Utility companies owned by the cities they serve.
Municipal electric utilities serve thousands of communities across the country. Public utility customers experience fewer and shorter outages, pay lower rates, and have more say than private utility customers. If the customers of an investor-owned utility are unhappy with its service, a local government can take over the utility and serve residents itself through a process called municipalization. Win or lose, municipalization fights can give communities greater voice and more leverage over their electric utility in vital areas like sustainability.
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ILSR’s six-part podcast series The Promise and Peril of Publicly-Owned Power responds to an uptick of interest in city-owned electric utilities. The episodes explore the benefits of public ownership, how to successfully take over, the silver linings of failed municipalization campaigns, and limitations of the public power model.
How New Haven financed a municipal geothermal network with a Green Bank loan and tax credits.
How did this coal town ditch gas lines, win grants, and make municipal networked geothermal the cheapest heating option?
Learn how public power can tackle the affordability crisis.
How can state legislatures pave the way for cities to advance clean energy and equitably address climate change?
