Emma Berry

Posts Tagged ‘California’

EDUCATE  YOUR CONSERVATIVE FRIENDS THAT THERE ARE CERTAIN INSTITUTIONS–SUCH AS PUBLIC UTILITIES–THAT SHOULD BE HELD IN PUBLIC–NOT PRIVATE TRUST.

This is NOT socialism.  This is protection of citizens from corporate greed.  There are plenty of markets left for the capitalists to compete in.  Just keep them the hell our of healthcare insurance, utilties, education k through 12, management of the nation’s infrastructure and prisons.

YES  magazine reports that the city of Fenton California took back control of their water supply from a private industry.

In 2002, when Citizen Utilities, the small company that ran the water system for Fenton, California  was acquired by American Water Works Co. Its subsidiary, California-American Water (Cal-Am), took over Felton’s water utility. American Water was acquired shortly afterward by London-based Thames Water.

In November 2002, Cal-Am proposed a 74 percent rate increase over three years, subject to approval by the California Public Utilities Commission. Felton residents formed Friends of Locally Owned Water (FLOW), and with legal help from Santa Cruz County, fought the rate increase, which the utilities commission knocked down to 44 percent. But the threat of escalating costs loomed, so FLOW began working on a plan to buy the water system and turn it over to the nearby San Lorenzo Valley Water District (SLVWD), a public utility

Their efforts were successful, and the ballot initiative won with nearly 75 percent of the vote. SLVWD then proposed to buy the water system for $7.6 million, but Cal-Am/RWE refused to sell. So SLVWD pursued eminent domain to force a buyout. Just before the case was to go to jury trial, the company settled with SLVWD. Today, with Felton’s water back in the hands of a public utility, the average resident’s bill has dropped by at least 50 percent. FLOW has calculated that even with the tax increase, most residents are already saving as much as $400 per year