AUSTIN, Minn. (KTTC) – Austin Utilities has been recognized by the American Public Power Association (APPA) for its exceptional electric reliability in 2024.
APPA is a trade group that represents more than 2,000 not-for-profit, community-owned electric utilities and tracks power outage and restoration data.
Once per year, APPA’s Reliability Team compares that data to national statistics tracked by the U.S. Energy Information Administration for all types of electric utilities.
“Year after year, data consistently demonstrate public power utilities provide highly reliable service.” said APPA Director of Research and Development Paul Zummo. “The utilities recognized here are truly elite when it comes to keeping the lights on. Their communities should be proud of the hard work and dedication of their local power providers as they earn this truly deserved recognition.”
Nationwide, the average public power customer has their lights out for less than half the amount of time that customers of other types of utilities do, according to APPA.
“We are proud to receive this recognition. It is a testament to the hard work of all our staff to ensure that we keep Austin powered,” said Mark Nibaur, General Manager at Austin Utilities.
“Our system is constantly being improved by installing underground lines in areas that were previously overhead. Focusing on the lines trapped in the backyards where trees are difficult to trim and the lines that are hard to get to. Last year we put 65,000 feet of underground cable in, this commitment to upgrading to underground has made a big impact on reliability. We rebuild overhead lines to higher standards than before and our tree trimming program covers a quadrant of town annually. All of this results in reliability numbers that are above the industry average.” said Bill Bumgarner, Electric Distribution Supervisor at Austin Utilities
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