The first week of October, Public Power Week, is a special time at Clark Public Utilities.
It’s a time when utility employees and those at other customer-owned, nonprofit utilities including public utility districts, municipal utilities and electric cooperatives across America reflect on the value of being a public power utility and the many benefits public power provides.
Public power is community power. It’s energy service delivered by your friends and neighbors, to benefit local life and the local economy. Being not-for-profit, locally owned and controlled by customers is the key difference between “public” and “private” or “investor-owned” utilities.
Public utility companies prioritize reliability and safety, affordability and cost control, and providing excellent customer service — not profits for shareholders. That’s why public power customers enjoy consistently responsive and compassionate customer service, lower electricity rates and better reliability than those served by investor-owned utilities.
Across America, about 2,000 public utilities serve nearly 50 million people in cities across 49 states. No matter where they operate, public utilities across the nation are committed to the people, businesses and institutions they serve.
Clark Public Utilities is owned by you, the customer. You elect the three commissioners that run your utility, formally known as Public Utility District No. 1 of Clark County. That’s how it’s been since 1938 when the P.U.D. was created by a vote of the people, to the jubilation of the local farmers who spent years working with Clark County’s local Grange to see the issue put on the ballot.
While much has changed since Aug. 21, 1942, the day the electric utility began serving its first customer, the Air Reduction Company, some things have not — namely the commitment to delivering at-cost energy, reliably, responsibly and affordably.
Currently, Clark Public Utilities employs just over 400 members of your community and serves about 225,000 electrical customers and 37,000 water customers, and the commitment and dedication to each customer remains the same today as it did on day one.
Utility employees do jobs ranging from skilled trades such as line workers, to finance, information technology, and customer service, and many functions operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week to keep the lights on.
Clark Public Utilities prides itself on being a community partner with customer interests at the heart of every decision.
When customers face financial challenges, public utilities are there to help with financial assistance programs and energy efficiency incentives to reduce energy waste and lower costs year-round. They help local businesses of all sizes get the service and support needed to thrive and are committed to meeting current needs while planning for the future.
At Clark Public Utilities, this commitment to customers translates to some of the shortest outage durations and lowest average interruptions of any utility in the nation. According to the American Public Power Association, the national average for outage duration in 2018 was 329 minutes and statewide it was 259 minutes. For local customers, outages lasted just 35 minutes on average, and outages occur locally about a fourth as often as they do nationwide.
Energy Adviser is produced by Clark Public Utilities and relies on the expertise of utility energy counselors and staff, who provide conservation and energy use information. To contact us call 360-992-3355, email ecod@clarkpud.com or visit www.clarkpublicutilities.com.
