WE'RE READY!

ALAMEDA, Calif., December 1, 2004— Early last month, the first real winds and rains of the winter season blew into the Bay area. Because we were prepared, the Alameda Power & Telecom electric system came through with virtually no damage.

"Three factors help Alameda Power & Telecom weather winter storms," says Operations Manager, Dean Batchelor. "First, we have an aggressive tree trimming and facilities maintenance program. We take action during good weather to make sure systems stay on during the bad weather.

"Second, we build to excellent construction standards. While our initial installation costs might be slightly higher because of quality materials and craftsmanship, those costs have been saved many times over in reduced maintenance and outage costs.

"Third, about half our distribution system already is underground."

Alameda Power & Telecom service is among the most reliable in the nation and well above the national average. Alamedans experience fewer outages, and these outages are shorter, in comparison with surrounding utilities.

Over the past 12 months, the vast majority of Alameda Power & Telecom customers had electric service 100% of the time. Still, some customers experienced outages ranging from only a few minutes up to several hours.

The standard measure of an electric outage is the "customer-minute." It is calculated by taking the number of customers affected by an outage and multiplying that number by the length, in minutes, of the outage. Using this standard, developed by the California Public Utilities Commission, the Alameda Power & Telecom had 614,620 customer-minutes of outages over the past 12 months. The available number of customer-hours, however, totaled well over 16.2 billion minutes. Your power was on for over 99.99% of the time! We're proud that you can count on us!

We try for a perfect record; however, some situations develop which are difficult to control. Some non-preventable circumstances are equipment failure, including underground cables and contamination; system difficulties and operational problems; vehicles colliding into utility poles; and animals, trees, and foreign objects (such as metallic balloons).

You can help us maintain our record of reliability and help ensure the safety of your neighbors and the community by lending your eyes and ears to Alameda Power & Telecom. Reporting a minor problem first, before it can become a major safety or reliability problem helps us greatly. During normal working hours (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.), please call us on 748-3901. After business hours or during emergencies, you can reach our Dispatch Center directly by dialing 748-3902. Malfunctioning traffic signals should be reported to the Alameda Police Department on 748-4508. Other important "Clip and Keep" contact telephone numbers regularly appear in each edition of The FLASH, or can be found on the Customer Service page.

Thank you for helping us do our job!