This year we celebrated Public Power Week a little bit different than in past years. Over 15 RPU employees and RPU board members worked at a Rochester Area Habitat for Humanity (RAHH) home site, putting in over 40 volunteer hours. This was the first year of a new annual tradition to partner with RAHH each year during Public Power Week.

RAHH is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to build simple, decent, affordable housing for people in the community who are economically challenged.  Funding for the agency comes primarily from local, individual, church, and business contributions, and through the United Way.

Public Power Week is a week for communities to celebrate the benefits of having a public power provider. As a public power provider, RPU is very active in helping the local community through organizations such as the RAHH.

Along with providing labor to help build the house, RPU has also made a commitment to provide energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL’s) to the RAHH for all homes built 2009. CFL’s use ¼ of the energy that a standard bulb uses and lasts up to 10 times longer.

For more information on Public Power Week visit the APPA web site at www.appanet.org or for more information on how you can volunteer with the RAHH visit www.rahh.org.

Originally Posted: Friday, May 23, 2008

May 23, 2008
CONTACT: Tony Benson
Communications Coordinator
507-280-1534
tbenson@rpu.org

ROCHESTER, MN— Rochester Public Utilities (RPU) announces a new recycling program for residential customers to recycle compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) for free at the Olmsted County Hazardous Waste Facility. CFLs are often spiral shaped bulbs that are designed to replace a standard incandescent light bulb. CFL recycling is necessary because of the small amount of mercury in each bulb.

RPU promotes the purchase and use of CFLs through the Conserve & Save Rebate Program, by offering a rebate of 50 percent of the cost of the bulbs to residential customers. CFLs use one third of the energy and last up to 10 times longer than standard incandescent light bulbs. In 2007, RPU gave rebates to customers on over 12,000 CFL bulbs. Olmsted County will bill RPU up to $5,000 for recycling and handling services for the CFL recycling program in 2008.

“Working with our customers to conserve energy is a top priority for us, and now with the addition of the CFL recycling program, we are able to increase efforts to work with our customers to save energy and to make the right decisions to help the environment,” said Larry Koshire, RPU General Manager.

The Olmsted County Hazardous Waste Facility is located at 305 Silver Creek Road NE, Rochester, MN 55906.

The RPU Service Center is not a drop off site for CFL recycling due to safety concerns.
Click for more information on CFLs or on the CFL recycling program.

About Rochester Public Utilities

As the municipal utility of Rochester, Minn., for more than 110 years, RPU provides high-quality and reliable electricity to over 45,000 customers. Water customers number more than 34,000. RPU continually investigates innovative technologies to help customers realize the best value from the services they receive. Current initiatives include fuel cell research, wind power, and photovoltaic offerings.