TULSA, Okla., Jan. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- PennWell Corp. -- Electric Light & Power magazine has named Canada's largest electricity producer and the world's largest hydroelectric power producer, Hydro-Quebec, as the magazine's 2010 Utility of the Year.
Electric Light & Power Editor in Chief Teresa Hansen will present the award to Hydro-Quebec during an awards dinner Sunday, Jan. 30 at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego. The dinner is part of the second annual Electric Light & Power Executive Conference targeting executives in the electric utilities industry.
"My editorial team and I evaluated all North American electric utilities," Hansen said. "Hydro-Quebec topped them all when we factored in environmental responsibility, happy customers, transmission technology, low rates and profits."
Thierry Vandal, Hydro-Quebec's CEO, said that the utility generates a full 98 percent output from hydropower.
"Hydro-Quebec has been providing reliable, cost-effective power to a number of U.S. markets for decades now, as well as for Quebecers, our primary customers," Vandal said. "By producing and exporting this clean, renewable energy, Hydro-Quebec helps to limit greenhouse gas emissions across northeastern North America."
In 2009, Hydro-Quebec posted a record income from continuing operations of more than CA$3 billion ($2.9 billion). The Canadian state-owned utility with some 23,000 employees generates 98 percent of its electricity from hydropower. Its generating fleet includes 60 hydroelectric, one nuclear and 27 thermal generating stations, plus a wind farm for an installed capacity of 36,810 MW. Hydro-Quebec TransEnergie operates the most extensive transmission system in North America, with more than 20,656 miles of lines at different voltages and 515 substations.
In addition to accepting the Utility of the Year award in the name of Hydro-Quebec, Senior Director of Strategic Planning Pierre-Luc Desgagne will present on the Electric Vehicle Update panel with speakers from General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co., the Electric Power Research Institute and the Schneider Electric Demand Response Resource Center. Other sessions are Customer Outreach, State of the Economy, Data Privacy, Regulator Snapshot, Energy Storage Overview and Raising Capital.
The Electric Light & Power Executive Conference provides executives access to exceptional and otherwise inaccessible speakers, as well as first-class, enjoyable networking opportunities. Attendees also are encouraged to rub elbows with the keynote speakers, FOX News business and financial journalist Stuart Varney and F-16 pilot and founder of the Folds of Honor Foundation and Patriot Golf Day Maj. Dan Rooney.
Visit http://elpconference.com for more details.
For more information about the Electric Light & Power Executive Conference, please call Associate Editor Kristen Wright at 918-640-6781 or e-mail [email protected].
SOURCE PennWell Corp.
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