,” Vermillion said.

CFO Mark Thies said decreased gas and...