TO THE EDITOR:

For those of you who do not already know it, I am the general manager at North Branch Water & Light. I have been here for about 18 months now. I encourage anyone with questions about the Water & Light to call me so I can try to answer them for you.

The main reason I am writing this is to let our customers know that we will be participating in the nationwide celebration of Public Power Week from October 7 to October 13. Public Power Week is always the first full week of October. This year marks the 27th anniversary of the observance. Public Power is provided in the state of Minnesota by more than 100 municipal utilities.

In recognition of that observance, North Branch Water & Light will be giving each of our electrical customers who stop in the office five (5) FREE CFL light bulbs. Some of you have already gotten your bulbs when you paid your bill. There are no rebate forms for these bulbs. No paper work at all. Just a smile and the bulbs for you to take home and use. You can use the rebate forms we have available for bulbs you wish to use beyond the original five from us. Several of the local stores are participating in the plan.

You probably already know that CFL bulbs use only about 25 percent of the electricity that a regular incandescent bulb uses, so we hope you use these bulbs to help keep your light bill lower, and that helps us keep our costs for power down, too. And we all know that less power usage will keep the electric generation from emitting more gases to the atmosphere.

If you have any questions, or are experiencing any problems with your water or electric service, give me a call and we will get it resolved. For those of you not in town, or west of the interstate, remember to call the good folks at East Central Energy for your electrical needs.

Help us help you, and we'll get more power to you. Enjoy your lights, and look at the rebates available on Christmas LED lighting.

Russell Good
General Manager
North Branch
Water & Light
North Branch
(651) 674-7100