[0:03] transportation utilities and

[0:05] waterways review board Alderman

[0:06] Bauman share of the board.

[0:07] And when we go around the room

[0:08] quickly and introduce ourselves

[0:09] will start on the left to the

[0:10] newly appointed member of the

[0:14] board. As of yesterday, a win

[0:15] for our please. Thank you so

[0:18] much. Member, our Alderman 3rd

[0:19] District. I am now in my.

[0:20] For its been 14 a half months

[0:21] in office. It's been a pleasure

[0:22] to serve the residents of

[0:25] district 3 very good at making

[0:26] a please more of his chair,

[0:27] John Rogers, deputy director

[0:27] for the Milwaukee County

[0:30] Department of Transportation.

[0:31] Excellent.

[0:33] Good morning. MISTER Chair

[0:33] James Washington. Public Works

[0:34] coronation manager and the

[0:36] Department of Public Works.

[0:41] Good Morning. MISTER Chair Gym

[0:42] for advocate of public Transit.

[0:43] Just like what, Jim Pictures,

[0:44] because it's like to speak of

[0:46] the mic to there's a microphone

[0:49] in front of you. Good morning

[0:50] Chair Jim Carpenter here, an

[0:53] advocate of public transit just

[0:56] like you.

[0:57] Good morning, Kevin Susi,

[0:59] citizen member John DECEMBER

[1:01] resident of Milwaukee advocate

[1:05] for transit. Well, German Scott

[1:06] Speicher 13th District.

[1:08] All right. Excellent. We have

[1:11] one final in front of us today.

[1:11] It's item 2, 6, 0, 2, 2, 1,

[1:12] communication relating to the

[1:14] creation of a publicly owned

[1:16] electric utility by the city

[1:17] of Milwaukee sponsored by

[1:19] Alderman Broward and myself.

[1:20] I think we'll start today by

[1:21] having a brief opening comments

[1:23] from some of the board members

[1:23] who have indicated a desire to

[1:25] make comments. So we'll start

[1:28] with almond grower. And thank

[1:29] you so much. MISTER Chair.

[1:30] I really want to express my

[1:32] deep gratitude to you and to

[1:34] the staff here at City Hall

[1:36] and this body for meeting today

[1:38] to discuss this really, really

[1:40] important topic because we are

[1:43] we are faced with so much here

[1:47] in the city of Milwaukee.

[1:48] Not only are we faced with

[1:48] rising prices across the board,

[1:52] whether it's these landlords

[1:53] gouging U.S. Or Kroger,

[1:56] shutting grocery stores down

[1:58] and then raising prices or

[2:00] whether it's frankly our

[2:01] current utility continuing to

[2:03] raise prices again and again,

[2:07] the working people of this city

[2:07] are suffering right now.

[2:11] And I am so glad that this

[2:12] council in this body are taking

[2:14] heed of that and exploring this

[2:15] possibility today for us to

[2:17] utilize chapter one, 97 of the

[2:21] Wisconsin state statutes to

[2:23] replace we energies with the

[2:25] utility that's democratically

[2:26] owned as a socialist alderman.

[2:29] I believe that we should have

[2:31] democracy in every single part

[2:32] of our economy because it's one

[2:33] thing to just elect people

[2:34] wanting to go to vote for

[2:34] PRESIDENT. One thing to be a

[2:36] vote for your representative.

[2:40] But it's another thing people

[2:42] have said a c in the material

[2:45] conditions that affect you

[2:48] every single day. And when you

[2:49] have a corporation like we

[2:52] energies, that's The they MAY

[2:54] suppose and present that their

[2:56] a priority is to deliver

[2:56] electricity. But as with any

[3:00] company that you can treat on

[3:01] Wall Street. The real hidden or

[3:04] maybe not so hidden priority of

[3:06] that entity is to deliver

[3:08] profits for shareholders.

[3:10] And I think it's about time.

