We Energies named best in Midwest for keeping the lights on

MILWAUKEE, Nov. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- For the eighth time in the past 11 years, We Energies has won the ReliabilityOne award in the Midwest for the superior reliability of its electric system.

The award is based on the company's performance for the year 2011, and is given annually by PA Consulting Group to utilities that have excelled in delivering the most reliable electric service to their customers.

"Receiving the ReliabilityOne award eight times in the past 11 years is a great recognition 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. There are five regional awards -- Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Plains and West. The selection is based primarily on reliability statistics that measure the frequency and duration of customer outages. After provisional 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.

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 has also been recognized for responsible tree trimming practices to keep branches from coming into contact with power lines.

"ReliabilityOne award winners represent the very best our industry has to offer in terms of service quality," said Jeff Lewis, PA Consulting Group's ReliabilityOne program director. "We Energies has once again demonstrated its unwavering commitment to customers by achieving the highest levels of reliability."

We Energies serves more than 1.1 million electric customers in Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula and more than 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 the We Energies website at we-energies.com. Learn more about Wisconsin Energy Corporation by visiting 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, we 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. We 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