Chambersburg Electric Utility Honored for Safety and Reliability Achievements

The Chambersburg Electric Utility has been recognized by American Municipal Power, Inc. (AMP) with multiple prestigious awards for its commitment to safety and operational excellence. The utility received a Diamond level Excellence in Safety Award, a Platinum level designation as a Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3), and a Certificate of Excellence in Reliability. These accolades were presented during the American Public Power Association’s (APPA) annual Engineering & Operations Conference, held from March 29 to April 1 in Huntsville, Alabama. These recognitions highlight the utility’s dedication to safeguarding its workforce and providing consistent, dependable power to the residents of Chambersburg.

The Diamond level Safety Award was presented in recognition of the Chambersburg Electric Utility demonstrating exemplary safety practices, achieving the lowest safety incident rate within its worker-hour category. This category, Group D, encompasses utilities with 60,000 to 109,999 worker-hours of exposure. According to APPA, the Safety Award of Excellence is a significant achievement, with only 240 out of more than 2,000 municipal electric utilities nationwide earning this distinction. Entrants are evaluated based on their incident-free records and the overall strength of their safety programs and culture throughout 2025. The incidence rate, a key metric for judging, is calculated using work-related injuries or illnesses in proportion to worker-hours, as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

In addition to its safety achievements, the Chambersburg Electric Utility’s commitment to reliability and operational efficiency has earned it a Platinum Level RP3 designation. This RP3 designation, valid for three years, signifies a utility’s proficiency across four critical areas: reliability, safety, workforce development, and system improvement. Achieving this recognition requires adherence to sound business practices and a comprehensive commitment to delivering electricity safely and reliably to the community. The Platinum Level is awarded to utilities that meet between 90% and 97% of the RP3 program’s rigorous criteria. Nationally, only 118 of the over 2,000 public power utilities were granted the RP3 designation this year.

Furthermore, the utility’s dedication to consistent service has been acknowledged with a Certificate of Excellence in Reliability. This award is granted to utilities that ranked within the top 25% nationally for reliability performance in 2025, as measured against data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). APPA facilitates the tracking of outage and restoration data for public power systems through its PowerTRX Reliability service, enabling comparisons with national statistics compiled by the EIA. AMP covers the subscription costs for this crucial service for all its member utilities.

The recognitions underscore the Chambersburg Electric Utility’s ongoing efforts to maintain a high standard of service for its customers, ensuring both the safety of its employees and the uninterrupted delivery of power.

Article by Mel Anara, based upon information from the Borough of Chambersburg

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