[3:13] Then this world we seriously

[3:15] reconsider that economic

[3:18] arrangement where we have an

[3:20] economy where every single

[3:22] human life is valued. Everybody

[3:23] has an equal say no matter

[3:24] what. Zip code you live in, no

[3:26] matter what your skin color

[3:28] is, no matter what your gender

[3:30] is, that we have equality in

[3:31] that we have a democracy.

[3:33] And so this is one step that is

[3:34] allowed under current state

[3:36] law. We're not asking medicine

[3:38] to do us any favors here,

[3:40] although we do think they But

[3:41] we're not asking medicine to

[3:43] see favors. We are advocating

[3:44] under current law and I I ran

[3:45] on this and I'm I'm so proud

[3:52] that we are hearing this right

[3:54] now. To have this conversation

[3:55] about whether we use this

[3:57] statute that currently exist in

[4:00] law, which is one step for us

[4:02] to be able to come have an

[4:05] economy that works for every

[4:05] single person where everybody

[4:06] is self actual is where

[4:09] everyone can reach their full

[4:10] potential were no one is

[4:10] oppressed. And I know there's

[4:11] probably some right-wing troll

[4:12] out there. That's going to

[4:14] comment on the saying that

[4:15] because 11, 30 talk radio was

[4:16] just talking about making fun

[4:18] of people fighting oppression

[4:21] this morning. But I actually

[4:23] think it's a

[4:26] good idea to fight And I think

[4:27] we should be doing that in this

[4:29] world. I actually did. You

[4:31] know, call me call me a crazy

[4:31] leftist Marxist here. But I

[4:34] think that people should be

[4:36] able to live their lives, how

[4:36] they want and have a say in

[4:39] every single aspect of their

[4:41] lives. And so it was really

[4:42] MARCH or the opportunity called

[4:43] his meeting. I appreciate

[4:46] everybody on this committee for

[4:47] showing up today and I

[4:48] especially on what and also I

[4:50] want to thank our here are

[4:52] going to testify and provide

[4:53] testimony as well as the

[4:55] members of the public who are

[4:56] here as well. Look at this

[4:57] crowd. Look at these people who

[4:59] showed up on a workday. Some of

[5:01] you I know, have taken off of

[5:03] work because this issue is so

[5:04] important to discuss. I'm here

[5:05] today. So I just want to say

[5:08] from the bottom of my heart

[5:10] to every single person present

[5:12] here, thank you for raising

[5:15] your voice. It's one thing to

[5:16] be an elected official on, but

[5:17] it's another thing to really be

[5:18] a member of the community and

[5:19] advocate and stand up when it's

[5:22] difficult. So all of you are

[5:23] doing that today. Thank you all

[5:24] so much. And thank you so much

[5:27] for me to have some remarks,

[5:30] MR. Chair, thank you all.

[5:36] I'm tired of making opening

[5:38] statement. Yes, I would like

[5:39] to make an opening First of

[5:40] all, I want to reiterate that I

[5:42] took the public transit here,

[5:43] the green line with my wife

[5:46] and I believe in public

[5:48] transit.

[5:49] A government does a lot of good

[5:51] things and providing services

[5:52] public transit being one of

[5:53] them. That's why I'm on this

[5:56] committee. But I also believe

[5:57] in public utilities. Let me

[5:59] read a few using my background

[6:01] is in economics instructor.

[6:05] I'm a proud member of Milwaukee

[6:08] dsa. Yeah.

[6:13] Also I believe in a mixed

[6:14] economy. Where is there a?

[6:17] There is a place for markets

[6:17] and competition and profit,

[6:20] but also a place for government

[6:24] provide services. The preferred

[6:25] drug visions of utilities likes

[6:28] or water and energy have proven

[6:29] to be a good place for

[6:31] government services. When I

[6:33] first started reading about

[6:35] publicly owned nonprofit

[6:36] utilities, I learned this is

[6:38] not all fire, all fringe idea.

