Jackson Energy Authority Receives National Award for Reliable and Safe Electric Operations

Press Release: May 18, 2006

Jackson Energy Authority electric employees soon will be wearing a new patch on their shirtsleeves: an award that recognizes JEA for providing customers with reliable and safe electric service.

The American Public Power Association gave the Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) recognition to 64 of the nation’s 2,000 public power utilities. JEA was one of only seven municipal systems to get a perfect score on the judging criteria and receive the highest award.

“The RP3 program recognizes utilities that are focused on providing efficient, safe and reliable electric power to their customers,” said Jim Ferrell, JEA’s manager of operations.

“This award validates what we are doing here at JEA,” said Tommy Nanney, senior vice president of the Electric Division. “Only seven systems received a perfect score. That means a lot to us, especially because this award comes from our peers.”

To win the RP3 award, a utility was given points in four key areas: safety, reliability, training and system improvement, Ferrell explained. Criteria within each category were based on sound business practices and represented a utility-wide commitment to safe and reliable delivery of electricity. Several initiatives by JEA, such as the construction of the disaster-proof underground control center and keeping heart defibrillators on crew trucks, helped to set JEA apart from other utilities, Ferrell said.

“Receiving an RP3 designation demonstrates a utility’s commitment to its employees, its customers, and its community,” said John Humphries, general manager of Princeton, Ky., Electric Plant Board and chair of APPA’s RP3 Review Panel.

Besides the shirt patches, JEA also will put magnetic RP3 decals on its Electric Distribution vehicles.

Located in Washington, D.C., the American Public Power Association represents more than 2,000 not-for-profit, community-owned and state-owned electric utilities. This is the first year it has given the RP3 recognition.