Over the past week Cleveland Public Power held events to illuminate the importance of public power and to extend appreciation to both its customers and staff with give-a-ways and informational activities.
To start the week off an evening Bike Ride through downtown Cleveland and the near west side was held in conjunction with Bike Cleveland. The ride served as a tour of the facilities powered by CPP and an opportunity to discuss renewable energy. Each year, CPP shares the little factoid, “600 riders, pedaling at a speed of 10 mph will generate enough power to light a home for nearly a month” with the hope of attracting a large contingent. It hasn’t reached the mark yet, but each year there is more participation.
Also on kick-off day, donuts and coffee were provided for all customers visiting the Carl B. Stokes building before taking it on the road to all of CPP’s service centers. As an added bonus this year, employees engaged in “CPP Bingo,” as a means to increase knowledge of the utility on all levels and enjoy some staff bonding.
Annually, the week concludes with the CPP Open House & Solar Sprint and this year was no exception. The only exception was the sun. For the first time in five years hosting the Solar Sprint, this was the first year the students relied on battery power to race their cars.
The weather did not pose a problem for the young people participating, and this year we fielded the most teams. As with the Bike Ride, momentum continues to follow this event with new participants yearly.
Public Power Week is an opportunity for publicly owned utilities to shine a light on the work they do supplying power to homes and businesses, but also in support of the community. CPP is one of more than 2,000 community