[6:42] It is a model supported all

[6:44] over the country by people of

[6:45] different political or

[6:49] political persuasions. Let's

[6:49] get the facts straight and

[6:51] urging that works are what

[6:54] economists call natural

[6:57] monopolies allowing multiple

[6:59] companies to provide redundant

[7:01] energy networks in a given

[7:03] geographical area makes no

[7:05] economic sense. Energy networks

[7:09] are best provided my

[7:11] monopolies. The problem is we

[7:14] energies is a profit driven

[7:15] monopoly and sometimes profits

[7:18] get in the way of providing the

[7:20] best solution to a problem.

[7:24] For example, sometimes is more

[7:25] cost effective to improve

[7:27] energy efficiency rather than

[7:29] true. Then to provide more

[7:31] energy. But a for-profit

[7:34] utility does not have the

[7:36] incentive to provide energy

[7:37] efficiency because this reduces

[7:41] the consumption of energy and

[7:43] this reduces profits. Consider

[7:44] data centers all over this

[7:46] country. Communities are

[7:47] enacting moratoriums on data

[7:49] centers because of negative

[7:52] effects of these data centers

[7:54] on your told the Bills, the

[7:58] environment and other negative

[7:58] externalities, but profit

[7:59] driven utilities have no

[8:01] incentive to a pop up all these

[8:03] data centers because they

[8:05] dissenters lead to higher

[8:08] energy consumption and higher

[8:09] profits. Recently we energies

[8:11] proposals are reviewed by the

[8:15] Public Service Commission of

[8:16] Wisconsin. And let's review

[8:19] some of the things Thomas

[8:20] contents said about this review

[8:21] process. Some of the things

[8:23] that we energy trying to pull

[8:24] off because they're a

[8:25] for-profit company. But before

[8:28] I do that, I just want to bring

[8:28] attention to the Bell. Iris

[8:31] 2, I noticed I received from we

[8:33] energies with my last energy

[8:34] bill saying that my energy bill

[8:38] will increase by double digits

[8:42] next year. 10.28% That is

[8:44] wholly unacceptable. Yeah.

[8:47] And it's being that driven by

[8:48] a for-profit motive. I believe

[8:49] that a publicly owned utility

[8:52] would not be increasing my bill

[8:53] by double digits next year.

[8:58] Well, let me let me make take

[8:59] a couple quotes from this

[9:01] actual in our goal. All the

[9:04] damage are null said no by Tom

[9:05] Content.

[9:06] The time is confidential is the

[9:06] executive director of the

[9:08] Citizens. Your Ability Board

[9:11] of Wisconsin. This is some of

[9:12] the things that we energies

[9:13] was trying to get away from

[9:17] that. The Public Service Act

[9:18] commission rejected rejected we

[9:22] energies proposals to require

[9:23] consumers to pay. 25% about

[9:24] 1 billion dollars for natural

[9:27] gas. Power plants to be built

[9:30] for data centers. He cited that

[9:32] customers protect customer

[9:33] protections should be in place

[9:36] for smaller data centers and

[9:37] we energies. I then smaller

[9:39] data centers. Then we energies

[9:43] and for a boss. Data centers

[9:45] rate increases. Cub will

[9:47] scrutinize billions and excels

[9:48] energy data centers plans.

[9:52] Cubs will actively review the

[9:55] price hike proposals we

[9:56] energies and Wps put forward

[9:57] seeking double-digit increases

[10:00] for residential customers over

[10:01] the next 2 years. The on data

[10:05] centers, Wisconsin needs to

[10:08] put affordability first energy

[10:09] been rising at a clip. Well

[10:11] above inflation, since Taters

[10:14] centers showed up to soften the

[10:14] blow cover eca men's these

[10:15] changes to be implemented by

[10:18] the government governor and

[10:21] the legislature stop utilities

[10:22] from profiting on dead power

[10:25] plants. Customer cut customers

[10:26] across the state are paying

[10:27] 1 billion dollars for piles

[10:29] of rubble that have nothing to

[10:31] do with keeping the lights on.

