ATCO Electric Receives National Award of Excellence

Award recognizes robust business continuity program


EDMONTON, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - July 4, 2012) - ATCO Electric has received an Award of Excellence for its business continuity management program, including its capability for effective response, recovery and restoration of critical business functions during a major disaster, accident or power disruption such as the Slave Lake Wildfires in 2011. The award was announced June 26 by the Disaster Recovery Institute (DRI) CANADA at the World Conference of Disaster Management.

"I am so proud of the people of ATCO and their commitment to maintain safe, reliable service in the communities we have the privilege to serve," said Nancy Southern, President & Chief Executive Officer, ATCO Group. "It is a great honour and a greatly appreciated recognition to receive this award."

DRI CANADA's Award of Excellence recognizes organizations that achieve a high level of excellence in the field of business continuity management. To qualify for the award, ATCO Electric had to demonstrate significant accomplishment in three professional areas - continuity management, technology recovery and crisis management. In Slave Lake, each of those areas was put to the test during restoration of critical electricity and natural gas services damaged by fire.

"As part of our commitment to service excellence, an effective business continuity management program is critical to safeguarding the interests of shareowners, customers, employees, brand and reputation," said Bobbi Lambright, President, Operations Division, ATCO Electric. "ATCO's integrated approach proved extremely effective in our coordinated response during the Slave Lake wildfires in 2011."

DRI Canada is a national non-profit organization providing education and certification to business continuity professionals.

ATCO Electric provides safe, reliable delivery of electricity to nearly 213,000 customers in 245 communities across Alberta and is part of the ATCO Group of Companies. ATCO Group, with more than 8,800 employees and assets of approximately $13 billion, delivers service excellence and innovative business solutions worldwide with leading companies engaged in structures & logistics (manufacturing, logistics and noise abatement), utilities (pipelines, natural gas and electricity transmission and distribution), energy (power generation, natural gas gathering, processing, storage and liquids extraction) and technologies (business systems solutions). More information can be found at www.atco.com.

Forward-Looking Information:

Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "plan", "expect", "may", "will", "intend", "should", and similar expressions. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. The Corporation believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements should not be unduly relied upon. The Corporation's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of regulatory decisions, competitive factors in the industries in which the Corporation operates, prevailing economic conditions, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Corporation. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release represent the Corporations' expectations as of the date hereof, and are subject to change after such date. The Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable securities regulations.

Contact Information:

ATCO Electric
Corporate Communications
780-288-7621 (24 hours)