![]() Real-world experiences have shown that the costs of switching to public power are high and the benefits are specious, highly uncertain, not well-defined and hard to quantify. Not surprisingly, public power advocates tend to exaggerate the benefits and understate the costs. The evidence shows that public power can work and, overall, has performed satisfactorily in the U.S. The same can be said for private power. We can then conclude that neither private nor public power has exhibited fundamental failures to outright reject one ownership structure over the other. Of course, one can point to bad apples under each ownership structure. My main conclusion: Based on experiences across the country, even studies showing public power in a favorable light and costing hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars will not change things because of the real-world obstacles that will stop public power in its tracks. Switching to public power, or even studying it, would miserably fail a cost-benefit test by being the wrong solution to whatever problem advocates of public power claim to exist. In my opinion, these polarized views distract from the real issue. The nature of political debates these days is that each side distorts reality to accommodate their agenda. Taking a position on public power should come only after understanding how different each type of utility behaves, which depends on the incentives and constraints they face. For example, there is evidence that public entities tend to set prices that maximize their political support, rather than consumer welfare. The combatants on the other side oppose government overreach in operating an electric power system - public ownership means cronyism, misconduct and waste. Local governments can’t even adequately provide basic services how can we trust them to run a complex power system that requires sophisticated technical skills when politics will dominate their decisions? Of course, needless to say, privately-owned utilities will put up a vigorous fight to prevent a loss of customers and revenues. The combatants on one side want more government involvement for different reasons - local control (sometimes labeled “energy democracy”), lower rates, advancement of a sustainable energy agenda and social justice, and so forth. More broadly, some in this group mistrust corporate power and capitalism in general - for example, profits just fill the pockets of Wall Street and serve no social purpose. The battle between private and public power has persisted for more than a 100 years. For another perspective on public power, see today's opinion piece by Joy Ditto. Costello, a regulatory economist and independent consultant who has worked for the National Regulatory Research Institute, the Illinois Commerce Commission, Argonne National Laboratory and Commonwealth Edison. ![]() The Division of Radio Communication: Responsible for the maintenance of the City's 800 MHz system in a reliable condition suitable for use by all City divisions including Police, Fire and EMS.The following is a contributed article by Kenneth W. Our functions include but are not limited to the monitoring and reporting of the operating results of the Divisions of the Department Public Utilities. ![]() Utilities Fiscal Control is the financial arm of the Department of Public Utilities and thus has been set apart as a separate Division with a separate budget. The Division of Fiscal Control: Responsible for the financial reports of the Divisions of Water, Water Pollution Control and Cleveland Public Power. Water Pollution Control: To provide for the free-flow of surface water by cleaning and maintaining a network of sewers and sewer connections. moreĬleveland Division of Water: CWD delivers a reliable supply of high quality water and customer services to promote public health and safety, economy, and quality of life of Greater Cleveland. The Department of Public Utilities includes the following:Ĭleveland Public Power: Committed to providing reliable and affordable energy and energy services to the residents and business of the City of Cleveland.
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