Public Power Week 2013
SAMPLE LETTER TO PUBLIC OFFICIALS
This is a draft letter to your members in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate
to be signed by your mayor/policy board chair/all members of the policy board. Messages
are: 1) your community has a public power system (and possibly community broadband
services) that serves its citizens well; and 2) your representative can help the community by
supporting public power goals. You can adapt this letter for your state officials or other
local policymakers by adding specific information about your own situation. Your joint
action agency or state association may also be coordinating a letter to your U.S. Senators.
You can fax or email correspondence to your Member of Congress. Remember that regular
mail takes a long time to get to a congressional office. Mail delivered to your congressional
representative’s district office actually reaches them quicker.
Dear Rep. (Name)/Senator (Name):
On behalf of (community name), I want to share with you our plans for a very important
event we are celebrating on behalf of our (number) citizens – Public Power Week, Oct. 612. Public Power Week is an annual national celebration that recognizes the economic,
social and environmental contributions of our hometown electric utility, one of 67
members of the Missouri Public Utility Alliance and more than 2,000 municipal systems
across the nation that collectively serve 47 million Americans. Public Power Week also
honors the democratic tradition of community decision-making and participation that led
to the founding of (utility name) in (date).
As a not-for-profit enterprise owned and operated by the community, (utility name) is
proud of the hometown service we provide to our customers in (community name). We
have a tradition and track record of low rates, reliability, and public service that sustain
our community charter.
As part of this celebration we want to ask you to ensure that the energy (and broadband)
decisions you make in Washington, D.C., will help (community name’s) citizens and
enable us to continue to have local control over the best way to provide for infrastructure
services.
As a member of the American Public Power Association (APPA), we advocate public
policy that will ensure (community name’s) future prosperity and increase energy
independence and security, protect the environment, and find long-term solutions to make
energy more efficient:
 We support comprehensive legislation to address climate change, but urge
Congress to insure that the Environmental Protection Agency creates regulations
with timelines and targets that support a reliable and affordable energy supply to
balance the economic impact on consumers, the economy and the environment;
 We support electricity industry policy initiatives that promote effective wholesale
competition for the benefit of consumers, businesses and the economy;
 In the area of cybersecurity, we seek balanced legislation that recognizes that the
utility industry is the only sector already subject to mandatory cybersecurity
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Public Power Week 2013

standards. We support the Cyber Information Sharing and Protection Act, which
encourages increased voluntary information sharing among critical infrastructure
assets; and
The preservation of tax-exempt financing is also a priority, and we advocate for
reasonable legislation regarding public power’s access to tax-exempt financing,
including House Resolution 112, sponsored by Reps. Lee Terry, R-Neb., and
Richard Neale, D-Mass., which supports tax-exempt financing.
This year, our Public Power Week celebration includes (list activities and issue invitation
if appropriate to take part in any public ceremonies).
I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have about our electric utility and
the impact various federal initiatives may have on the cost and reliability of electricity
(and broadband) services. In addition, our door is always open, and we would be
honored to host you or your staff for a tour of our facilities this fall so that we may talk
more about the infrastructure of our community and how public power is a tradition that
works and benefits consumers, business, our community and the nation.
We are very aware of the important role you play in the continued viability of our
community and public power system. Thank you for your past and future support of
(utility name).
Sincerely,
(Mayor/policy board chair/entire policy board)
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