PHOENIX – Arizona Public Service Company (APS) and parent company Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (NYSE: PNW) have each been named finalists in the third annual American Business AwardsSM.
The APS Customer Service Operations team is one of 14 finalists in the Best Customer Service Team category, marking the third consecutive year that APS has been an American Business Awards finalist. Pinnaclewest.com was selected as one of 10 finalists, alongside several large, multi-national corporations, in the Corporate Web sites – Investor Relations category.
Hailed as “the business world’s own Oscars” by the New York Post (April 27, 2005), The American Business Awards are the first national, all-encompassing business awards program honoring great performances in the workplace.
Nicknamed the SteviesTM for the Greek word “crowned,” winners will be announced during presentations on Monday, June 6 in New York City.
“The Stevie Award has quickly become the most coveted business honor inـAmerica,” said Michael Gallagher, founder and president of The Stevie Awards. “Being selected as a finalist is an important achievement, because it means that independent judges have agreed that the finalist is worthy of national recognition.”
Members of the Awards' Board of Distinguished Judges & Advisors and their staffs will select Stevie winners from among the finalists. Finalists were chosen by business professionals nationwide during preliminary judging in February through April.
The APS Customer Service Operations team was named a finalist based on the team’s efforts last summer to avoid customer curtailments following a fire at one of the Valley’s large high-voltage substations. During the five weeks when transmission capabilities were most restricted, the team mobilized to communicate with customers and provide tips on what to do to reduce energy usage. The aps.com Web site experienced an additional 250,000 hits to its Energy Watch page and news releases, while the online e-Care team responded personally to more than 600 customers. During this period, more than 165,000 e-Newsletters were sent to registered aps.com customers and more than 300,000 pre-recorded outbound telephone calls were made to affected customers providing them information about the situation and asking for their assistance to reduce energy use during peak hours. As a result of customers’ efforts, not a single customer experienced an involuntary outage.
Pinnaclewest.com was designed with investors in mind to be a primary source of news and information about the company for a variety of audiences, and the site offers several benefits to visitors including clear navigation paths and consumer-focused terminology. The site allows visitors to manage their shareholder information, purchase shares, work with interactive charts and graphs and sign up for e-mail alerts when the site is updated. The Investors section of pinnaclewest.com contains abundant information that has been recognized as raising the bar on disclosure, going beyond compliance requirements.
APS, Arizona's largest and longest-serving electric utility, serves more than 989,500 customers in 11 of the state's 15 counties. APS, with headquarters in Phoenix, is the largest subsidiary of Pinnacle West Capital Corporation.
Pinnacle West is a Phoenix-based company with consolidated assets of approximately $10 billion. Through its subsidiaries, the company generates, sells and delivers electricity and sells energy-related products and services to retail and wholesale customers in the western United States. It also develops residential, commercial and industrial real estate projects.
Details about The American Business Awards and the list of finalists are available at www.stevieawards.com/aba.
Contacts
Media:
Sheri Foote, (602) 250-2363 or (602) 684-1332 (cell)