[10:33] We start deland's and how the

[10:36] stage energy future unfolds.

[10:37] Utilities push profits centric

[10:41] plans that rely solely on

[10:42] building power plants. But

[10:45] ignore energy efficiency and

[10:46] other technologies that can

[10:48] save customers under bills.

[10:51] A better planning process.

[10:52] Reacher tell these needs

[10:53] including distribution can fix

[10:55] this and that reforms to ensure

[10:56] utility profits are linked to

[10:59] affordability and how well

[10:59] power companies tackle the

[11:00] burden. A high energy cost of

[11:04] plays on people struggling to

[11:07] make energy and meat instead

[11:08] of making a lowering the

[11:09] profits. I say when they

[11:12] shouldn't have profits, we do

[11:16] not profit says.

[11:17] Let's and the profits are bills

[11:19] will be lower. Our energy czar

[11:20] systems more sustainable.

[11:23] And I will move forward in a

[11:25] better fashion so thank you

[11:26] very much for allowing me to

[11:27] make those comments here to

[11:28] thank you. Good people of

[11:31] Milwaukee for coming off.

[11:32] Sure. You're coming out because

[11:33] you're concerned about your

[11:34] energy bill, which is should

[11:37] be. But you're also concerned

[11:39] about the energy bills of

[11:43] people who cannot afford to

[11:45] have low income. And I find

[11:45] a difficult time of 40 these

[11:47] high energy bills are also

[11:48] concerned about the

[11:50] environment. So thank you for

[11:52] being people of conscience who

[11:54] care about the environment who

[11:56] care about the next generation

[11:57] who care about poor people.

[11:59] And of course, it's a layered

[11:59] normal human beings. You care

[12:02] about yourself. So thank you

[12:06] very much for being here.

[12:14] Other board members wish to

[12:16] make opening statements.

[12:17] All right. Then we'll proceed

[12:18] to our business today. We have

[12:19] 1, one item of housekeeping,

[12:19] and that is to approve the

[12:23] minutes of the previous

[12:24] meeting, which was 2 years ago.

[12:25] Back on 5/10/2023 is there a

[12:29] motion to approve the previous

[12:31] minutes? So moved their second

[12:32] second all in favor, aye.

[12:33] All right. Good that the

[12:36] minutes right away. And this is

[12:38] a communication file. We're

[12:40] here to collect the information

[12:40] and disseminate that

[12:43] information to the public via

[12:44] your own presence here and the

[12:47] presence of the media, which is

[12:48] great. This is also being live

[12:49] streamed on the city channel.

[12:50] So there's there's a permanent

[12:51] video record of these

[12:53] proceedings which people can

[12:55] go to an consultant review.

[12:57] We're not going to take any

[13:00] action by this committee.

[13:01] This board does not have the

[13:02] ability to recommend a specific

[13:05] action by the Common Council.

[13:07] That is a step that will have

[13:09] to wait for the future and

[13:10] future action in terms of

[13:12] committing a of creating

[13:14] perhaps the task force to

[13:15] review the potential of a

[13:19] feasibility study to review the

[13:21] details. The facts, the costs,

[13:22] the details of the transaction

[13:24] of this sort. This is an

[13:26] enormously complicated process

[13:27] as indicated by the legal memo

[13:29] that we received from the pine

[13:31] box for him. We will be hearing

[13:35] from one of their attorneys

[13:36] on the legal process. We'll

[13:38] also be hearing from the

[13:39] American Public Power

[13:40] Association where we're we're

[13:43] we're very honored to have or

[13:43] should let striver here fresh

[13:44] from Washington, D.C., from the

[13:46] American Public Power

[13:47] Association

[13:49] this organization. We had the

[13:50] honor, all the Broward I met

[13:53] with her and her colleagues

[13:53] back in MARCH when we were in

[13:58] dc for the National League of

[13:58] Cities Convention.

