Longmont Power & Communications has received its seventh straight Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) award from the American Public Power Association. LPC achieved the Diamond RP3 designation, the highest possible RP3 rating.

The award, announced today, recognizes public utilities that excel in reliability, safety, workforce development and system improvements. LPC has earned either a Diamond or a Platinum designation (the second-highest rating) since 2006, when it became the first utility in Colorado to receive RP3 recognition.

“This award reflects the high standards of our community, which expects the best of us every day as we provide the ‘Power For Life’ that their homes and businesses depend on,” LPC executive director David Hornbacher said. “We’re grateful for the recognition, and even more for the continued support of the customers we’ve served for over 100 years.”

The honor comes just a few weeks after LPC received national recognition for its reliability, with Longmont electric customers enjoying fewer and shorter outages than the vast majority of U.S. utilities. A typical Longmont electric customer can go about 22 months without seeing an outage, and those who did experience one typically saw the power come back on in about 45 minutes.

This year, the APPA announced 57 Diamond RP3 ratings, including LPC’s. The designation lasts for three years.

“Receiving an RP3 designation is a great honor and demonstrates a utility’s commitment to implementing industry best practices in utility operations,” said Aaron Haderle, the chair of the APPA’s review panel. “RP3 utilities are consistently looking to improve their workforce, system reliability and safety to serve their communities better.”

The American Public Power Association represents more than 2,000 not-for-profit community-owned electric utilities that power 49 million people nationwide.