Corporate News

Avista (NYSE: AVA) today filed Purchased Gas Cost Adjustment (PGA) requests with the utility commissions in Washington and Idaho to reduce overall natural gas prices by 6.4 percent and 6.0 percent respectively, to be effective March 1.

If the request is approved by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC), a residential customer in Washington using an average of 67 therms per month would see a decrease of $3.90, or 6.0 percent, for a revised monthly bill of $60.73. Washington commercial customers could expect decreases of 7.6 percent for large general service schedule 111, 8.2 percent for extra large general service schedule 121 and 9.5 percent for interruptible sales service schedule 131.

If the request is approved by the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (IPUC), an Idaho customer using an average of 62 therms per month would see a $3.46, or 5.7 percent, decrease for a revised monthly bill of $57.50. Idaho commercial customers could expect decreases of 7.3 percent for large general service schedule 111 and 9.7 percent for interruptible sales service schedule 131. Avista has approximately 149,000 natural gas customers in Washington and 76,000 in Idaho.

DuPont (NYSE: DD) and Yingli Energy (China) Company Limited (NYSE: YGE) have signed a $100 million strategic agreement for photovoltaic materials aimed at accelerating the adoption of solar energy to address one of the world's biggest challenges -- reducing dependence on fossil fuels. Yingli China is a wholly owned subsidiary of Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited ("Yingli"), a leading solar energy company and one of the world's largest vertically integrated photovoltaic manufacturers.

Arrow Electronics, Inc. (NYSE: ARW) announced the successful completion of the acquisition of TechTurn, Ltd. (“TechTurn”), a leading provider of electronics asset disposition (EAD) services that specializes in the processing and sale of technology devices that are returned or recycled from businesses and consumers.

TechTurn is headquartered in Austin, Texas, and has 135 employees. The company’s sales are expected to exceed $50 million in 2012.

MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) announced that CityCenter Holdings, LLC, a joint venture which is 50% owned by a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company and 50% owned by Infinity World Development Corp. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Dubai World), and CityCenter Finance Corp. priced $240 million in aggregate principal amount of senior secured first lien notes in a private placement at an issue price of 104.75%. The notes are additional notes constituting a part of the same series as the $900 million in aggregate principal amount of 7.625% senior secured first lien notes due 2016 issued on January 21, 2011. CityCenter plans to use the net proceeds from the offering, together with cash from its balance sheet, to repay $300 million of the outstanding borrowings under its $375 million senior credit facility. The offering is expected to close on February 17, 2012, subject to customary closing conditions.

The "Lin Effect" continues for both the New York Knicks and MSG Network (NYSE: MSG). The team's five-game winning streak, thanks to the astounding play of breakout star Jeremy Lin, has caused a jump in the team's television ratings on MSG Network. Saturday's win over the Timberwolves scored a season high 4.17 Nielsen household rating, the highest-rated Knicks game on MSG Network since Carmelo Anthony's debut on February 23 last season (6.75 HH). Knicks fans also consumed information on the team's newest star in record numbers on the team's and network's websites and social media platforms.

Through four games – and four wins – in which Lin has been the starting point guard, the Knicks' average household rating on MSG Network has increased 70% (3.08 HH) compared to the previous 20 games (1.81 HH). With Lin in the starting lineup, the team has scored household ratings of 4.17 (February 11 at Minnesota), 3.05 (February 10 vs. Los Angeles), 2.68 (February 6 vs. Utah) and 2.41 (February 8 at Washington).

The winning streak has also spurred a 71% increase in the average season-to-date household rating compared to the first 24 games on MSG Network last season (2.02 HH vs. 1.18 HH). The four games in which Lin has started also represents a 52% increase over the average season-to-date household rating (3.08 HH vs. 2.02 HH).

The Knicks have also experienced unprecedented web traffic and social media growth in the past week. From February 5 – 12 web traffic on NYKnicks.com and KnicksNow.com increased more than 550% compared to the week prior, reaching 4.7 million page views, the highest week-to-week increase in history for the sites. Unique visitors to the sites also skyrocketed 364% and video views of highlights and interviews featuring the team's four wins during the timeframe increased 1205% versus the previous week to 672,000 total. Similarly, fans have been clamoring for more information on Lin and the team on social media platforms. The Knicks added 125,000 Facebook likes, the most of any team in the NBA during the seven day period, taking the team's total to nearly 1.5 million. On Twitter the team added 12,000 followers, putting the Knicks at almost 200,000 followers total.