WASHINGTON (March 18, 2015) – The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) today presented Georgia Power with the association’s “Emergency Recovery Award” for its outstanding power restoration efforts following a severe ice storm in February 2014.

The award is presented annually to EEI member companies to recognize their extraordinary efforts to restore power to customers after service disruptions caused by severe weather conditions or natural events. The winners were chosen by a panel of judges following an international nomination process, and the awards were presented during EEI’s Spring CEO and Board of Directors meeting in Washington, D.C.

 On February 12, 2014 a major ice storm hit Northern Georgia, depositing large accumulations of ice in the Atlanta Metro and Central Savannah River areas. The storm interrupted service to 701,000 customers in Georgia Power’s service territory. A total of 8,000 personnel working for Georgia Power, as well as other assisting utilities from Alabama; Mississippi; Florida; Louisiana; Texas; Ohio and Tennessee, responded to help restore power to customers. Within 36 hours of the storm, power was restored to 70 percent of impacted customers, and full restoration was completed within four days.

 “Georgia Power’s exemplary efforts to restore service demonstrate the industry’s commitment to serving its customers,” said EEI President Tom Kuhn. “We commend the crews who braved dangerous, icy conditions in the wake of this severe winter storm, as they diligently worked to safely and quickly restore service.”

 “Receiving EEI’s Emergency Recovery Award is a tremendous honor made possible only by the commitment of the men and women who worked day and night to help customers throughout the state affected by this historic storm,” said Georgia Power chairman, president and CEO Paul Bowers. “Our success is due to their efforts to make sure every outage was restored as soon and safely as possible.”

 Additionally Bowers stated, “We recognize that any and every outage represents a Georgian in our community that needs our assistance. We take that responsibility seriously and work diligently to ensure that our customers receive exceptional service, especially when faced with a weather event of this magnitude.”

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 EEI is the association that represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies. Our members provide electricity for 220 million Americans, operate in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and directly employ more than 500,000 workers. EEI has 70 international electric companies as Affiliate Members, and 270 industry suppliers and related organizations as Associate Members.