COLUMBUS: American Municipal Power, Inc. (AMP) is celebrating Public Power Week Oct. 5-11, 2014, along with more than 2,000 other community-owned, not-for-profit electric utilities that collectively provide electricity to 47 million Americans.
Public Power Week is an annual national event coordinated by the American Public Power Association (APPA) in Washington, D.C.
This year marks Public Power Week’s 28th anniversary as a nationwide program to celebrate the importance of public power to local citizens and other key publics, including state and national officials.
AMP and its 129 members in seven states take pride in public power.
“Public Power Week celebrates the benefits of locally-owned electric utility systems, which provide highly reliable and affordable electric service to communities and their residents,” said AMP President/CEO Marc Gerken. “AMP provides a wide range of services on a cooperative, nonprofit basis for the mutual benefit of all member communities. This includes providing a diverse power supply portfolio of traditional and renewable energy resources as well as technical support and training.”
Gerken pointed out AMP’s efforts on behalf of its members. In recent years, AMP has undertaken strategic generation asset development efforts with new natural gas, hydropower, solar and coal resources in the region. On average, these projects will reduce AMP’s members’ energy market exposure to about 36 percent of their portfolio and will result in a portfolio that is 21 percent renewable in 2015.
Public power is a leader in the deployment of new and renewable generation. AMP’s four hydroelectric projects under construction on the Ohio River will add more than 300 MW to the region and represents the largest deployment of new run-of-the river hydro in the nation.
Public power customers have a special relationship with their utility as they are consumers and owners with a voice in utility policies. This local control can greatly improve a community’s quality of life by providing adequate and reliable electricity at reasonable cost, service shaped to meet local needs, advantages for economic development, and a special commitment to wise energy use.
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