ATLANTA, Jan. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- The Edison Electric Institute recognized
Georgia Power and sister utilities Alabama Power and Gulf Power at a January
11 awards ceremony for their efforts to assist Gulf Coast utilities in
restoring electricity to customers who lost power following Hurricanes
Katrina, Rita and Wilma.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050216/CLW066LOGO)
Southern Company Chairman, President and CEO David Ratcliffe accepted the
award on behalf of the Georgia Power employees who worked alongside utilities
in Mississippi, Texas and Florida to help restore power to millions of
customers following these major hurricanes.
Between August and November of 2005, Georgia Power sent nearly 1,600
employees, 360 line and bucket trucks and 1,260 contractors to the hardest hit
areas to assess damage, make repairs and assist neighboring utilities with
restoration. Storm crews devoted more than 1.3 million man hours over 35 days
to help restore power in Gulf Coast states hit by the hurricanes. Fifty
Georgia Power employees still remain in Mississippi to help with hurricane
cleanup and will be there as long as they're needed.
"Georgia Power employees who provided assistance to these utilities faced
a monumental task," said Georgia Power President and CEO Mike Garrett. "After
Hurricane Katrina, Mississippi Power alone had 100 percent of its customers in
the dark and more than 1,900 miles of transmission line and 8,900 distribution
poles out of operation. Yet, despite extremely difficult work conditions and
long days, crews throughout Southern Company were able to help get the power
back on to most customers in just 12 days, rather than weeks. This was an
amazing feat considering the extent of damage."
In addition to manpower, Georgia Power provided materials and equipment
necessary to repair or, in many cases, completely rebuild the electrical
system in devastated areas; gas tankers to refuel not only Georgia Power and
contractor vehicles but also vehicles from assisting vendors and other
utilities; and generators for hospitals and communications towers.
In addition, the company constructed 12 major tent cities or staging areas
to house and equip 11,000 storm workers and delivered portable laundry
facilities, portolets, showers, cots, linens and blankets. When portable
showers became scarce, a Georgia Power team designed and built additional
portable showers and sinks for crews.
"During this unprecedented hurricane season, many of our employees were
away from their families for weeks at a time," said Mickey Brown, executive
vice president of Georgia Power's customer service organization. "In addition
to storm crews deployed to the area to help with restoration, we also had
nearly 100 employees who volunteered to go to Mississippi to help Mississippi
Power employees whose homes had been damaged or destroyed by the hurricanes.
This really speaks to the dedication and compassion of our folks."
To feed storm crews, Georgia Power brought in a caterer that provided
meals three times a day for 11,000 workers. The company also sent personnel
to Mississippi to provide security for workers and nursing teams from among
its medical staff to administer tetanus shots.
Through the use of two automated technology systems, Georgia Power was
able to help reduce work time in the field and keep crews updated with the
most current outage information.
Georgia Power is the largest subsidiary of Southern Company, one of the
nation's largest generators of electricity. The company is an investor-owned,
tax-paying utility, serving customers in 57,000 of the state's 59,000 square
miles. Georgia Power's rates are below the national average and its two
million customers are in all but six of Georgia's 159 counties.
SOURCE Georgia Power
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Related links:
http://www.georgiapower.com
Photo Notes:
NewsCom:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050216/CLW066LOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
CONTACT:
Lynn Wallace of Georgia Power,
+1-404-506-7676, or +1-800-282-1696, or corpcomm@georgiapower.com
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