Washington (BUSINESS WIRE) Four electric companies have been nominated as finalists by the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) for the Edison Award for their unique solutions to management and environmental challenges.
The companies are Central Vermont Public Service Corporation, Rutland, Vt.; Entergy Corporation, New Orleans, La.; Public Service Company of New Mexico, Albuquerque, N.M.; and Puget Sound Energy, Bellevue, Wash.
“These companies reflect the same pioneering spirit on which the electricity industry was founded,” said Thomas R. Kuhn, president of the Edison Electric Institute. “Their dedication and commitment to exceeding shareholder and customer expectations puts them ahead of the curve in this increasingly competitive market,” he added.
The accomplishments for which the companies have been nominated are:
* Central Vermont Public Service has for the past 10 years played a pivotal role in saving the state’s endangered ospreys. Last year the company produced and donated a book to every third-grader in the state, along with a teaching curriculum produced with the state’s Education Commissioner as a consultant, to educate school children and further raise awareness of the ospreys’ plight.
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* Entergy Corporation leveraged its position as a premier nuclear operator by creating a new operational region, Entergy Nuclear Northeast; purchasing a fourth Northeastern plant; and announcing that it will buy a fifth. The company took on the challenge of driving to excellence, both operationally and financially, all its nuclear plants. As part of significantly increasing its nuclear fleet’s power output and financial returns, Entergy Nuclear cut the average duration of refueling outages from 40 days down to 23.
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* Public Service Company of New Mexico demonstrated strong leadership in implementing an environmental management system in a 25-year-old generating station — the seventh largest coal-fired generator in the west. It then committed to, and achieved, ISO 14001 certification. The plant is one of only three U.S. coal-fired generating stations active in the EPA’s Performance Track program for all industries that recognizes superior environmental performance through continuous improvement.
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* Puget Sound Energy was nominated for outsourcing all construction and maintenance work to specialized service providers rather than multiple short-term contracts. The transition allows the company to better manage basic costs of providing reliable electric service.
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The Edison Award is given annually by the Edison Electric Institute to the shareholder-owned company making the most outstanding contribution to the advancement of the industry in the past year. A review committee of national industry trade journal editors chooses the finalists for the award. The winner will be selected by a judging panel composed of former EEI chairmen and academicians.
The award will be presented to the winner at EEI’s 70th annual convention and expo in Boston, Ma. June 2-4. The conference, “Power America Can Count On” will gather North America’s energy supply, delivery, and retail energy service executives.
Edison Electric Institute (EEI) is the association of United States investor-owned electric utilities and industry affiliates and associates worldwide. Its domestic members generate approximately three-quarters of all the electricity generated by electric utilities in the country and serve about 70 percent of all ultimate customers in the nation.
