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Community Choice for Local Control —
What, Why, How

Through a public referendum or city council vote, citizens in a municipality may choose to form a "public aggregator," which will purchase electricity on behalf of all consumers within a municipality's jurisdiction. Several municipalities can pool their resources and create an even larger buying group.

Why aggregate?

Local governments are existing public institutions over which consumers have control and whose role is to provide services to its citizens over the long term in a cost-effective manner. Municipalities originally brought electricity to their citizens before utilities existed by issuing electricity franchises to successful bidders. Continuing that traditional role will be helpful to consumers as the power supply industry continues to evolve. Public aggregators are publicly accountable through elections, open meeting laws, fair bidding laws, and conflict of interest laws.

Local government already supplies numerous services for their citizenry such as: solid waste pick-up, maintenance of public ways, municipal water and sewer, ambulance, schools, police protection, fire protection, and the like. Local government also has the resources to acquire the same kind of experts that the utilities depend upon.

By concentrating buying power in a publicly accountable, local municipality, consumers can require that a power supplier provides "green electricity" (electricity from wind, solar, or other renewable electricity sources) in their power supply mix. Further, the experts hired through Community Choice can make sure that it is genuinely "green" electricity. The cost of the renewable electricity will be lower if shared by all citizens of a community than if bought individually.