We Energies named best in nation for keeping the lights on

MILWAUKEE, Nov. 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- We Energies has received the 2013 ReliabilityOne™ national award for superior reliability of its electric system.

The national award is based on the company's performance for the year 2012, and is given annually by PA Consulting Group to utilities that have excelled in delivering the most reliable electric service to their customers.

"We're honored to be named the most reliable utility in America. This national award is a testament to the skill and professionalism of our employees who dedicate themselves to outstanding customer care every day," said Gale Klappa, chairman, president and chief executive officer of We Energies.

All utilities operating electric delivery networks in North America are eligible for the ReliabilityOne Award. The selection is based primarily on statistics that measure the frequency and duration of customer outages. After initial recipients are identified, each potential winner undergoes an on-site certification -- an independent review of the processes and systems used to collect, analyze and report a company's reliability results.

At last night's ceremony in New York, We Energies also received – for the ninth time in the past 12 years -- the ReliabilityOne Award for outstanding electric reliability performance in the Midwest. There are five regional awards -- Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Plains and West.

We Energies has made significant investments in recent years to strengthen the reliability of its network by rebuilding hundreds of miles of distribution lines, and building and upgrading substations and other infrastructure. The company's forestry management also has been recognized for responsible tree trimming practices to keep branches from coming into contact with power lines.

"ReliabilityOne Award winners are characterized by their total commitment to service quality," said Jeff Lewis, PA Consulting Group's ReliabilityOne program director. "We Energies demonstrates its commitment to electric reliability every day from the senior leadership to the field crews and customer service representatives. To be the best in this industry, the entire organization must focus, align and motivate around reliability."

We Energies serves more than 1.1 million electric customers in Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula and 1.1 million natural gas customers in Wisconsin. We Energies is the trade name of Wisconsin Electric Power Company and Wisconsin Gas LLC, the principal utility subsidiaries of Wisconsin Energy Corporation (NYSE: WEC). Visit We Energies at we-energies.com and Wisconsin Energy at wisconsinenergy.com.

About PA Consulting Group
PA Consulting Group is a firm of more than 2,000 people, specializing in management and IT consulting, technology and innovation. Independent and employee-owned, they operate globally from offices across Europe and the Nordics, the United States, the Gulf and Asia Pacific. PA Consulting works with businesses and governments to anticipate, understand and meet the challenges they face. They have outstanding technology-development capability and a unique breadth of skills, from strategy to performance improvement, from HR to IT. PA Consulting's expertise covers energy, financial services, life sciences and healthcare, government and public services, defense and security, transport and logistics, telecommunications, consumer goods and automotive. PA Consulting Group has partnered with energy clients for over 25 years to help them understand the challenges they face and define and implement an effective strategic response. PA Consulting Group's 2012 ReliabilityOne study, based on standard industry reliability statistics that measure the frequency and duration of electric power outages, has been analyzing electric utility performance since 1987. For more information about PA Consulting Group, visit www.paconsulting.com/energy.

SOURCE We Energies