EEI Announces Finalists for the Edison Award, Electric Industry's Most Prestigious Honor

Washington, DC () - In recognition of electricity industry innovation and leadership, the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) has named four companies as finalists for the industry’s highest honor, the Edison Award. 

Arizona Public Service and Public Service Enterprise Group were named finalists for the domestic Edison Award, and Iberdrola, S.A. and North Delhi Power Limited were named finalists for the international Edison Award.

Given annually by EEI, the prestigious award honors U.S. and international electric utilities for outstanding contributions to and advancement of the industry. A committee of national industry trade publication editors selects the finalists, and a panel of past and current EEI chairmen selects the ultimate winners.

The winners of this year's award, the 81st, will be announced June 16 at EEI's annual convention and expo, in Toronto.

Announcing the finalists, EEI President Tom Kuhn said, “These companies have demonstrated leadership by addressing some of the critical issues our industry faces, including system reliability, workforce development, asset management and industry innovation in general. Their efforts reflect the dedication to serving customers and spirit of innovation that embody our industry.”

Following are brief descriptions of each finalist’s effort:

Arizona Public Service (APS) developed a state-of-the-art tool for real-time monitoring of transformers serving the company’s distribution and transmission systems. The on-line transformer oil analysis system has enabled the company to more effectively determine the condition and operation of its transformers, thereby improving system reliability and workloads through preventive maintenance. The monitoring system doubled the accuracy of existing transformer analysis methods while eliminating the time-consuming process of reviewing and categorizing repetitive data samples.

To help meet the challenge of a shortage of skilled workers and an aging workforce, Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) created the Energy Utility Technology Degree Program. The program, designed to develop a continuous pipeline of diverse talent for employment in entry-level, technical trade positions at the company, combines classroom instruction at community colleges in the company’s service territory with technical, apprentice-level training at PSEG’s Edison Training and Developmental Center. The program has been so successful that it has expanded to include curricula in fossil fuel generation, and plans are under way to add training for careers in the nuclear generating industry as well as emerging “green” electric utility careers. Other utilities also have begun replicating the PSEG-developed efforts.

Iberdrola, S.A. developed and implemented its Research and Development Management System to oversee all of the company’s research and development resources and projects. Designed to generate constant improvements in process efficiency and to identify and apply resources to evolving external needs and markets, the system in turn promoted a culture of innovation within the company while strengthening Iberdrola’s commitment to sustainable development. The system in 2007 alone enabled systematic and uniform criteria to be applied to more than 140 R&D activities in an efficient and global manner.

North Delhi Power Limited (NDPL) innovatively utilized and integrated its Geographical Information System with other applications for managing operational, commercial and asset management activities for the company’s distribution utility. One million consumers and 4,000 kilometers of network assets, along with technical attributes, were geospatially identified and uploaded to the system. The GIS was integrated with NDPL’s Customer Relation Management system and Billing Applications to aid in recovery of outstanding customer bills and expedite requests for new electricity connections. The application also was integrated with the company’s Enterprise Resource Package Application to enable preparation of capital investment schemes to enhance the distribution network. The GIS initiatives have improved NDPL’s Consumer Satisfaction Index and overall system reliability, and have produced significant reductions in aggregated technical and commercial losses.

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The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) is the association of U.S. shareholder-owned electric companies. Our members serve 95 percent of the ultimate customers in the shareholder-owned segment of the industry, and represent approximately 70 percent of the U.S. electric power industry. We also have more than 65 International electric companies as Affiliate members, and more than 170 industry suppliers and related organizations as Associate members.