[14:00] It was a very interesting

[14:01] meeting. They presented some

[14:02] some of of standing material to

[14:03] us and that material is in the

[14:05] file. So anybody can get access

[14:08] to that material via the file.

[14:09] So we will start with select

[14:13] and she can explain the whole

[14:14] concept of public power that

[14:16] it's not at all. But for our

[14:18] pointed out, some wild, crazy

[14:21] notion that all of it as member

[14:22] Carpenter mentioned that

[14:25] there's a lot of cities that do

[14:26] this, including some very large

[14:26] cities. Social of the floor is

[14:27] your wife. You tell us a little

[14:28] bit about yourself, your

[14:31] organization and then provide

[14:33] your testimony.

[14:34] All right. Thank you. Good

[14:36] morning. Appreciate the

[14:37] opportunity to be here today.

[14:39] I'll provide a little bit of

[14:40] perspective on public power

[14:40] from a national perspective, a

[14:44] little bit about what public

[14:46] power is trends we're seeing as

[14:47] it relates to municipal station

[14:49] and then a little bit on the

[14:50] process that we typically see.

[14:51] And then, of course, happy to

[14:54] answer any questions that you

[14:56] MAY have. So the American

[14:57] Public Power Association where

[14:58] Trade Association and the

[15:00] Washington, D.C., area where we

[15:03] lobby on a federal level for

[15:05] community owned electric

[15:07] utilities. We provide education

[15:09] resources, technical resources

[15:10] to ensure that public power

[15:10] utilities, have they have what

[15:14] they need to remain successful

[15:15] in the future.

[15:17] There are 2000 public power

[15:18] utilities in the U.S. A little

[15:21] over 2000 public power,

[15:22] utilities in the U.S. In all

[15:24] states except Hawaii. They

[15:26] serve 5 U.S. Territories

[15:29] serving 55 million Americans

[15:30] for context about 15% of

[15:33] customers are served by public

[15:35] power. Utilities. 13% are

[15:37] served by rural electric

[15:38] cooperatives and the remainder

[15:41] about 66% are served by

[15:49] investor owned utilities.

[15:50] So Alderman Power Baumann said

[15:52] earlier public her serve some

[15:53] very large cities like Los

[15:55] Angeles, Seattle, San Antonio,

[15:57] Omaha, Orlando, Jacksonville,

[15:58] all across the country. But the

[16:01] vast majority of public power,

[16:04] utilities are small, about 80%

[16:06] serve communities of 10,000 or

[16:06] fewer and 70% serve communities

[16:08] of 5,000 or fewer. So public

[16:12] power is very diverse in terms

[16:13] of size region of the country

[16:17] and also priorities. So that

[16:19] really plays into the I'm the

[16:20] overall the concept of public

[16:22] power, its local

[16:23] decision-making, local control,

[16:25] addressing the issues that are

[16:26] most important to the

[16:29] community. So their 5 per

[16:32] tenants of public power public

[16:32] ownership, local

[16:34] decision-making not-for-profit

[16:36] operations cost base pricing

[16:38] and customer first service.

[16:39] So it really is all related to

[16:41] the community and what issues

[16:44] are most important to the

[16:45] community. So public

[16:47] power, utilities, I can adjust

[16:49] their services to what the

[16:50] specific needs of the community

[16:54] are. And so that really plays

[16:55] into the umbrella.

[16:58] 10 and I public power is that

[17:01] local decision-making so

[17:01] decisions on rates,

[17:04] reliability, investments in

[17:05] infrastructure, renewable

[17:05] energy, any other services that

[17:09] the community makes are made

[17:10] here in the community.

