 is celebrating Public Power Week October 3-9, along with more than 2,000 other community-powered, not-for-profit electric utilities that collectively provide electricity to 49 million Americans.){kind=link}
Denton Municipal Electric (DME) is celebrating Public Power Week October 3-9, along with more than 2,000 other community-powered, not-for-profit electric utilities that collectively provide electricity to 49 million Americans.
Public Power Week is an annual national observance coordinated by the American Public Power Association, the voice of not-for-profit, community-owned utilities. The Association represents public power before the federal government to protect the interests of the more than 49 million people that public power utilities serve and the 93,000 people they employ. It advocates and advises on electricity policy, technology, trends, training, and operations.
Its members strengthen their communities by providing superior service, engaging citizens, and instilling pride in community-owned power.
“The people behind public power take pride in serving our friends and neighbors with one of our most essential needs. And this year, we especially celebrate the employees of DME—the people behind public power. These folks work tirelessly to keep our community up and running 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In addition to the line workers, emergency trouble workers, and field operations folks you see on the road every day, there are many other employees at work behind the scenes. These include departments such as human resources, administration, accounting and finance, public relations, field supervision, dispatch, engineering, and operations. They pull together with a common goal: keeping Denton powered,” said Denton Municipal Electric, General Manager, Antonio Puente.
The City of Denton has placed a high value on community-owned services, and DME is proud to have served Denton for 116 years. Today, DME has 169 employees, one natural gas power plant, 19 substations, 35 miles of transmission lines, 522 miles of underground distribution lines, 359 miles of overhead distribution lines, and eight charging stations to continue to serve Denton residents. Furthermore, 100 percent of the energy provided to customers annually is offset by power purchase agreements established with wind and solar farms (renewable energy) in West and North Texas.
DME also provides:
Denton residents and customers with a direct say in utility operations and policies;
Homes, businesses, schools, social services, and local government agencies with reliable, efficient, and sustainable electricity;
Consumer protections and sound business practices designed to ensure the best possible service at not-for-profit rates;
Education on energy efficiency, environmental protection, and safety awareness;
Stewardship of the community’s electric and information infrastructure;
Incentives for energy efficiency and economic development; and
A helping hand to communities who have experienced natural disasters.
As a not-for-profit public power utility, our loyalty is to our customers – not stockholders. We take pride in our governance structure, with an (elected/appointed) policy board comprising local members with open meetings. DME encourages Denton residents to engage and learn about their community-owned utility by:
Physically or virtually attending a Public Utility Board (PUB) meeting. PUB meetings are held on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month at 9 a.m. at City Hall and are accessible online through the City’s website. For those attending in person, safety measures such as limits on building occupancy or requirements for face coverings are in place.
Visiting DME’s webpage at www.dmepower.com and following DME on Twitter at @dmepower to learn about outages, energy conservation, energy safety tips, rebates, programs, and weather alerts.
Emailing your questions, comments, or concerns to DME at dme@cityofdenton.com
Contacting your City Council member
DME is a renewable energy leader in the nation and is committed to providing high-quality, reliable, cost-effective, and energy efficiency services to its 56,395 customers in the greater Denton area.
We thank you for your support of public power—an American tradition that works.
To learn more about the American Public Power Association and Public Power Week, visit www.publicpower.org.