The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) has awarded PECO its Emergency Recovery Award for the company’s dedication to restoring electric service to more than 260,000 customers impacted by a severe summer storm in June 2015. The award was presented during the EEI Annual Convention in Chicago on June 14. This is the fourth EEI Emergency Recovery Award PECO has received since 2010.
“We invest each year in innovative projects and programs to help prevent those outages that can be prevented,” said Craig Adams, PECO president and CEO. “When severe storms impact service to our customers our dedicated employees work around the clock to safely and quickly restore service. This award recognizes the unwavering commitment every PECO employee has to our customers.”
The June 23, 2015, storm produced severe lighting, straight line winds, 70 mile-per-hour wind gusts and torrential rain, which created widespread damage across southeastern Pennsylvania. More than 260,000 customers were impacted by the storm, with more than 240,000 customers being restored less than 36 hours later. More than 2,500 PECO employees, local contractors, and crews from PECO’s sister utility BGE, in Baltimore, and other utilities in Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia and New York, assisted with making repairs.
“PECO’s terrific effort to restore service in the wake of this severe thunderstorm exemplifies our industry’s commitment to customer service,” said EEI President Tom Kuhn. “The PECO crews who braved five days of dangerous conditions to quickly and safely restore service to customers are greatly deserving of this honor.”
The Emergency Recovery Award is presented twice annually to U.S. and foreign-based companies to recognize emergency response efforts in restoring electric service that has been disrupted by severe weather conditions or other natural events. Award recipients are chosen by a panel of industry judges following an international nomination process.
EEI is the association that represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies. Its members provide electricity for 220 million Americans, operate in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and directly employ more than 500,000 workers. EEI has 70 international electric companies as Affiliate Members, and 270 industry suppliers and related organizations as Associate Members.
