Coldwater Board of Public Utilities: A commitment to community anchored in good neighbor activities

CBPU Video

Community Focused for 135 Years

For the past 135 years, the Coldwater Board of Public Utilities (CBPU) has worked to provide the essential utility services that drive its community forward. While reliable utility services have been at the heart of its mission, the CBPU views its role within Coldwater as something much deeper than utility services alone.

“CBPU believes that it is very important to be engaged in the community and giving back to the community,” said Paul Jakubczak, Utility Director of the CBPU and member of the AMP Board of Trustees. “We feel that being a vibrant community is going to benefit, not only the community as a whole, but also the CBPU as a utility. That is why community service and engagement is at the heart of everything we do.”

That commitment to the Coldwater community was recognized in 2025 when the CBPU received the AMP Public Power Promotion Award, and again in June 2026, when the CBPU received the American Public Power Association’s (APPA) Sue Kelly Community Service Award. These awards recognize utilities for activities that promote public power and demonstrate commitment to the local community.

For Jakubczak, those recognitions were most meaningful because they reflect years of effort and dedication aimed at strengthening the community.

“We were very excited to learn that we earned the Sue Kelly Community Service Award,” Jakubczak said. “Being recognized for a lot of the activities that we do is a great thing. It means that we are on the right path. But we don’t do this for awards; we do this because it is the right thing to do for our community.”

That philosophy drives nearly every decision that the CBPU makes, and it is the reason the utility undertakes so many community engagement efforts. Whether sponsoring local events, supporting youth programs, partnering with local nonprofit organizations or volunteering throughout the year, the CBPU views every action as an investment in the future of Coldwater.

In 2025 alone, the CBPU organized a school supply drive after learning that one in four local students lacked essential classroom supplies; partnered with local schools to provide lessons on utility services through its Monster Detective Collective initiative; helped to install a StoryWalk and lighting improvements at a community park and playground; supported youth development through local fundraising and sponsorships; and much more. In addition, CBPU provided more than $28,000 in sponsorships to 26 organizations; employees volunteered more than 456 hours of service and personally donated almost $10,000 along with contributions such as toys and school supplies to local groups.

All of that work is evidence of the deep commitment and connection that the CBPU and its employees hold for their local community.

 “We have employees who coach softball, baseball and football,” Jakubczak said. “We have employees who are heavily involved at the high school. They are all dedicated to their community. For the CBPU, our efforts to give back recognize the importance of the community that we serve, as well as the employees that make it all possible.”

The utility’s commitment to service reflects a key principle of public power: that local utilities are accountable to the communities they serve.

The AMP and APPA awards may recognize a single year of achievements, but the CBPU’s community focus has been 135 years in the making.

Watch the video above to learn more about the CBPU’s community engagement efforts.

About the Campaign

Throughout 2026, AMP plans to feature AMP Members and the benefits of public power by spotlighting the relationship between municipal electric utilities and their communities through the Public Power Is Community Focused multimedia campaign. The campaign will produce a series of videos, stories, social media posts and graphics aimed at raising awareness of the value and impact of public power. The campaign will highlight community benefits, such as reliability, local control and reinvestment by showing real stories of how public power supports education, businesses and community groups.