[17:11] The community has an

[17:12] opportunity to weigh in on

[17:15] decisions, sit in on public

[17:18] meetings like this. The

[17:18] utilities are overseen by

[17:20] either. A city council are

[17:23] elected or appointed utility

[17:23] board. Sarah's. There's that

[17:25] local oversight. So can

[17:26] citizens can vote elected

[17:27] officials in and out of office

[17:28] if they're not addressing the

[17:31] needs of the customer. So it

[17:32] really is that customer first

[17:34] community focus that has missed

[17:38] most important. And so in

[17:40] general. Public care, utilities

[17:43] have lower rates, higher

[17:46] reliability, more focused on

[17:47] customer service and customer

[17:49] issues and certainly willing to

[17:51] dive into the details on the

[17:52] cost differential and

[17:53] reliability differential.

[17:53] But we do have statistics and

[17:57] some of it is in that document

[17:58] that are that is as noted

[17:59] there. And and our on our

[18:02] website public power to work.

[18:03] There's a lot of statistics on

[18:05] the current differential in

[18:07] terms of rates and reliability.

[18:08] And here in Wisconsin, public

[18:12] pair utilities have a slower

[18:13] rates and lower bills. Then

[18:16] other and other forms of of

[18:19] utilities. And in terms of

[18:20] municipal is a shunt trends.

[18:21] There are a number of

[18:23] communities that are looking at

[18:24] public power currently. And

[18:27] there have been for many years.

[18:30] I've been a ppa 29 years and

[18:31] it's been a constant drumbeat

[18:33] of communities that are looking

[18:34] at public power. But I would

[18:35] say there's more interest now

[18:40] than there's ever been in the

[18:40] last several years. And I think

[18:41] the other reasons vary on white

[18:45] communities are looking at

[18:46] public power. Sometimes

[18:48] its rates, the rate increases

[18:49] by the investor owned utilities

[18:51] have gotten to the point where

[18:54] it's just not tolerable in the

[18:55] community. Sometimes its

[18:57] reliability, particularly if a

[18:59] storm comes through the

[19:00] incumbent utility doesn't

[19:01] respond. Well, then that may

[19:04] prompt a community to explore

[19:07] public power. And sometimes

[19:08] it's long-term reliability

[19:10] issues. Renewable energy has

[19:10] been a really strong driver in

[19:13] the last several years. A lot

[19:16] of communities that are

[19:18] interested in access to more

[19:19] redact, reliable or renewable

[19:19] energy. More

[19:20] environmentally-friendly

[19:21] options in the incumbent

[19:23] utility has not been

[19:24] responsive. That has pushed a

[19:27] number of communities to

[19:28] explore their options. And then

[19:29] economic development. All of

[19:29] these issues play into economic

[19:33] development and the health of

[19:34] the community. And then

[19:36] finally, a lot of communities

[19:38] when their franchise agreements

[19:39] are expiring. That's a really

[19:43] good opportunity to explore

[19:43] options and just see what

[19:45] what's feasible. From app's

[19:46] perspective, we don't advocate

[19:48] for communities forming public

[19:50] power, utilities. We obviously

[19:52] believe it's the best business

[19:53] model, but it is a local

[19:55] decision were here to provide

[19:56] information to help you make an

[19:57] informed decision and help the

[19:58] community understand what

[20:02] public power is and what the

[20:02] benefits MAY be. But

[20:04] ultimately, that's a decision

[20:05] that needs to be made for that

[20:06] by the community, for the

[20:06] community to ensure that its

[20:10] it really is the right decision

[20:12] for you.

[20:14] You know, while there is a lot

[20:16] of interest in public power, I

[20:18] will say that it is relatively

[20:19] rare for new public power

[20:20] utilities to form because it is

[20:21] a lengthy process. It takes

[20:25] time. It takes commitment.

[20:28] It takes money and there will

[20:29] typically be pushed back from

[20:29] the investor owned utility.

[20:32] So you have to be prepared for

[20:34] that. If you're going to move

[20:35] forward in that since 1973,

[20:37] there have been public pair

[20:38] utilities that have formed.

[20:42] There have been 20 in the last

[20:45] 25 years. Most of them were

[20:48] small and many of them were

[20:49] greenfield New industrial

[20:50] parks, new residential

[20:51] communities that forms that

[20:53] were not previously served by

[20:57] that investor owned utility.

