Dodgingtown Fire Company Partners With Power Utility

The Dodgingtown Volunteer Fire Company has mailed letters to Dodgingtown Fire District residents, introducing the company’s partnership with Community Power & Utility in a program that will raise funds for the fire company, according to Chief Mark White.

The Dodgingtown Volunteer Fire Company has been providing fire and rescue services in Newtown since 1909. The company currently consists of 50 active firefighters and maintains three fire trucks and a command unit at its firehouse at 55 Dodgingtown Road.

Community Power & Utility, LLC is an electric supplier, licensed by the DPUC of the State of Connecticut to sell electricity to residential and commercial customers in the state.

“The Dodgingtown Fire Company Alternative Electric Energy program offers residents and businesses in Newtown a savings in the cost of electricity that they use, compared to what they are currently paying CL&P,” said Chief White. “And it guarantees that for each resident or business that joins the program, Community Power & Utility will donate two dollars a month to the Dodgingtown Fire Company for as long as the program continues and the resident or business remains in the program.

“This program represents an innovative and easy way for residents to support the fire company,” the chief added. “The expense of maintaining our equipment and our facility continue to rise and our annual fund drive can only cover just so much of those costs. This a program where everybody wins; residents save on their electric bill and the fire company gets much needed contributions from the electric supplier.”

“Mark White and the Dodgingtown Volunteer Fire Company were the first firefighting group we approached when we developed this program,” said Bob Schrijver, managing director at Community Power & Utility. “To their credit, Dodgingtown was the first group to understand the potential value of the program idea and the first to work with us to bring that idea to their fire district.”

An invitation to join the program was sent to Dodgingtown homes in July. To join the program, residents or businesses simply go to www.firedepartmentenergy.com, select their zip code and “Dodgingtown” and enter their CL&P account information on the sign-up page.

“A large part of our enthusiasm for this program,” said Chief White, “is that it’s an ongoing support program for the fire company that provides a base level of funding throughout the year. Of course we will continue to depend heavily on our Annual Fund Drive, and we hope and expect that residents and business will continue to contribute. The difference in this program is that the residents and businesses don’t make the contribution; the contribution is made by Community Power & Utility.”

“Our company is Connecticut-based,” said Mr Schrijver. “When we created the company, we called it Community Power & Utility because we were, and are, committed to giving something back to Connecticut and its residences. As you can see at our website, www.comminitypower.com, we create programs like this with volunteer fire companies and local charities throughout the state. In fact, for every customer, even those who come to CP&U outside of a mailing, we contribute to a local Connecticut service. We are a new company and the Dodgingtown program is our first firefighters group, which is particularly appropriate because I happen to have lived in Dodgingtown all my life!”