Minnesota Power receives emergency response award

Minnesota Power this week received the Edision Electric Institute’s (EEI) Emergency Response Award for its response during an historic winter storm in December of 2022. Presented to EEI member companies twice a year, the Emergency Response Awards recognize recovery and assistance efforts of electric companies following service disruptions caused by extreme weather or other natural events.

“This was the worst winter storm Minnesota Power has ever faced in terms of the number of outages and reports of wires down,” said ALLETE Chair, President and CEO Bethany Owen. “I’m so proud of the incredible work and dedication of our line workers and our support teams, who powered through difficult conditions to safely restore power to our customers and communities.” Minnesota Power enacted its emergency response plan Dec. 15, and the company stayed in close contact with emergency management teams from the affected counties and cities, so they had the information they needed to keep their communities and residents safe.

The winners were chosen by a panel of judges following an international nomination process, and the awards were presented during EEI’s summer Board of Directors and CEO meeting held in conjunction with EEI 2023. Minnesota Power and Superior Water, Light and Power have been recipients of the EEI Emergency Response Award for storm responses in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. Many of these awards were for responding to calls for mutual assistance from other utilities after hurricanes or other major natural disasters.