SAN DIEGO, Oct. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Last week, San
Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) was awarded the 2015
ReliabilityOne™ Award for Outstanding Reliability Performance among
utilities in the western states and Canada for the 10th straight year by PA
Consulting Group. ReliabilityOne™ Awards are given annually to
the utilities that have excelled in delivering the most reliable
electric service to their customers.
Maintaining reliability is the foundation of SDG&E's
day-to-day operations, which means continually working to
lower the number and duration of power outages our customers'
experience. "Reliability" means that electricity is available when
you need it, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, but
best in class reliability doesn't happen by accident.
In 1998, on average, a customer experienced about one
power outage a year with an average outage lasting an hour and a
half. Today, due to improvements and advancements in the
utility industry, a customer on average experiences about one power
outage every other year lasting only an
average of 60 minutes.
"This award is such a tremendous honor, and highlights the fact
that we are continuously improving to serve you better tomorrow
than we are today," said David L.
Geier, vice president of electric transmission & system
engineering for SDG&E. "Whether it's developing or leveraging
new innovative technologies, our goal is to reduce the number and
length of outages, so that when you flip your switch at home, the
lights will always turn on."
Some of SDG&E's most innovative reliability enhancements
include:
- Integrating many forms of renewable energy, including rooftop
solar. SDG&E is developing a dynamic, innovative and resilient
grid that can enable the sustainable growth of renewable energy and
other technologies as our customers chose to adopt them, and as
they become competitive, viable options. To date, SDG&E has
helped connect more than 68,000 solar rooftop systems, adding
nearly 70 per day. The company was the first utility in
California to generate 33 percent
of its electricity from renewable resources.
- Utilizing smart grid technology that provides real-time
information about outages and dispatches crews to the location to
quickly correct problems.
- By creating a more automated electric grid, SDG&E has been
able to reduce the number of customers impacted by power outages by
more than a third over the past decade. In many cases, the grid is
able to use real-time information to "heal" itself remotely or
sense problems before they occur.
- Testing Unmanned Aircraft Systems to patrol and inspect
electric facilities when outages occur. By leveraging this new
technology, SDG&E will be able to safely inspect power lines in
environments that are off-limits to helicopters or difficult to
access by road or other means.
- Since 2007, replaced approximately 5,700 wooden transmission
and distribution poles with steel poles in areas where wildfire
risk is highest.
"The ReliabilityOne™ Awards have helped bring recognition to
those utilities that have maintained the highest level of
reliability, brought outstanding innovation to their operations and
place the highest value on their customers," said Jeff Lewis, PA
Consulting Group's ReliabilityOne™ program director.
SDG&E was also recognized for Outstanding Response to a
Major Outage Event for its efforts during the May 2014 wildfires. By working closely with local
agencies to ensure utility crews and firefighters were mobilized
and prepared in advance, SDG&E was able to ultimately minimize
outage response times.
SDG&E is a regulated public utility that provides safe and
reliable energy service to 3.4 million consumers through 1.4
million electric meters and 868,000 natural gas meters in
San Diego and southern
Orange counties. The utility's
area spans 4,100 square miles. SDG&E is committed to creating
ways to help customers save energy and money every
day. SDG&E is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), a
Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in San
Diego. Connect with SDG&E's Customer Contact Center at
800-411-7343, on Twitter (@SDGE) and Facebook.
About PA Consulting Group
PA is an employee-owned firm of over 2,500 people, operating
globally from offices across North
America, Europe, the
Nordics, the Gulf and Asia
Pacific. Our specific expertise is in energy and utilities,
financial services, health, life sciences, consumer and
manufacturing, government, defense and security, transport and
logistics.
Our deep industry knowledge together with skills in management
consulting, technology and innovation allows us to challenge
conventional thinking and deliver exceptional results with lasting
impact. paconsulting.com
PA's ReliabilityOne™ awards are presented to electric utilities
providing their customers with the highest levels of reliability in
the industry. PA's ReliabilityOne™ study is based on standard
industry reliability statistics that measure the frequency and
duration of electric power outages and has been analyzing electric
utility performance since 1987. For more information about PA
Consulting Group, visit paconsulting.com/energy.
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SOURCE San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E)