Lehighton's Light & Power Department takes great pride in the fact that it's a public power community.

Visitors who ventured out to the borough's Light & Power Department building on Wednesday were able to get a firsthand account of that as the borough celebrated Public Power Week with an open house.Refreshments and promotional items were provided to guests as members of the borough's Light & Power Department and Public Works Department took time to show them around and answer any questions they had.Lonny Armbruster, superintendent of the Light & Power Department, said the department wanted to promote the open house, and extended it to the Public Works Department."Public power is a huge entity," Armbruster said.Kris Kunkle, superintendent of the Public Works Department, proudly displayed some of the department's new equipment, including a snowblower.Kunkle said the snowblower helps get rid of the snow in a much more efficient manner.Employees, residents, the water authority, borough council members and UGI were among those who attended the open house.Borough Manager Nicole Beckett said the open house was a way to give back to the community."We wanted to be able to display our equipment, and be able to meet our staff," Beckett said. "We're very excited to be one of the only municipalities to do that."Public Power Week is a national event that celebrates the importance of public power. This year it is from Oct. 2 through Saturday.The borough is one of 35 communities in the state that distributes electricity to its community.Locally, it's one of two municipalities in Carbon County that actually has public power, with Weatherly being the other.Lehighton has owned and operated a municipal electric system since 1943.