|
Long, long ago – in 1892 to be exact – a group of private i nvestors decided it was time to bring electric light to Tucson. They formed a company that has evolved into Tucson Electric Power Company (TEP), a leader in Tucson’s business community.
TEP is the principal subsidiary of UniSource Energy Corporation (NYSE: UNS), Tucson’s largest publicly traded company. More than a century after it began operations with a handful of street lamps in downtown Tucson, TEP now relies on more than 2,000 megawatts of generating capacity and 20,000 plus miles of power lines to serve customers in a southern Arizona service territory spanning 1,155 square miles.
UniSource Energy’s utility customer base has expanded by nearly 77 percent over the past five years thanks to healthy growth at TEP and the company’s 2003 acquisition of gas and electric systems now operated by UniSource Energy Services (UES).
“Through it all, we’ve remained focused on our ultimate mission: providing safe, reliable service and value to our customers,” said James S. Pignatelli, Chairman, President and CEO of UniSource Energy Corporation, in the company’s 2006 Annual Report. “Our commitment to customers is confirmed each day by the confidence they feel when they flip on a light switch or fire up a furnace on a cold winter night without having to wonder if their utility company is doing its job.”
UniSource Energy Corporation was recently recognized for its excellence in service to shareholders. The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) presented the company with its annual Index Award for 2006 for outstanding shareholder return over a five-year period. UniSource claimed the top spot in EEI’s small-cap category by providing a return of 172 percent from September 2001 through September 2006.
In addition to quality service, one of TEP’s core values is “working to improve the communities that we serve,” said Joe Salkowski, TEP spokesman.
 TEP's corporate volunteer program, the Community Action Team (CAT), is one of the nation's most organized and dedicated volunteer efforts. TEP employees, along with their friends and family, annually volunteer an average of more than 27,500 hours of their own time to benefit more than 350 Arizona nonprofit organizations.
In 2004, TEP was selected for the second time in 10 years by the Points of Light Foundation as a winner of the national “Awards for Excellence in Workplace Volunteer Programs.” TEP is the only company to have received the award twice.
TEP had about 1,260 employees as of March 2007, Salkowski reported, while more than 300 people were employed by sister company UES.
According to Salkowski, the growth of Tucson and all of Arizona will require the company to plan accordingly to meet the needs of a growing customer base in the years ahead.
“As we look to the future we will continue to strengthen our local distribution systems and ensure that we have adequate transmission capabilities,” said Salkowski. “As Tucson grows, our goal is to have facilities already in place to serve our customers.”
Learn more about TEP online at www.tep.com.
Photos courtesy Tucson Electric Power Company.
|