Educating our customers about energy conservation is a key step to achieve our goals.  Therefore we are sponsoring several educational programs that will help to teach this message. 

The first program is The National Theatre For Children.  Each year this traveling group gives a live performance at each of our three elementary schools.  The programs teach the importance of energy conservation and renewable forms of energy.  To learn more about this group, visit their web site at www.nationaltheatre.com.  

The second program is the National Energy Education Development (NEED) summer conference.  This conference gives teachers the opportunity to learn how to incorporate energy programs into their classrooms and extracurricular activities.  This annual conference is made available through the Iowa Energy Center.  To learn more about this educational conference, visit their web site at www.energy.iastate.edu.

The third program is the Building Operators Certification (BOC) program.  This is a nationally recognized training program for building operators and maintenance staff.  The program teaches maintenance techniques that will improve building energy efficiencies.  To learn more about this program, visit their web site at www.theboc.info.

 The fourth program is the Iowa Energy Poster Contest, which we sponsor annaully.  The contest is open to all Independence students in grades 1 through 6.  The goal of the contest is to teach students about renewable energy and energy efficiecny/conservation.  One winner from each grade will be chosen and awarded a $50 savings bond.  The winning posters will be forwarded on to the State Contest where they will have the opportunity to win a $100 savings bond.  More information about the contest is available at www.uni.edu/ceee/programs.

We also distribute two educational brochures to all our customers on a regular basis.  The Eco@home brochure is mailed to each customer six times per year.  It is chocked full of helpful tips to encourage energy efficiency.  The Local Circuit is another source of information that is used to educate our customers about energy efficiency and other important subjects.  The Local Circuit is mailed to our customers quarterly.