Power for Progress: Telling the Public Power story

Celebrating Public Power
Public power is community power! The Grand River Dam Authority is proud to join with its Oklahoma public power partners, the American Public Power Association (APPA) and 2,000 other public power systems across the nation to celebrate benefits provided by customer-owned, not-for-profit electric utilities.

Power for Progress…

A weekly column from the Grand River Dam Authority

Telling the Public Power story

When municipalities from across the state of Oklahoma came together last week for a conference in Oklahoma City, the Grand River Dam Authority was there to join them.

It was the Oklahoma Municipal League (OML) Annual Conference, a gathering of Oklahoma city and town officials and others who play an active role in helping support and govern the many communities, large and small in Oklahoma. Joining with the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority (OMPA) and the Oklahoma Municipal Alliance, GRDA was there to help tell the story of “Oklahoma public power” and the key role it plays in many of these communities.

Today, one of out every ten communities in the state is a public power community. That means the local electric distribution system is owned and operated locally, by the municipality. It also means that local resources are matched to meet local needs. Meanwhile, other benefits of public power utilities include competitive rates, high reliability, customer responsiveness, local economic development and, of course, a strong focus on the local community.

All these benefits are recognized and celebrated during the first full week of October each year. That is the week recognized as National Public Power Week each year and it is another opportunity for GRDA to join with its Oklahoma public power partners, the American Public Power Association (APPA) and 2,000 other public power systems across the nation to celebrate benefits provided by these not-for-profit utilities that exist to serve the needs of their hometowns.

Of course, the bottom line is often the dollars. And even then, the benefits of public power are strong. In fact, the 15 Oklahoma public power utilities that purchase their wholesale electricity from GRDA, then resell it to end-users across their respective communities, combine to return $35 million to their city general funds on an annual basis. All of that is done at no cost to taxpayers. Those are real dollars that can then be used to support other city services, like police and fire protection, streets, and park maintenance.

In many different ways, public power serves to enhance the quality of life in Oklahoma hometowns.

GRDA is Oklahoma’s largest public power electric utility; fully funded by revenues from electric and water sales instead of taxes. Each day, GRDA strives to be an “Oklahoma agency of excellence” by focusing on the 5 E’s: electricity, economic development, environmental stewardship, employees, and efficiency.