The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) recognized PECO today with the association's Emergency Recovery Award for the utility's exceptional response efforts in restoring power to more than 500,000 customers following Hurricane Irene in August 2011. The award was presented during a ceremony held in Washington, D.C.
The 2011 Emergency Recovery Award honors the efforts of more than 4,000 PECO employees and contractors – from as far away as Pittsburgh, Florida, Michigan and PECO's Chicago-based sister utility ComEd – who worked around the clock to safely restore service to nearly 99% of all customers within 72 hours, which was one of the fastest recoveries along the East coast. The hurricane is ranked as PECO's third worst storm in history.
"Hurricane Irene was a historic event that wreaked havoc on the region and left more than half a million customers without power," said Denis O'Brien, senior executive vice president, Exelon Corporation (PECO's parent company), and CEO, Exelon Utilities. "I am pleased to accept this award on behalf of our employees, whose talent, dedication and hard work – whether they restored power in the field, answered customer inquiries or provided administrative support during long days of storm restoration – helped minimize the time our customers spent without electricity."
The Emergency Response Award is presented each year to U.S. and foreign-based member companies to distinguish an outstanding response in restoring electrical service that has been disrupted by severe weather conditions or natural events. Winners were chosen by a panel of judges following an international nomination process.
"PECO's preparations for Hurricane Irene positioned the company for an outstanding restoration," EEI President Tom Kuhn said. "Because of their thorough planning, precise execution, and the dedication their crews displayed, PECO was able to turn the lights back on for their customers in a very timely manner, making this restoration a big success."
PECO last received an Emergency Recovery Award in 1998 when the company won for recovery work following severe thunderstorms. More recently, PECO received a 2000 Edison Award for distinguished leadership, innovation, and contributing to the advancement of the electric industry.
Based in Philadelphia, PECO is an electric and natural gas utility subsidiary of Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC).PECO serves 1.6 million electric and 491,000 natural gas customers in southeastern Pennsylvania and employs about 2,400 people in the region.PECO delivered 82.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 38.1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2011.Founded in 1881, PECO is one of the Greater Philadelphia Region's most active corporate citizens, providing leadership, volunteer and financial support to numerous arts and culture, education, environmental, economic development and community programs and organizations.
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Contacts:
PECO
Liz Williamson, 215-841-5555
liz.williamson@exeloncorp.com
