EDMONTON, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - Oct. 8, 2013) - ATCO Electric's Historical and Archaeological Resource Protection Plan has received its second award of recognition for its preservation of historical resources in the construction of the Hanna Region Transmission Development (HRTD) project. The Alberta Professional Planners Institute (APPI) presented ATCO Electric and Lifeways of Canada Limited, who worked collaboratively on the project, with the APPI 2013 Award of Planning Merit for Special Studies at the Institute's annual conference in Jasper.

"We're very honoured to receive this award that recognizes the importance we place on the preservation of historical resources during the construction of our projects," said Sett Policicchio, President, ATCO Electric Transmission Division. "With this plan, we teach our staff and contractors to identify historical resources and to take steps to preserve these sites to help protect Alberta's heritage."

During the construction of the HRTD project, ATCO Electric partnered with Lifeways of Canada Limited, a leading archaeological consulting firm, to develop and implement the plan. This led to the identification of 145 new historical sites in the Hanna project area. These finds included stone tools, historic farm sites, old building foundations, relics of ceremonial sites, campsites, bison kill sites, marine fossils and paleontological features. Prior to this program, only five historical resource sites were on provincial record for the entire area.

The APPI awards acknowledge meritorious plans and projects undertaken by members of the Institute that significantly contribute to the livability of communities in Alberta, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

ATCO Electric received its first award for the Historical and Archaeological Resource Protection Plan in April 2013, when the company was presented with the 2013 Richard G. Forbis award by the Archaeological Society of Alberta-Calgary Centre in recognition of its significant contributions to raising awareness of historical resource issues through public consultation and its efforts to educate personnel and the public about the importance of First Nation and Pioneer era sites.

ATCO Electric provides safe, reliable delivery of electricity to nearly 216,000 customers in 245 communities across Alberta and is part of the ATCO Group of Companies. ATCO Group, with more than 9,400 employees and assets of approximately $15 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.

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