Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department will observe Public Power Week during the week of October 4th through October 10th

The Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department (WMGLD), one of more than 2,000 locally owned utilities in the country, will observe Public Power Week during the week of October 4th through October 10th. This year marks the 29th annual Public Power Week celebration sponsored by the American Public Power Association (APPA) to celebrate the benefits of hometown, community-owned electric utilities like the Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department. According to APPA, there are more than 2,000 community-owned electric utilities, serving over 44 million people or about 14 percent of the nation's electricity consumers. Some of the America’s largest cities, including Los Angeles, San Antonio, Seattle and Orlando, operate publicly owned electric utilities. What makes public power utilities unique is that they are operated by local governments to provide communities with reliable, responsive, not-for-profit electric service. Public power utilities are directly accountable to the people they serve through local elected or appointed officials. That means faster response time to outages and emergencies. “Wakefield is fortunate to have a community-owned electric system which provides safe, reliable power. WMGLD General Manager Pete Dion noted. “Public Power Week reminds our customers that we are a part of an American tradition that allows local residents to make important decisions about their public power services.” The WMGLD was established in 1894 and has a 121-year history of competitive rates, reliability and public service. Public Power Week is one way to celebrate the WMGLD’s long-standing service to Wakefield, according to the General Manager. As a public power utility, the WMGLD has been able to offer its customers programs and opportunities not available to customers of privately owned utilities, including the residential energy conservation program. This program helps WMGLD customers save money by making energy conserving changes in their homes, or by taking advantage of rebates on Energy Star-rated appliances. The residential conservation services program is only available to WMGLD customers. For additional information about the WMGLD, call (781) 246-6363, or visit the website at www.wmgld.com.