Jan. 8, 2020

Xcel Energy has been honored by the Edison Electric Institute for its response to the tornadoes that hit Sioux Falls in September.

The association awarded its Emergency Recovery Award to Xcel for its work to restore power after several EF-2 tornadoes and a corresponding line of storms caused 26,800 outages in the utility’s service territory. Power was fully restored within two days following 16,000 man-hours.

“Restoring the power after a major storm is a challenging and complex situation,” said Steve Kolbeck, principal manager at Xcel Energy-South Dakota. “At the height of the restoration effort, we had nearly 500 people dealing with harsh conditions and extensive damage to get the lights back on in Sioux Falls. We want to thank EEI for recognizing our crews’ tremendous work and also thank our customers for their patience and support as we worked around-the-+clock to safely restore power.”

The association selects its winners using a panel of judges and awards utilities for extraordinary efforts to restore power following service disruptions.

“Xcel Energy’s work to restore service safely and quickly to customers, often in dangerous conditions, makes them deserving of this award,” said EEI president Tom Kuhn. “Their efforts exemplify the high standards our industry seeks to uphold, and I applaud their commitment to their customers.”