Thread by @ae53

Thread: Since there isnt a single 100% renewable private utility, people please stop talking about how historically public utilities are no better than private ones!

Our future is a public good. It demands a GND and 100% Renewable

Why settle for less than democratic control? 1/

Inherent in a private utility is making a profit for its shareholders. This is a fact.

It also means they will do what they are best at providing the largest amount of people service at the lowest cost.

This means focusing on existing grid with upgrades, not alternatives 2/

That is because alternatives are new infrastructure and cost money. They are cheaper once up, but that is new infrastructure to build.

It is part of the reason why New York State still is at 5% wind and solar!

The new offshore wind megaproject will bring that to 17% alone 3/

But without public investment those projects never get built anyway. Usually these are through PPP's

Part 5 of @TUED_global working paper 10 goes into this and is totally worth checking out 4/ unionsforenergydemocracy.org/resources/tued…

We clearly need investment into our failing energy system but shouldn't we be investing it into a new system built on the renewables we need?

Not into our failing current system?

That is where a Green New Deal comes in. 5/

We know that with an unprecedented challenge like the climate crisis we need everything on the table.

That means, big, small, top-down, bottom-up. No one simple fix.

Anyone who says they have a simple fix to it all is lying, there isn't one, it will take a lot. 6/

That is why a Green New Deal is so expansive. It needs to cover everything because everything must be on the table.

Which brings us back to the utilities.

Private utilities aren't built for this moment. They are built for guaranteeing shareholders a rate of return. 7/

In New York State for example Con Ed is guaranteed a rate of return of 9% and in their newest rate case is asking for that to go up to 9.75%.

It is also a monopoly.

So when it messes up, and oh does it, it is called too big to fail yet nothing can be done. 8/

The call for #PublicPower therefore is inherently a part of a Green New Deal and understanding that everything must be on the table.

We need to be able to have major distribution grids, as well as microgrids and community solar. All must be integrated horizontally. 9/

Right now Con Ed's business model is a direct challenge to solar expansion across New York because it generates less profit

We say, that's more than enough reason to take the profit motive out of this!

That's why in @NYCDSA_Climate were organzing for #PublicPower 10/

So making an argument about historical public vs. private utilities in this moment is a little facile.

The truth is the system has to change and change now. All the Dem candidates said so last night.

Yet private utilities are still building fossil fuel infrastructure. 11/

It shows that for any Green New Deal you have to use Public Power.

Through democratic control and a mandate for 100% renewable, public ownership is the only way to keep it in the ground

It also is the only way to guarantee the jobs portion of the Green New Deal! 12/

As @CJAOurPower says a transition is inevitable but justice is not.

We know that the investor owned utility model places profits over people.

The only way to achieve justice is place people and planet over profits. We can only do this through public power. 13/