Continued investments in "smarter grid" result
in fewer power outages and quicker restoration times
ATLANTA, March 7,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Georgia Power continues to build
the future of energy by making valuable investments in Georgia's energy grid to make it stronger and
more resilient for customers. Over the past 10 years, the company
has invested more than $10 billion in
strengthening the power grid through programs and initiatives
approved by the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC). Georgia
Power continued this ongoing work on projects throughout
Georgia communities in 2023
resulting in a strong year for reliability performance.
"At Georgia Power, we understand the importance of reliability
for every customer and our teams share a commitment to work safely
around the clock, and across the state, to deliver the power that
our customers require," said Tami
Barron, senior vice president of Distribution for Georgia
Power. "As we continue to upgrade our state's power grid, we're
making purposeful investments using a data-driven approach, and
increasingly incorporating automated technology that helps our
electric system better respond not only during storms, but every
day."
Reliability is measured in two ways: frequency of service
interruptions, or "System Average Interruption Frequency Index"
(SAIFI), and duration of service interruption, or "System Average
Interruption Duration Index" (SAIDI). Last year, Georgia Power's
SAIFI score was among the best in the company's history, with
customers experiencing an average of 15% fewer power outages than
the previous year. Additionally, when customers did experience
power outages, restoration times were approximately 27 minutes
faster than the previous year. This duration measurement, or SAIDI
value, was one of the best performances in recent years.
High service reliability in 2023 was driven, in large part, by
the continued installation of smart, automated devices throughout
the power grid. Last year alone, crews installed more than 1,000
automated devices across the state, which can be controlled
remotely. This technology allows Georgia Power's operations team to
reroute power and segment a power line, which isolates issues and
results in fewer customers affected by an outage, and faster
restoration for others. Georgia Power is also deploying smart
devices and other technology to enhance its self-healing network
designed to respond to power outages automatically – saving
valuable time and quickly getting the lights back on for customers.
More than 60% of the company's distribution grid can now be
considered "self-healing," helping avoid thousands of power outages
each year.
In addition to installing smart technology, Georgia Power's
ongoing investments in the grid in recent years include: upgrading
or rebuilding transmission lines and dozens of substations across
Georgia for safe and reliable
power delivery to homes and businesses; relocation of hundreds of
miles of power lines underground, where it made the most impact;
and improvement or installation of tens of thousands of power
poles. All this infrastructure works together to improve
reliability through a stronger and more resilient power grid and
helped deliver last year's high reliability.
"Georgia benefits from an
integrated transmission system that includes nearly 20,000 miles of
high-voltage power lines used by all of this state's power
companies to deliver energy from power generation sources to
customers," said Fran Forehand,
senior vice president of Transmission for Georgia Power. "As our
state continues to grow, we're investing in this system to help
keep reliability high for every Georgian year-round."
Working in concert with the transmission and distribution
network is Georgia Power's diverse mix of generation resources,
which also plays an essential role in providing reliable electric
service to customers. In 2023, the company's generation fleet
helped keep reliability high with experienced teams at hydro,
natural gas, nuclear and coal-fired generation plants managing
plant operations and maintenance activities at a level of
excellence well above industry standards. Non-nuclear generation
assets measure reliability with plant outage rate or "equivalent
forced outage rate" (EFOR). Last year, Georgia Power's EFOR score
was among the best in company history and among the best in the
industry, with an outage rate of 1.49%. Georgia Power also
continues to add renewable energy and battery energy storage to its
generation mix, with reliability at the center of its planning
process, and the company's existing solar generation performing
strongly as well in 2023.
"When extreme heat or cold, like we saw with Winter Storm Heather, drives increased demand
for electricity, our Generation teams are at work 24/7 in
Georgia's power plants," said
Rick Anderson, senior vice president
and production officer for Georgia Power. "We're proud of the
performance of our fleet last year and thank our team for their
continued focus on reliability, as well as affordability by keeping
production costs as low as possible for customers."
Georgia Power continues to invest in a stronger and more
resilient power grid through its successful multi-year Grid
Investment Program, which has already resulted in an up to 50%
improvement in reliability for some customers. As this work
progresses, the company aims to deliver even more reliable energy
for customers in the coming years. To learn more about the
company's commitment to ensuring customers have the energy they
need, when they need it the most, visit www.GeorgiaPower.com.
Media can download b-roll of Georgia Power crews working on
the power grid by clicking here.
About Georgia Power
Georgia Power is the largest
electric subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), America's
premier energy company. Value, Reliability, Customer Service and
Stewardship are the cornerstones of the company's promise to 2.7
million customers in all but four of Georgia's 159 counties. Committed to
delivering clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy, Georgia
Power maintains a diverse, innovative generation mix that includes
nuclear, coal and natural gas, as well as renewables such as solar,
hydroelectric and wind. Georgia Power focuses on delivering
world-class service to its customers every day and the company is
recognized by J.D. Power as an industry leader in customer
satisfaction. For more information, visit
www.GeorgiaPower.com and connect with the company on Facebook
(Facebook.com/GeorgiaPower), X (Twitter.com/GeorgiaPower) and
Instagram (Instagram.com/ga_power).
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SOURCE Georgia Power