Friends,
The future isn’t settled, and it’s ours to win. Key figures in the corporate media have taken a conciliatory tone towards Trump and members of the Democratic Party leadership are taking a range of positions from a wait-and-see approach to an open embrace of Trump. I’m writing to tell you one thing with utmost certainty: the public power movement is not going back and we’re not standing still.
At Public Grids, that means continuing to present our clear vision for public power and economic democracy, aligning local control of the grid, the foundation of the energy transition, with the popular demand for public ownership and a just transition for workers and communities. Since our launch at the end of October, I’ve spoken to local activists, public servants, and organizers around the world for energy democracy who are pouring in support and partnership to make our work durable during this next presidency.
Public Grids and our movement partners across the country are ready for more investment to secure our movement’s power, capacity, and resiliency for the years ahead. If you want to invest in our future, no matter how large or small your contribution, please drop us an email at info@publicgrids.org today!
Public power means more economic security
Our vision is a world where everyone has the electricity they need to live and flourish, no conditions, no exclusions, no one left behind. With the post-election consensus concluding economic anxiety pushed voters to Trump, it is imperative that the whole of the climate movement put our efforts behind seriously addressing the people’s economic wellbeing.
That means no more utility shutoffs, no more unaffordable bill increases, and a new business model. This new business model we’re fighting for will accelerate a progressive economic agenda without slowing down the critical and time-sensitive investments we need to make our grid more reliable and fully fossil free.
Our vision is popular everywhere. 76% of voters are in favor of public ownership of renewables, and 69% believe that all future utility projects should be publicly owned. Last month we saw that at the local level, city leadership has a clear mandate for public ownership to accelerate the energy transition, a bright spot hinting at what’s possible moving forward.
Public power is essential to the future of democracy in the U.S.
There’s no getting around a fundamental issue of private utility ownership: it has played a significant part in delaying critical climate progress and corroding our democratic institutions. It’s on the record that for-profit utilities in this country fought to overturn federal election results and were found guilty of buying our state lawmakers.
In October, Gallup told us that the economy is the single most important issue to Americans today. And when Americans needed economic security the most at the height of the pandemic, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners bragged in their Annual Report that they defeated grassroots and energy justice efforts in Congress that would have ended utility shutoffs.
You’re reading that right: our existing utility regulators sided with the corporations, who paid their CEOs millions of dollars while saddling the poorest Americans with more than $17 billion in utility debt, and shutting off service to people’s homes millions of times. With this proven track record, we can’t afford to let them keep their jobs.
In contrast, the public power movement is defined by its commitment to expanding democracy, not shrinking it, through expanding the democratic, local control of the essential infrastructure in our communities. The American Public Power Association highlights that public power means public records, public accountability, too.
Public power is the future for a climate movement committed to rebuilding trust in a just transition and uniting us around a common vision of prosperity.
Public power in the media
- This Solar Panel Kills Fascists by Gabriel Hetland, The Nation
- Voters in Ann Arbor, Michigan, create a local clean energy utility by Julian Spector, Canary Media
- The Rift, Episode 4: Public Power and the Build Public Renewables Act with Alex Patterson by Roshan Krishnan, WEFT Champaign 90.1 FM
- What If We Just Nationalize the Power Grid? by Melanie Brusseler and Sandeep Vaheesan, Heatmap News
Public power inspiration and education
(from shorter to longer!)
- Winning Together: Safeguarding Workers & Communities in Clean Energy Projects by Let’s Green CA! Workforce and EJ Standards Alliance
- The Potential Benefits of Direct Democracy and Voting for Policies, Not Personalities by Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò, Hammer & Hope
- One Election Takeaway: Voters Hote Temporary Safety Nets by Nathan Tankus, Notes on the Crises
- Utility justice is a place we can build together by isaac sevier
- The Overton-Window-Sized Hole in Most “Moveable Middle” Strategies by Amy Westervelt, Drilled News
- Public control of coal resources of the United States’ Powder River Basin for a managed decarbonization transition by J. Mijin Cha and Emily Grubert, Progress in Energy
- The Key to Electric Grid Reliability: Modernizing Governance by Alexandra Klass, Joshua Macey, Shelley Welton, and Hannah Wiseman, Kleinman Center for Energy Policy
- Green Industrial Policy’s Unfinished Business: A Publicly Managed Fossil Fuel Wind-Down by Kate Aronoff, Roosevelt Institute
- A Just Transition for All: Workers and Communities for a Carbon-Free Future by J. Mijin Cha, MIT Press
- Democracy in Power: A History of Electrification in the United States by Sandeep Vaheesan, The University of Chicago Press
Thank you for signing up for our newsletter. Organizing together is what it’s going to take to win, and every action you take matters. Can you share this right now with ✨five✨ of your friends and colleagues in the climate justice fight? Encourage them to sign up for the next update from Public Grids!
With gratitude and solidarity,
isaac sevier
