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For Immediate Release: January 13, 2012
Contact: Rob Thormeyer, 202-898-9382, rthormeyer@naruc.org

NARUC Rebrands 'Anybody Can Serve' Campaign with Habitat Partnership

WASHINGTON—The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners is establishing a partnership with a Habitat for Humanity branch as part of its Anybody Can Serve, So Let’s Conserve campaign. Through this partnership, NARUC is making a financial donation and asking its members to volunteer for Habitat projects throughout the country.

The partnership stems from the Association’s 2008 policy resolution which declared each Martin Luther King, Jr., Holiday as a Day of Utility Service. The resolution encourages NARUC members and the general public to align Martin Luther King’s spirit of service with improving the efficiencies of people’s homes, thereby improving the environment and teaching consumers how to save money on utility bills.

In past years, the Anybody Can Serve campaign has sponsored national competitions for energy conservation and enlisted artists, musicians, and others to spread the word about weatherization, weatherstripping, and other energy efficiency measures.

This year, Anybody Can Serve, So Let’s Conserve Chair Robert Kenney of Missouri is taking the program back to its roots: Public Service. On behalf of the Association, Chair Kenney will be making a $5,000 contribution to Habitat for Humanity St. Louis. He is also encouraging NARUC’s public service commission members to volunteer at various Habitat projects around the country and share their expertise on energy issues.

“Dr. King once said, ‘Everybody can be great, because anybody can serve’,” Chair Kenney said. “There are few groups of people who know more about energy conservation than NARUC members. With this program, we can take our expertise from our hearing rooms into the homes of those who will benefit the most. I know our members will respond to this call, and I thank them for their hard work and support.”

“On behalf of NARUC, I thank Commissioner Kenney for spearheading this positive initiative,” said NARUC President David Wright of South Carolina. “As State commissioners and staff, we have a wealth of knowledge and resources to reduce home energy usage. And as public servants, we have a responsibility to share our knowledge. Commissioner Kenney is doing us all a great service through his leadership of this campaign.”

Under the effort, Commissioner Kenney is asking NARUC members to participate in Habitat programs throughout the year. His own commission—the Missouri Public Service Commission—will take the lead, volunteering with St. Louis branch.
 

NARUC is a non-profit organization founded in 1889 whose members include the governmental agencies that are engaged in the regulation of utilities and carriers in the fifty States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. NARUC's member agencies regulate telecommunications, energy, and water utilities. NARUC represents the interests of State public utility commissions before the three branches of the Federal government.