ITC Holdings Corp. Honored with EEI's 2018 Emergency Assistance Award for Puerto Rico Power Restoration Following Hurricane Maria

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Jun 05, 2018, 02:00 ET

WASHINGTON, June 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) today presented ITC Holdings Corp. (ITC) with the association's special 2018 Emergency Assistance Award for Puerto Rico Power Restoration for its contributions to the unprecedented emergency power restoration mission in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. The devastating Category 4 hurricane made landfall in Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, impacting all critical infrastructure, damaging at least 80 percent of the island's energy grid, and leaving all island residents without power.

Electric companies from the mainland that provided mutual assistance to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) faced incredibly challenging and complex restoration work because extensive portions of Puerto Rico's energy grid are in rugged, mountainous terrain that has little or no road access. Getting crews and equipment to Puerto Rico also was much more complicated and time-intensive than deploying mutual assistance in the mainland, and it required extensive coordination among responding companies.

Nearly 60 investor-owned electric companies and public power utilities committed crews, equipment, and/or materials to the emergency power restoration mission. Overall, approximately 3,000 industry lineworkers and support personnel were involved in the restoration effort on the island.

On May 22, PREPA announced that power had been restored to 99 percent of its customers across the island who can receive electricity. This is a significant milestone that was reached by PREPA and its restoration partners, including FEMA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its contractors, and industry mutual assistance crews. The resources, equipment, and people sent from the mainland, including ITC's Incident Command transmission systems leadership support greatly accelerated the restoration process.

Eighteen-year industry veteran and Puerto Rican native Pedro Melendez was called upon for his knowledge of the distribution and transmission system and he played a key leadership and coordination role at the Incident Command center where he was able to apply ITC's operational excellence model for restoration and recovery.

"The power restoration effort in Puerto Rico was a massive and unprecedented mission, and electric companies from across the country, including ITC, responded to the call for help," said EEI President Tom Kuhn. "The electric power industry pulled together with one goal in mind, to restore power to the people of Puerto Rico—it truly was one team, one mission. ITC is deserving of this recognition for providing tremendous support to PREPA and our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico."

"This recognition underscores not only ITC's focus on recovery support but on the need to collaborate across the industry to ensure we are focused on long-term grid reliability," adds ITC President and CEO Linda Apsey. "We are proud to have been part of EEI's efforts in Puerto Rico in addition to participating as part of the Fortis Inc. family of companies who led recovery efforts throughout the Caribbean with their subsidiaries who were impacted by the destruction."

EEI is the association that represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies. Our members provide electricity for 220 million Americans, and operate in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The electric power industry supports more than 7 million jobs in communities across the United States. In addition to our U.S. members, EEI has more than 60 international electric companies as International Members, and hundreds of industry suppliers and related organizations as Associate Members.

About ITC Holdings Corp.
ITC is the largest independent electricity transmission company in the United States. Based in Novi, Michigan, ITC invests in the electric transmission grid to improve reliability, expand access to markets, allow new generating resources to interconnect to its transmission systems and lower the overall cost of delivered energy. Through its regulated operating subsidiaries ITCTransmission, Michigan Electric Transmission Company, ITC Midwest and ITC Great Plains, ITC owns and operates high-voltage transmission infrastructure in Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma, and in development in Wisconsin. These systems serve a combined peak load exceeding 26,000 megawatts along approximately 15,800 circuit miles of transmission line, supported by 660 employees and nearly 1,000 contractors across our expanding footprint. ITC's grid development focus includes growth through regulated infrastructure investment as well as domestic and international expansion through merchant and other commercial development opportunities. For further information visit www.itc-holdings.com. ITC is a subsidiary of Fortis Inc., a leader in the North American regulated electric and gas utility industry. For further information visit www.fortisinc.com.