SALT LAKE CITY – Reading, writing and math all are basics of elementary and middle school educational programs. Rocky Mountain Power wants to ensure that students also have an opportunity to learn about the life-saving subject of electrical safety and how to avoid potential dangers.

Annually since 1996, Rocky Mountain Power has reinforced its commitment to electrical safety education by offering a specialized curriculum to hundreds of schools across its three-state service area. The curriculum includes information on how electricity works and how to live, work and play safely around it. Grade-specific booklets, videos and an interactive CD-ROM are part of the educational package. For the 2007-08 academic year, Rocky Mountain Power is offering electrical safety materials to schools in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho for use in fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms.

Last school year, 53 percent of the schools in Rocky Mountain Power’s service area responded to the company’s offer, with more than 2,122 teachers requesting free materials for 63,982 students.

"While parents have the primary responsibility for teaching their children about potential health and safety risks, both inside and outside the home, schools and teachers can provide valuable lessons to their students by utilizing the free electrical safety information we offer," said Mike Felice, Rocky Mountain Power’s safety director. "It’s important to teach children that even momentary contact with power lines and other electrical equipment can be deadly. Working together, we can help children understand how to avoid potential electrical hazards."

To enhance classroom learning, Rocky Mountain Power also provides electrical safety presentations using demonstration boards that feature energized models of power lines, a house and other common facilities. These presentations show why birds can perch safely on wires; how far people need to stay away from power lines to avoid injury; the dangers of flying kites around power lines; how ladders can be hazards in home improvement projects; and other examples of how to be safe around electricity. Last year, 256 safety presentations were given to students in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho schools, reaching 13,178 students.

After the presentations, the students are deputized as honorary public safety deputies and are given badge stickers, certificates and safety checklists to take home. The goal is to encourage students to share their newfound electrical safety knowledge with their families, friends and neighbors, going over their safety checklists and reinforcing the electrical safety messages they learned in class.

Electrical safety curriculum with grade-specific activities, safety tips and an interactive safety quiz is available online at  www.rockymountainpower.net/safety. Educators interested in obtaining free safety materials or scheduling a safety presentation for their classroom should call toll free at 800-375-7085.

Media inquiries: 1-800-775-7950 or newsdesk@pacificorp.com