WASCO CO. — Northern Wasco County People's Utility District has received national recognition for achieving exceptional electric reliability in 2024, earning distinction as one of only three recipients in Oregon. The recognition comes from the American Public Power Association (APPA), a trade group that represents more than 2,000 not-for-profit, community-owned electric utilities.
APPA helps electric utilities track power outage and restoration data through its subscription-based eReliability Tracker service, and once per year, its Reliability Team compares this data to national statistics tracked by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The Certificate of Excellence in Reliability recognizes utilities with average SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index) in the top quartile based on EIA data from 2019-2023, meaning these utilities experienced the shortest outage durations.
"Our operations team takes great pride in maintaining our electrical system to the highest standards," said Jeff Teel, Chief Operating Officer of Northern Wasco County PUD. "This recognition reflects the dedication of our lineworkers, engineers, and field personnel who work tirelessly in all conditions to maintain our infrastructure and quickly restore power when outages occur. We're committed to continuing these operational best practices to ensure our customers experience minimal service disruptions."
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.
"Year after year, data consistently demonstrates 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."
Commented