Edison Electric Institute honors Alabama Power for restoration efforts
Alabama Power crews restore power outages in Montgomery.
Alabama Power has won the 2015 Edison Electric Institute (EEI) Emergency Recovery Award for restoring service after thunderstorms left about 115,000 customers in the dark.
“Alabama Power has consistently demonstrated excellence in its storm recovery operations, winning the EEI Emergency Recovery Award seven times,” said EEI Member Relations Senior Director Brian Farrell. “When evaluating the company’s response to the July thunderstorms, the award judges were very impressed with the company’s ability to mobilize a large, effective response very quickly.”
The company received the award Jan. 6 at EEI’s annual CEO Conference and Board Meeting in Arizona. The award recognizes the company for going the extra mile to restore service on its own system. Over the years Alabama Power has also collected nine EEI Emergency Assistance Awards for helping other utilities get the lights back on.
“The hardworking crews from Alabama Power are truly deserving of this recognition for their tremendous work to restore service in the face of difficult conditions,” said EEI President Tom Kuhn. “Alabama Power’s efforts to swiftly and safely restore service are representative of our industry’s unwavering commitment to customer service.”
On July 14, a line of thunderstorms, including strong winds and severe lightning, moved through the state, with the hardest-hit areas in Birmingham, Western and Eastern divisions.
The restoration process was unusual because service to homes in many of the most impacted areas was located at the rear of property, making it impossible to access the lines and poles by truck. Crews carried equipment or hauled it in by cart, and then used ropes and pulleys to move it up poles.
Despite the added work required to make many of the repairs by hand, Alabama Power crews restored service in less than three days.
A team of 1,325 Alabama Power linemen and support employees, along with 278 tree-trimmers, worked 16-hour shifts. Georgia Power, Mississippi Power, Gulf Power and Entergy sent crews to help. Crews and contractors replaced 75 broken poles, 579 spans of wire and 84 transformers.
“Our employees are the best in the business in storm restoration,” said Danny Glover, vice president for Distribution for Alabama Power. “They have now received the industry’s leading emergency response award 16 times – seven for storm recovery efforts on our system and nine for assisting other utilities. It doesn’t matter if it is a tornado in the spring, hurricane in the summer or ice in the winter, Alabama Power employees are second to none.”
An independent panel of judges chose the winners following nominations. Eight Recovery Awards and five Assistance Awards were presented at the Jan. 6 meeting.
EEI represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies, including Alabama Power. EEI members operate in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and serve about 220 million people nationwide. They employ more than 500,000 workers.
EEI also has 70 international electric companies as affiliate members, and 250 industry suppliers and related organizations as associate members.
