Gulf Power Company’s project to reuse millions of gallons of reclaimed water at its generating plant in Escambia County was named the top project among the 2011 Industry Excellence Award winners from the Southeastern Electric Exchange.

The Southeastern Electric Exchange, a non-profit, non-political trade association of investor-owned electric utility companies, includes about 20 major utilities in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic from Texas to Maryland and Virginia.

Gulf Power was the winner in the Environmental Category, beating entries from larger utilities in the Southeast. The Chairman of the SEE Industry Excellence Awards then selected the Gulf Power project as the top overall project of the 11 winning categories. Although recognized by SEE in the past, it is the first time Gulf Power has won the Chairman’s Award.

“This award goes to our employees who have dedicated so much of their time and their know-how to complete this project,” said Sandy Sims, Gulf Power manager of Public Affairs. “It was an incredibly complex challenge that required teamwork and innovation, and ultimately this project — this partnership — benefits Northwest Florida with cleaner air and cleaner water.”

Gulf Power has partnered with Emerald Coast Utilities Authority to use reclaimed water from the new Central Water Reclamation Facility. The reclaimed water is being used at Plant Crist for cooling tower operations and for operating a scrubber system, which began operations in January 2010 to reduce overall regulated emissions by more than 90 percent.

Gulf Power teams integrated the reclaimed water system into the Plant Crist infrastructure, building additional on-site water treatment systems.

The SEE Industry Excellence Awards include entrants from large investor-owned utilities, including Florida’s largest utility, Florida Power & Light Co., which serves more than 4.5 million customers in Florida. Other utilities include Entergy, which serves customers in Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana, Duke Energy in North Carolina, Dominion in Virginia and Gulf Power’s larger Southern Company affiliates Alabama Power and Georgia Power.

It is the second major external award Gulf Power has received for the reclaimed water project. Gulf Power and ECUA’s partnership won the 2010 Sustainable Florida Best Practices award from the Collins Center for Public Policy.

The scrubber system is Gulf Power’s largest environmental project and is making a significant impact on overall emissions. Combined with the latest nitrogen oxide-control equipment, Gulf Power’s overall emissions have been reduced by 85 percent since 1992 despite a nearly 40-percent increase in electricity demand.

The scrubber is part of more than $1 billion in investments for environmental technology through 2012, when more nitrogen oxide control equipment comes online.

“We are already making an impact to provide cleaner electricity for Northwest Florida, but this partnership with ECUA also helps preserve cleaner water,” Sims said.

Gulf Power Company is an investor-owned electric utility with all of its common stock owned by Atlanta-based Southern Company. Gulf Power serves more than 430,000 customers in 10 counties throughout Northwest Florida. The company’s mission is to safely deliver affordable, reliable and environmentally responsible energy to very satisfied customers in strong communities. Visit our website at www.gulfpower.com.