NOTE:  The election is over and I did not win a seat on City Council.  That does not mean the fight for a Public Utility is over.  Work is being done behind the scenes to get ready for the next chapter.  Get ready!  Your help is going to be needed to make a Public Utility a reality.  There should be news coming some time in December.

The company that owns the company that owns Rochester Gas & Electric is called Iberdrola.  It is a corporation based in Spain.  They are the only game in town.  They own the wires that bring the electricity to your house.  They own the transformers.  And when you pay your bill, that money goes out of town to that overseas corporation.  When you get a $10,000+ utility bill that is obviously in error, they are ultimately responsible for fixing that issue. Oh, and thanks to the state government, they are promised at least a 9% increase in profits every year.  There is no free market economy here; it is a straight up, government-sponsored monopoly.  What we need in Rochester is a public utility.  All of the transformers, wires, poles, etc., should be public property, run and managed by the City of Rochester with a publicly-appointed oversight board. 

This is not a far-fetched idea.  Many have heard that the town of Fairport does this and their rates and service are better than ours. The state does have a procedure for a municipality to get rid of their corporate utility company and replace it with a public one.  It's no surprise that the procedure is complicated.  But it is doable.  The first step is the most important - we need a feasibility study.

When elected to Rochester City Council, I will propose legislation that funds that feasibility study for the City of Rochester.  And I will include in the legislation that the study be transparent, every step of the way.  

You may have heard that City Council passed similar legislation that required the study to include the County of Monroe with the County paying half.  To no one's surprise, the County said no thanks.  Then in June 2024, City Council voted to hold onto the money that could be used for the study for the City, but not to actually DO anything with the money yet.  What are they waiting for?  What our government always waits for: citizens to get mad enough to show up to City Council meetings for months on end, send countless emails, hold rallies outside in the middle of winter, and still have to beg for them to choose citizens over corporations.  So, I'll say this again:

When elected to Rochester City Council, I will propose legislation that funds that feasibility study for the City of Rochester.  And I will include in the legislation that the study be transparent, every step of the way.  

This entire process will cost us money up front, but the payoff will be tremendous in terms of increasing civic involvement in our community, lowering utility bills, providing better service, and keeping our money in the community instead of sending it to Spain. 

And before Iberdrola starts its misinformation campaign again, all current employees will keep their jobs (though executive positions should be reviewed).  I would insist that those RG&E employees who are currently in a union stay in that union and bring those who are not into the appropriate public sector unions as well.

UPDATE: I have been asked where would the Public Utility buy it's energy from.  Simply, the same places RG&E buys it from now; for now.  There has been talk about focusing our efforts on change with the Public Service Commission (PSC) before worrying about a public utility.  This would be a HUGE mistake.  Even if there were changes at the PSC, Iberdrola would still be keeping our rates high for lousy service.  We need to get the Public Utility first, then focus on change at the State level.  And that change should be to repeal or get a waiver from the State law that forbids providers from producing energy.  That way, our own Public Utility could then start using hydro-electric from Upper and High Falls, solar and wind farms, etc.  So we would start by buying our energy from the same sources as RG&E, then working to create our own.

Questions or Comments?  Email me at [email protected], you can reach out using the form below, there are all my social media links, or catch me on the campaign trail.