Duquesne Light Company

DLC recently hosted a networking event, bringing together key players from the utility sector alongside more than 40 utility contractors, including 30 diverse suppliers. Curated by Darcie Orr, senior manager of procurement excellence, the event bolstered collaboration and growth opportunities within Pittsburgh's business community with Utility Overview Sessions led by local industry leaders like Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania, Peoples Natural Gas, FirstEnergy, Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, and DLC. A highlight of the event was the roundtable networking session, facilitating direct interactions between diverse suppliers and utilities. Kendra Sakoian, DLC's chief procurement Officer, emphasized in her closing remarks our dedication to supporting local economic development through inclusive practices. This format allowed for meaningful connections and potential partnerships to blossom, reflecting our commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive business environment.  

As we celebrate Independence Day, let’s reflect on the power of freedom and diversity that defines our great nation.  From all of us at DLC, we wish you a safe and joyous Fourth of July! 

What makes a relationship with the community impactful? It's about the values we uphold and the actions we take to support, uplift, and empower those around us.  At DLC, our commitment to the community runs deep. In 2023, we contributed nearly $2 million to local nonprofits, with 86% allocated to diverse-led organizations. At the heart of our community efforts are our employees, who dedicated more than 4,300 volunteer hours last year alone.  These efforts aren't just individual initiatives. They're part of a collective approach — driving us closer to a clean energy future for all.  Learn more in our new ESG report: https://bit.ly/3V7qZMS 

Recently, our Office of General Counsel (OGC) team actively participated in their annual volunteer event at the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, exemplifying our strong commitment to community service.  21 dedicated volunteers enthusiastically tackled the task of sorting frozen meats and meticulously packaging them into 20-pound boxes. Their efforts were nothing short of remarkable, resulting in the completion of 500 boxes, totaling an impressive 10,000 pounds of essential food supplies for families in need throughout southwestern PA. We thank all the volunteers who participated and look forward to continuing the impactful work with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank in future initiatives! 

As Pride month comes to a close, we celebrate the progress made toward inclusivity, equity and respect at DLC and in our community. As we reflect on this month’s celebration, let’s continue to foster an environment where everyone feels respected and valued year-round. In June, DLC showed our support for the LGBTQ+ community as we marched together at the Pride Parade. Additionally, two of our own employees took center stage during the Pirates Pride game night where they had the honor of throwing the first pitch.  These events, coordinated by PRISM, our LGBTQ+ business employee resource group, were instrumental in deepening important relationships in our community and raising awareness and visibility of the lived experiences of our coworkers and customers. Let this serve as a reminder to celebrate our differences every day! Together, we can power progress both in our workplace and community. 

Our new Outage Management System marks a significant leap forward in our efforts to enhance customer service, communication and satisfaction. This system, which includes a new, interactive outage map now available on our website and mobile app, empowers our customers with real-time insights and more transparency during power outages. We understand the challenges you face when the power goes out, and we’re committed to making your experience with DLC as seamless as possible. We’ll continue to invest in new technologies and infrastructure to make service safer and more reliable now and going forward. When you’re out, we’re on. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3RIXvTs #DLC #OutageManagement #CustomerService #Reliability #Innovation

To our valued customers, More than 90,000 of you were directly impacted by the unexpected microburst that swept through our region last week. Coupled with the historic heat wave, this has been a challenging start to the summer season. Heavy winds knocked down trees and broke utility poles, causing more than 1,000 separate incidents with the most significant damage affecting customers in the north. Thank you for your patience and support as we worked around the clock to safely restore service to all. We know many of you lost power for several days in extreme heat. While this storm was out of our control, our limited communication with you about outage progress was not. We know that we can do better. We heard your feedback and want you to know we are committed to delivering a customer experience that provides timely and accurate communications to you in the moments it matters most. Our teams have been working diligently behind the scenes to bring you the best technology that will do just that. Unfortunately, this technology wasn't available during the last storm. However, we're ready to bring it to you this week. And you deserve it. With this update, you will have access to a new outage map that will provide consistent and accurate information regarding outages in your area, pinpointed by zip code, county, or community. You will also be able to view more precise estimated restoration times – the outage status will change as restoration efforts progress. We hope you will take advantage of a new personalized alert system, My Alerts, that provides options to receive updates about outages and restoration progress via text, phone call and/or email. To take advantage of this new service, it's crucial that we have your correct email address or cell phone number to reach you. You can log in to your account to make those updates: https://bit.ly/4cAU2hP. We know it is essential for DLC to provide exceptional service to all of our 600,000 customers in Allegheny and Beaver counties. Through ongoing investments we’ve made in our people, processes, and technology, we’ll be more prepared to respond when severe weather comes your way. We are confident that this modern technology will help us do that. Keep your plans because we are keeping our promise. Kristy Stone, Vice President and Chief Customer Officer Dan Farrah, Vice President and Chief Information Officer

We’re thrilled to announce that we are a Phase 1 SOLVE IT Prize winner by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)! We secured $80,000 to identify innovative clean energy solutions for the borough of Sharpsburg to support its clean, independent energy future. Are you a partner interested in collaborating on this project to assist Sharpsburg in their goal of being energy independent? Reach out to innovation@duqlight.com. Read more about the SOLVE IT competition here: https://bit.ly/4bhSmJ0

As National Safety Month concludes, we want to highlight our unwavering commitment to safety, especially in challenging times like the recent severe weather. Focusing on the communities we serve and our employees, safety is at the core of everything we do. When the storm struck, our dedicated crews did not hesitate to brave difficult conditions and restore power as swiftly and safely as possible. As we reflect on this experience, let's all remember the importance of safety in everything we do. Whether at work or at home, practicing safety measures ensures the well-being of ourselves and those around us. Let's continue to prioritize safety every day. 

It’s International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) today, and we’re honored to recognize our women engineers for the groundbreaking work they perform daily to keep the lights on in our region. The INWED 2024 theme for this year is “Enhanced by Engineering,” which aligns perfectly with DLH’s efforts to continuously strive for innovation on our journey to modernize the grid. As we celebrate INWED, DLH would like to thank all the women engineers in the organization for everything they are doing on behalf of our customers and for delivering a larger than light, clean energy future for all!