San Francisco, CA – Safety is the top priority for America’s natural gas utilities. The American Gas Association (AGA) represents more than 200 local energy utility companies that deliver natural gas to 177 million Americans nationwide and works everyday to promote a culture of safety amongst its members and their employees. AGA is recognizing 18 natural gas utility companies for achieving outstanding records for employee safety in 2011.
“America’s natural gas delivery system is the safest, most reliable energy delivery system in the nation. This is due to the hard work and dedication of the employees of our local natural gas utilities. I want to commend all of our award recipients and thank these companies for being safety leaders in our industry,” said Dave McCurdy, president and CEO of AGA.
AGA’s annual Operations Conference is taking place today in San Francisco, CA with more than 800 attendees and 100 presentations on issues ranging from employee safety programs to advances in pipeline construction to regulatory compliance for pipeline safety. With attendance growing exponentially each year, the conference is the premiere meeting place to exchange industry practices and information on natural gas operations. Former Mayor of San Francisco Willie Brown will speak at the opening session in addition to President and COO, Utilities, Integrys Energy Group and AGA Chairman Larry Borgard and Executive Vice President of Gas Operations for PG&E Nick Stavropoulos.
The Safety Achievement Awards were given to member companies that experienced the lowest “DART” incident rate — a mathematical calculation that describes the number of recordable injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time employees that resulted in days away from work or restricted work activity.
The Safety Achievement Award recipients are:
Fort Pierce Utilities Authority (Fort Pierce, FL)
Dominion Hope (Clarksburg, WV)
Entergy Gas Distribution (New Orleans, LA)
Duke Energy (Cincinnati, OH)
SourceGas (Lakewood, CO)
Dominion East Ohio (Cleveland, OH) and
COMGÁS (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Enbridge Gas Distribution (North York, Ontario)
Cheyenne Light, Fuel & Power (Cheyenne, WY)
Vectren Corporation (Evansville, IN)
Consumers Energy (Jackson, MI)
Midwestern Gas Transmission and Guardian Pipeline (Tulsa, OK)
National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation (Williamsville, NY)
Panhandle Energy (Houston, TX)
The following AGA member companies earned Safety Achievement Awards by experiencing the lowest motor vehicle accident rate for companies of their type:
Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (Dover, DE)
City of Holyoke Gas & Electric (Holyoke, MA)
ONEOK Gas Transportation (Tulsa, OK)
Berkshire Gas (Pittsfield, MA)