Clevest and FortisBC Win Stevie® Award for Energy Industry Innovation in the 2018 International Business Awards®

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 23, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Clevest Solutions Inc. and FortisBC Inc. were named the winners of a Bronze Stevie® Award in the Energy Industry Innovation of the Year category in The 15th Annual International Business Awards® today.

The International Business Awards are the world's premier business awards program. All individuals and organizations worldwide – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small – are eligible to submit nominations. The 2018 IBAs received entries from 74 nations and territories. Nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word for "crowned," the awards will be presented to winners at a gala awards banquet at the InterContinental London Park Lane Hotel in London, England on 20 October.

"We are pleased to be recognized for using technology in keeping our commitments to safety, the environment, and Indigenous relations," stated Tim Swanson, Director Information Systems for FortisBC. "Clevest's Mobile Workforce Management solution has been an important and successful addition to FortisBC, and sharing this award is acknowledgment of our successful collaboration."

Clevest's workforce automation technology is being used for the ongoing maintenance of FortisBC's meter network, and to efficiently dispatch crews for routine and emergency responses. The utility's technology choices are also reducing the environmental impact of traditional field operations by eliminating paper and paper-based processes, and reducing fuel consumption and vehicle emissions across their fleet.

FortisBC Inc. includes technology deployments in their Indigenous employment program through their Quality Assurance Analyst positions. These staff members maintain the data and quality of the utility's software solutions by writing and executing test scenarios to fully test issues, enhancements, applications and corresponding data to make sure the results are reliable, fully functional, and user-friendly.

"We appreciate sharing this award and supporting the business goals of FortisBC, a true leader in technology innovation in the energy industry," stated Thomas Ligocki, President and CEO for Clevest. "Our collaboration with them has been a great success, and we look forward to continuing to develop new technologies that further improve safety and efficiency, and help reduce the carbon footprint in the energy industry."

Using this technology, Clevest estimates that utility companies with 250,000 meters can expect to eliminate an average of 1.8M pages of paper per month, and to reduce fuel consumption by approximately 23% or 19,550 gallons/74,000 liters per month.

"We are very proud of Clevest on this achievement," added Michael Donnelly, partner at Energy Impact Partners (EIP), the world's largest energy investment fund. "We help energy infrastructure innovators that want to make a difference and have the ingenuity and tenacity to make it happen. This award validates our relationship with Clevest, and their global leadership in mobile workforce management for utilities."

"This year's Stevie Award winners in the IBAs are the most distinguished group of winners we've had yet," said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards. "We raised the minimum average score from the judges required to qualify as a Stevie winner, so 2018 winners should be especially proud of their achievements."

Details about The International Business Awards and the lists of Stevie Award winners are available at http://www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.

About FortisBC
FortisBC Inc. is a regulated utility focused on providing safe and reliable electricity at the lowest reasonable cost. FortisBC Inc. employs over 500 British Columbians and serves approximately 172,300 direct and indirect customers in B.C.'s South Interior. FortisBC Inc. owns and operates four regulated hydroelectric generating plants, as well as approximately 7,260 kilometres of transmission and distribution power lines. FortisBC Inc. is a subsidiary of Fortis Inc., a leader in the North American regulated electric and gas utility industry. Learn more about FortisBC at http://www.fortisinc.com.

About the Stevie® Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in seven programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards®, The International Business Awards®, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 10,000 nominations each year from organizations in more than 70 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com.

SOURCE Clevest