The Kansas City Board of Public Utilities (BPU) is celebrating Public Power Week, Oct. 7-13, along with more than 2,000 other electric utilities that collectively provide electricity on a not-for-profit basis to 46 million Americans.
“Public Power Week is a chance for BPU to articulate why public power works in Wyandotte County. For more than 100 years, we have been providing reliable, dependable electric service to the community,” said Don Gray, General Manager of BPU.
Public Power Week is a national, annual event sponsored in conjunction with the American Public Power Association (APPA) in Washington, D.C. APPA is the service organization for community- and state-owned electric utilities.
As background, BPU is one of about 2,000 public utilities across the country that has been created as a community-owned, not-for-profit enterprise.
They are operated by local governments as a public service, with the mission of providing electricity in a reliable manner, at a reasonable cost, and with proper protection of the environment.
This formula provides for several advantages, including local control by an elected board, open and transparent meeting and decision-processes, and employees that live and work in their local community.
“BPU continually works on initiatives to better our community, protect the environment, and ensure dependable service. From hosting energy savings workshops, leading the local United Way campaign, or being the first public utility in Kansas to meet the state’s renewable energy requirements with 16% of its energy from hydro, wind, or landfill gas, BPU continually gives back and works to protect the community that we are fortunate enough to serve,” stated Gray.
One of the top public utilities in the nation, BPU was a recipient of the prestigious 2011 Reliable Public Power Provider Award (RP3) – one of only 82 utilities across the country to receive this honor.
