Washington, D.C. (May 29, 2020) — The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) today announced the finalists for the 2020 Edison Award. Presented annually, the Edison Award recognizes electric companies for their distinguished leadership, innovation, and contribution to the advancement of the electric power industry.
In March, an independent panel of reviewers met to evaluate the nominations and selected Consumers Energy, Dominion Energy, NV Energy and PacifiCorp, Southern Company, and Xcel Energy as finalists for this year’s U.S. Edison Award. ATCO and Compagnie Ivoirienne d’Electricité were named finalists for the International Edison Award.
“EEI’s member companies are committed to delivering a cleaner, smarter, and stronger energy future for the customers and communities they serve,” said EEI President Tom Kuhn. “The projects and technologies deployed by each of the finalists provide terrific examples of the exceptional work being done across our industry, both in the U.S. and around the world. Each of the finalists is truly deserving of this outstanding recognition.”
The winners of the 92nd Edison Award will be selected by a panel of former electric company chief executives.
U.S. Edison Award Finalists
• Consumers Energy – Consumers Energy is deploying cutting-edge technology for energy grid modernization and developing innovative ways to deliver electricity to densely populated areas like Circuit West, a 13-block area on the West Side of Grand Rapids, Mich. Consumers Energy’s focus on increasing renewable energy and battery storage capabilities, combined with innovative solutions like energy waste reduction and demand response, is enabling Consumers Energy to meet its Clean Energy Plan and will benefit both current and future generations of Michiganders.
• Dominion Energy – Dominion Energy has built an in-house automated and extensible platform for transmission outage planning analysis called the ANalysis On DEmand (ANODE) Platform. ANODE increases analytic capabilities and improves the quality and speed of the analytic result, which enhances Dominion Energy’s capabilities to address reliability issues for project work.
• PacifiCorp and NV Energy – PacifiCorp and the California Independent System Operator launched the Western Energy Imbalance Market (EIM), the region’s first real-time market outside California, in November 2014. The partners were joined by NV Energy in 2015. At the start of 2019, current and planned EIM participants represented nearly half of the load in the Western Electric Coordinating Council (WECC). By the end of 2019, that percentage had grown to represent 80 percent of the WECC. The EIM has produced significant cost and environmental benefits to millions of customers across the West.
• Southern Company – Southern Company is providing important industry leadership and technical expertise for the testing, development, and deployment of a diverse portfolio of energy storage solutions. Energy storage systems (ESS) have the potential to add more renewable energy to the grid, improve resiliency and reliability, increase the implementation of distributed energy and microgrids, and provide greater operational flexibility for the energy grid, while creating more value for customers.
• Xcel Energy – Xcel Energy is implementing the nation’s largest multi-state wind energy expansion to provide customers with low-cost clean energy through its multi-year Steel for Fuel growth strategy. A key focus of the company’s clean energy transition, the Steel for Fuel program is helping Xcel Energy work towards its ambitious goal of reducing carbon emissions by 80 percent from 2005 levels by 2030 and serving customers with 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2050.
International Edison Award Finalists
• ATCO – ATCO is leading the way in developing state-of-the-art energy infrastructure in North America, and pioneering models for consultation and engagement, long-term relationships, and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. Alberta PowerLine (APL), a partnership between Canadian Utilities, an ATCO company, and Quanta Services, built the Fort McMurray 500-kV West Transmission Project in northern Alberta, Canada. Spanning 508 km (316 miles), the project is the longest 500-kV AC transmission line in the country.
• Compagnie Ivoirienne d’Electricité (CIE) – Compagnie Ivoirienne d’Electricité (CIE), the electric power company in Cote d'Ivoire, conducted an analysis of the country’s low rate of access to electricity, which in 2013 was 26 percent. As a result, CIE proposed to the government the “Electricity For All” Program [locally the “Electricité Pour Tous” (PEPT)], an innovative solution to address the principal barriers on the customer side and accelerate access to electricity for the most vulnerable population. Adopted by the government and launched in 2014, access to reliable electricity increased to 50 percent by the end of 2019 as a result of PEPT.