POWERGRAMS

EEI salutes APC As the lights came back on in Texas last December, notes of praise for workers far from home began to light up the Internet. "Alabama Power, you are true heroes!" wrote Amie Magill DeRegge. "When you guys arrived on the scene, after 60 hours with no power, I was happier than a child seeing Santa." The Plano resident was among many Oncor Electric customers who wrote or called to praise the efforts of 371 Alabama Power employees who drove 650 miles or more to restore electric service Dec. 5-11 after outages from Winter Storm Cleon. The seven-day stay in Texas brought a quick response as well from the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), which on March 5 presented Alabama Power the Emergency Assistance Award. "Alabama Power's own recovery efforts and its assistance to Oncor in Texas demonstrate the strength of the industry's mutual assistance network and its commitment to serving customers, regardless of service territory," said EEI President Tom Kuhn. "We commend the crews who braved dangerous conditions in the wake of these storms, as they diligently worked to safely and quickly restore service." While spending nearly 35,000 man- hours working in treacherous conditions in the Lone Star State drew accolades for Alabama Power linemen, EEI was equally admiring of their work at home. Kuhn presented the company with the Emergency Recovery Award for efforts following windstorms that left 222,432 customers without power. "This is a fitting recognition for our employees," said Alabama Power President and CEO Mark Crosswhite. "They go wherever they're needed and do whatever it takes without complaint. They would say they are just doing their jobs; these awards show they've gone above and beyond the call of duty." The March 18, 2013 derecho caused the 10th most outages in company history, but the three-day restoration effort eventually led to Alabama Power receiving an EEI-record 14th Emergency Response Award. With help from utility workers from 10 states, nearly half of the outages were repaired the first day, 69 percent after two days and all that could receive power after three days of work in dangerous conditions. "I am proud to have the extraordinary efforts of our employees – both at home and for our neighbors – recognized by these awards," said Distribution Vice President Danny Glover. "Our folks take great pride in helping others and doing their job safely, and they are committed to it. That's what makes our Alabama Power team so special." The quick turnaround after the windstorm that required replacing 628 poles, 486 transformers and affecting 15 percent of customers was rooted in efforts before the 80-mile-per-hour winds, rain, lightning and hail hit Alabama Power territory. The company's Emergency Response Plan was implemented when tracking the storm as it approached Alabama, as employees reached out for help from material suppliers, logistics experts and nearly 2,000 out-of-state utility workers. "Rather than waiting on evaluation reports from the field and requesting help later that night or the next morning, we reached out to our Southeastern Electric Exchange partners early that evening," said Glover. "As a result of the fast recognition of the seriousness of the situation and the quick calls for assistance, crews were able to arrive a day sooner, which reduced the amount of time our customers were without power." As soon as it was safe, about 2,000 Alabama Power employees and contractors began working in the worst- hit areas, primarily in Eastern Division. Generation, Transmission and Substation employees ensured their facilities were in working order while Distribution workers restored crucial services to ensure public health and safety during the recovery. The March 18 derecho marked the second highest number of outages in Eastern Division history (95,351), behind only Hurricane Opal in 1995 (99,599), said Distribution Manager Selina Lee. The Gadsden area was hit hardest by the windstorm, but service was safely restored in record time. "The Storm Center did a tremendous job of finding resources for us, and each division played a significant role in our restoration efforts," Lee said. "I am proud of the employees here and across our company. We had the most resources ever for this restoration effort. Everyone rose to the challenge." EEI honorees were chosen by a panel of judges following an international nomination process. EEI represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies. Alabama Power is among the members that 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 250 industry suppliers and related organizations as associate members. By Chuck Chandler hONORs 3 T WiN AWARDs FOR REsTOR ATiONs AT hOmE, iN TEx As Icy roads made travel treacherous in Texas. Nearly 400 employees drove 650 miles or more to Texas. Crews spent one week helping Oncor Electric customers.

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