What Do I Think About ECP

As I posted over at Cataract City, the Tribune has started to publish the Commission Candidates responses to several questions they asked. Today, they published the answers to the following question pertaining to ECP:

Do you think the city should shut down its utility arm, Electric City Power, or should the city try to make its venture more profitable? The city stood to lose an estimated $4.75 million if it suddenly liquidated its electrical energy business earlier this year.

My response:

I believe ECP should be shut down for a number of reasons. Citizens were never given the opportunity to vote as to whether they wanted their government to get involved in public power in the first place. The city has already lost more than $4 million on this venture, and according to ordinance #2925, this entity was to be self-sustaining from day one. Citizens continue to be barred from information pertaining to this entity and cannot get straightforward answers to their financial questions and concerns. This foray into public power has not been a benefit to the city or its citizens and has already cost us millions of dollars.

Contrary to what the incumbents say, this entity has already lost several million dollars and will not benefit city residents. (As a result of legislative action, ECP cannot sell power to the residents). The "blended rate" scenario mentioned by mayoral candidate Commissioner Bronson is the subject of a lawsuit (page 9). Information pertaining to the "blended rate" has also been kept from the public by this lawsuit. (Commissioner Jolley, who is the only commissioner to have actually viewed the documents in the secret box, has indicated that there are documents in the box pertaining to the "blended rate").