MUSCATINE, Iowa–As a municipal utility, Muscatine Power and Water has a particular interest in connecting with their customers, as they live and work in the same community as they do. In years past, Muscatine Power and Water has held Customer Appreciation Days to showcase their different services and improvement projects and to show customers a good time. June 18 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Muscatine Power and Water plans to revive this tradition by hosting a Customer Appreciation Day full of new events and chances for local residents to see everything Muscatine Power and Water does.
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Muscatine Power and Water’s electric utility, Customer Appreciation Day will feature several activities relating to electricity. When attendees of all ages arrive at Muscatine Power and Water’s administrative building at 3205 Cedar Street in Muscatine, they can watch live demonstrations of how employees respond to a power outage and how to escape from a car if powerlines fall on it. New this year, Muscatine Power and Water will do a full-sized demonstration using a real car.
Back by popular demand, people of all ages can take bucket truck rides. Additionally, kids can try out the climbing equipment line workers use and get excited about a possible career option. “We’re planning on being here for the next 100 years, so we need that next crop of young people to be interested,” remarked Muscatine Power and Water Marketing and Sales Manager Mitch Zytnowski.
For those curious about current and future energy production in Muscatine, Customer Appreciation Day attendees can take a bus trip over to Muscatine Power and Water’s current coal-fired powerplant and see their site for their future natural gas combined heat and power unit and for their solar array, which will sit on top of the Grandview Avenue Wellfield. While at the power plant, visitors can see actual parts from inside the plant, and learn from employees how they work. Kids may even get a chance to see some of the plant’s big trucks as well.
Back at the administrative building, guests can learn about the water and communications utilities as well. Attendees can also try their hand at fixing a watermain with a small scale simulation put together by the water utility. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the communications utility, which includes cable, internet, and landline phone service, aspiring newscasters can check out a kid-sized broadcast booth and report on one of the most monstrously big events in Muscatine’s history. Adults can have a great time too testing out the new customer communication app Muscatine Power and Water will roll out along with their new communication and billing system this December.
To complement all these fun events, everyone who comes out to Customer Appreciation Day can enjoy a free lunch and bounce houses and face painting for kids. Additionally, they may enter into drawings for a wide variety of prizes, including new electric appliances, a 65′ television, and even a kid-sized electric vehicle.
A day filled with fun and education for Muscatine Power and Water customers of all ages, organizers hope everyone will come out and give Customer Appreciation Day a try. “It’s a very family friendly event,” emphasized Muscatine Power and Water Director of Customer and Technology Experience Erika Cox.
