The APPA said Hamilton in 2021 had 0.77 outages that lasted a total of 68 minutes for all power customers. The national average of 1.11 outages lasted more than an hour longer at 138 minutes.
“Our customers experienced significantly less total outages that lasted for a shorter amount of time on average, especially when compared to other electric utilities of a similar size,” said Bill Hudson, director of Utility Operations. “The fact that our customers had power 99.99% of the time last year is a testament to the work our crews do on a daily basis to keep the lights on in our community.”
Credit: Greg Lynch
Credit: Greg Lynch
The APPA’s Reliability Team annually compares data to national statistics tracked by the U.S. Energy Information Administration for all electric utilities. While the citywide power outage average was 68 minutes, an individual Hamilton resident experienced power outages that averaged 52 minutes.
Comparable utilities nationwide the size of Hamilton’s utility were almost three times higher, averaging 153 minutes.
Statistics show the average public power customer nationwide experienced far shorter power outages than customers of other types of utilities, according to the APPA.
“Once again, public power utilities have demonstrated their commitment to providing highly reliable power to their customers,” said Alex Hofmann, APPA vice president of Technical and Operations Services.
Hamilton received the Certificate of Excellence in Reliability last year and received APPA’s RP3 Diamond Level designation in 2020. The RP3, or Reliable Public Power Provider, designation is awarded to public power utilities “that demonstrate high proficiency in reliability, safety, workforce development, and system improvement,” and is awarded every three years, according to the organization.
Hamilton Executive Director of Infrastructure Edwin Porter said the recognition “is a testament to the hard work of all our staff to ensure that we keep Hamilton powered.”
“This recognition is not something that is earned overnight,” he said. “It takes years of commitment to excellence in maintenance, engineering design, capital investment, operations, technical expertise, and responsiveness. The Hamilton community expects, and has supported the city’s ability to provide this exceptional level of service.”
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