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Thursday, March 14, 2013

Politics / Enviro / Economy Power to the People

Posted by Goldy on Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 7:46 AM

Happily, Seattle has been there, done that:

Across the country, cities are showing a renewed interest in taking over the electricity business from private utilities, reflecting intensifying concerns about climate change, responses to power disruptions and a desire to pump more renewable energy into the grid.

... [G]overnment-owned utilities, most of them formed 50 to 100 years ago, are nonprofit entities that do not answer to shareholders. They have access to tax-exempt financing for their projects, they do not pay federal income tax and they tend to pay their executives salaries that are on par with government levels, rather than higher corporate rates.

That financial structure can help municipal utilities supply cheaper electricity.

Seattle City Light isn't perfect, but it provides residents and businesses with some of the lowest, most stable rates in the nation, with more than 96 percent of its power generated with zero greenhouse gas emissions. It's hard to overstate the huge economic advantage city-owned City Light has bestowed on Seattle: "Electrical power represents the main energy cost for most businesses," notes the pro-business Washington Roundtable.

It's enough to make even some hardcore capitalists endorse the collective ownership of the means of production.

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Comments (12) RSS

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It is indeed far better. Places like San Francisco have been trying to get publicly-owned power for decades, but most of the politicians--including prettyboy Gavin Newsom--have been bought. Look up PG&E and the San Bruno explosion and fire of two or three years ago and you can see that the company's values are those of Monty Burns. I'm following the story off and on, but case continues, with PG&E trying to charge customers so they can settle the lawsuits and the state commission coming under fire for conflicts of interest. DougSF probably knows more than I do.

Posted by seatackled on March 14, 2013 at 8:28 AM

Yay! Wish my city would do this. And I would like to pre-emptively thank Catalina (and any other sloggers who work for SPL) for her fine public service.

Posted by emma's bee on March 14, 2013 at 8:31 AM

Electrical power is fungible. If you are connected to the grid then your greenhouse emissions are representative of the grid as a whole. Sure, living in a state that has a lot of hydroelectric power plants might make you unrightfully smug, but that power is still traded on the grid. Think of it with common sense: a Californian running an A/C unit is not somehow ten times more damaging to the environment than a person in Seattle doing the same. If the person in Seattle shut off his A/C unit, that hydro-power could power the A/C unit in California. If both shut off their A/C units, twice as much hydro-power would be used for other purposes in California. The environmental damage from the A/C unit in Seattle and in California is the same (minus up to 7% transmission line losses).

Posted by delirian on March 14, 2013 at 8:46 AM

Seattle City Light definately had/has better service than the investor owned utility where I live currently (outside WA state). I have never experienced so many power outages or such a hostile attitude on the part of utility "customer service" as I have now. Unfortunately, where I'm living now, the city owned water utility is even more incompetent and unfriendly than the investor owned electric utility. At least the electric meter readings are correct. The city can't manage that even after several months of calling! Goes to show that city owned utilities aren't always better - depends on how accountable the politicians are to their citizens.

Posted by WestSeven on March 14, 2013 at 8:57 AM

"Seattle City Light isn't perfect, but it provides residents and businesses some of the lowest, most stable rates in the nation"

Then along came McGinn who is trying to jack up the rates by 31% over 6 years so the Fred Hutchingson Center can have proper power for their cancer research. You all do remember that press conference 10 months ago, right? Most of Seattle suffers from constant black and brown outs, its like a 3rd world nation.

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2…

Posted by Kinison

on March 14, 2013 at 9:04 AM

Constant black and brown outs? In the 17 years I've lived in or near downtown Seattle, I've never had a single blackout.

I love Seattle City Light. Privately owned utilities are an abomination.

Posted by CPN on March 14, 2013 at 9:25 AM

@6, pay no attention, is my advice. Even on those occasions when some things Kinison writes may be accurate, there's somehow an overarching wrongness to every single post.

Posted by gloomy gus on March 14, 2013 at 10:31 AM

Another example of Goldy being a Communist...

"Corporations," "capitalism" and "profit" are not inherently evil things, just like "non-profit" and "Green" are not inherently good things.

But Communism IS evil.

Posted by GeneStoner on March 14, 2013 at 11:19 AM

@1,

PG&E is notable for being incredibly evil (in terms of poisoning/killing people because it can) *and* for being incredibly incompetent. You'd think, if PG&E is going to cut corners by dumping toxic chemicals into the water supply, they could at least offer decent service to its customers, but you'd think wrong on that point. I've never experienced more incompetent electric service at any other time than when I was a PG&E customer in San Jose. The power would go out monthly, and a series of rainstorms that wouldn't faze Seattle City Light or Con Ed would knock out power in large areas for two weeks straight.

So much for the free market.

Posted by keshmeshi on March 14, 2013 at 11:29 AM

Natural monopoly: Way too many, including power production, health care, the internet, etc. are controlled by private interests.

I'm lucky to be served by a PUD. I pay far less for power than PSE (about 40% less). Among other things, PSE is burdened from the debt (>7 Billion) resulting from the Australian private equity firm that now owns it.

Posted by Zotz on March 14, 2013 at 12:00 PM

@3 your point is somewhat valid, but the interstate transmission capacity is limited. See Washington limiting wind power because we have excess generation capacity.

Posted by JonnoN on March 14, 2013 at 12:03 PM

All that zero greenhouse gas emitting power from... Eastern Washington. And most of that green power is not considered renewable because it is hydro power. Hydro power is not part of the renewable energy plan that Wa. voted on. Isn't that a bit odd? I guess the distinction is between renewable and sustainable. BUT!!! Goldy... did you hear about the latest bill to make permitting hydro power production a faster process? I'm friends with some folks who did one of the first ones here in WA. A DAM damn you!!!! A goddamn DAM! on a canal.... pretty cool stuff.

Posted by Bean on March 14, 2013 at 1:39 PM