GP&L Improves Reliability for Customers
City reaps rewards for system rebuilding and repair
Garland, Texas, February 18, 2002 - Garland Power & Light continues to improve the reliability of the electrical power it supplies to Garland homes and businesses, registering gains for the second year when measured against standards established by the Public Utility Commission of Texas.
Thanks to the GP&L's investment in future reliability, its customers - residential, small business and industrial - enjoy extremely reliable electric power on par with the most reliable utilities in the state.
For 2001, GP&L recorded a 4 percent improvement in the PUCT's System Average Interruption Duration Index - or SAIDI. SAIDI is a measure of the response or restoration time when electric power outages occur. The index is computed by dividing the total number of customer power interruption minutes by the number of customers served.
GP&L has adopted the strict formula for defining power outages and calculating SAIDI data even though the utility is exempt from these PUCT-mandated reporting requirements. "Adhering to these industry standards allows GP&L to accurately measure its performance and fulfill our commitment of providing competitive or superior service than that offered by investor owned companies in the deregulated retail electrical power market," says Jim Harder, GP&L executive director.
The reliability increase is the result of a major, multi-year effort to rebuild the community-owned utility's transmission and distribution infrastructure, which cost GP&L $22.6 million in 2001 and is still underway.
Key elements of the rebuild in 2001 include completion of the new Walnut Substation, costing nearly $2.5 million alone, rebuilding 17 miles of transmission line, and replacing key equipment such as electrical breakers at all GP&L substations.
Other parts of the distribution system rebuilt, upgraded or replaced include
- Rebuilt distribution feeder lines into substations
- Replacing underground cable buried since the 1960s, as well as overhead lines
- Upgraded switching relays Rebuilding overhead lateral lines
- A year round program to trim trees that interfere with overhead power lines.
As in the past, GP&L looks forward to a strong future where providing consistent and reliable power to its customers is a key component of its success.
