PWC Earns Highest Honor for Electric System Reliability
PWC staff accepts the 2022 Reliable Public Power (RP3) Award at the 2022 American Public Power Association Engineering & Operations Conference in Austin, Texas.
The Fayetteville Public Works Commission has earned a Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3)® Diamond designation from the American Public Power Association (APPA) for providing reliable and safe electric service. The award was presented at the APPA’s annual Engineering & Operations Conference in Austin, Texas on March 28, 2022.
Although more than 275 public power utilities nationwide hold the RP3 designation, only PWC earned the award’s highest designation- Diamond Level- for the sixth time in the award’s history and is one of only two utilities that have earned the Diamond Level designation six or more times.
“I think over the last year or so, we’ve seen the vital importance of running a reliable and safe utility,” says Aaron Haderle, Chair of APPA’s RP3 Review Panel and Manager of Transmission and Distribution Operations at Kissimmee Utility Authority, Florida. “The utilities receiving the RP3 designation have proven that they are committed to running a top-notch public power utility by implementing industry best practices.”
“I’m proud PWC continues to be recognized among the top performing public power utilities in the nation,” said Elaina Ball, PWC CEO/General Manager. “This is a great testament to the dedication of our PWC team. They are your friends and neighbors who you depend on day in and day out to provide essential, award-winning service.”
The RP3 designation, which lasts for three years, recognizes public power utilities that demonstrate outstanding practices and utility-wide commitment to safe and reliable delivery of electricity. PWC received a 100% score in the award criteria for reliability, safety, workforce development, and system improvement.
“This is the sixth time PWC has achieved the highest level possible of this assessment,” added Jon Rynne, PWC’s Chief Operating Officer of Electric Systems. “This demonstrates that our employees are all doing their best to provide the highest level of service and value to the customers we serve.”
Annually, Public Power electric utilities have a strong track record of reliability. Nationwide, the average public power customer has their lights out for less than half the time, compared to other types of utilities.
PWC has also received the APPA’s annual recognition for achieving exceptional electric reliability. The Association tracks power outage and restoration data and then compares the data to national statistics tracked by the U.S. Energy Information Administration for all types of electric utilities. In 2021, the average outage time (without major incidents such as Hurricanes) for PWC customers was 51.63 minutes while nationally, the average was 135 minutes.
