The Utilities Board of Tuskegee (UBT) has received national recognition for achieving exceptional electric reliability in 2017. 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. UBT was presented a Certificate of Excellence in Reliability at the Alabama Municipal Electric Authority (AMA) Power Supply Conference President’s Awards Dinner on April 19 in Point Clear.

APPA helps members track outage and restoration data through its subscription- based Reliability Tracker service and then compares the data to national statistics tracked by the U.S. Energy Information Administration for all types of electric utilities.

AMEA, the wholesale power provider for UBT and 10 other public power utilities in Alabama, began providing each Member utility free access to this software application several years ago.

This recognition helps demonstrate public power’s commitment to reliable electric service, said Michael Hyland, Senior Vice President of Engineering Services, APPA.

Public power has a strong track record of reliability, said Hyland. Nationwide, the average public power customer has their lights out for less than half the time, com- pared to other types of utilities. AMA’s Member cities include Alexander City, Dothan, Fairhope, Foley (Riviera Utilities), LaFayette, Lanett, Luverne, Opelika, Piedmont, Sylacauga, and Tuskegee.