[20:58] And so the large-scale examples

[20:59] are relatively rare, but there

[21:00] are some and there are

[21:00] definitely some that are

[21:03] exploring new, many that are

[21:07] exploring now. So give you a

[21:07] couple of quick examples just

[21:09] to show really the diversity of

[21:11] both public power and the

[21:12] municipal station process

[21:13] because every municipal as

[21:16] ation campaign is different.

[21:17] So the most recent utility to

[21:20] form was Jefferson County pd

[21:21] in Washington. They had about

[21:25] 18,000 customers. They stay

[21:26] formed in 2013. Their issues

[21:29] were more access to real right,

[21:32] renewable energy, lower costs

[21:33] and higher reliability in the

[21:36] unit, which those are all kind

[21:37] of the common common. Points

[21:40] that communities are looking

[21:41] at, but that this situation was

[21:43] unique because they came to

[21:44] it. They negotiated a price

[21:44] with the investor owned

[21:46] utilities. So that's unusual.

[21:48] Usually they do go to

[21:50] condemnation go to the courts.

[21:52] But this one was negotiated

[21:53] which can make the process.

[21:55] It does make the process much

[21:55] quicker and less expensive.

[21:57] So if you're able to negotiate

[21:59] with the incumbent utility,

[22:01] that is the ideal situation is

[22:02] relatively rare. But that was

[22:02] the most recent one in. There

[22:05] are other examples like that.

[22:09] The second provide as Winter

[22:10] Park, Florida formed in 2005

[22:14] and they just celebrated their

[22:16] 20th anniversary last year they

[22:17] formed because of reliability

[22:19] concerns. They had very poor

[22:20] reliability from the incumbent

[22:24] utility. And when they took

[22:25] over the system, they committed

[22:27] to investing all the profits

[22:29] that were generated from the

[22:31] utility back into the utility

[22:33] to harden the infrastructure

[22:36] and the underground. It 80% of

[22:37] their lines within the last

[22:40] 20 years. They have very high

[22:42] reliability, as you can

[22:42] imagine. Now their rates are

[22:45] consistent or lower than that.

[22:47] The incumbent utility. And they

[22:49] have obviously very strong

[22:51] customer service in 2024.

[22:52] When Hurricane Milton hit

[22:56] Winter Park, they only last

[22:57] 250 customers and they restore

[22:59] them within 12 hours, which is

[23:00] pretty remarkable when you

[23:01] think of a hurricane coming

[23:05] through and wiping out a system

[23:08] in Florida. And then the last

[23:08] provide is the Long Island

[23:09] Power Authority they formed in

[23:10] 1998. They are. They have over

[23:14] a million customers said

[23:17] they're very unique. They

[23:17] formed because the investor

[23:19] owned utility Bill and a

[23:20] nuclear plant that never

[23:23] operated. But 8, there were

[23:24] significant cost overruns.

[23:24] And sky at dusk, the prices

[23:28] were skyrocketing. So the state

[23:30] of New York stepped in and I

[23:32] and created the public power

[23:34] utility. And they're very

[23:36] unique because they have a

[23:36] public private partnership.

[23:38] So they the it is a public pair

[23:42] utility owned by the community.

[23:45] Operated and governed by the

[23:48] utility board. But they

[23:48] outsource the actual operations

[23:50] to Pse g Long Island, which

[23:52] is an investor owned utility.

[23:53] So they still have the benefits

[23:55] of public power and that local

[23:59] control. But they have

[24:00] outsourced the operations and

[24:01] Winter Park did something

[24:01] similar when they forms for the

[24:05] first 10 years. They outsource

[24:07] their operations and then

[24:08] ultimately they decided to

[24:09] bring in the the operations

[24:11] and run it completely on their

[24:12] own. And they hired a lot of

[24:15] the people that were actually

[24:16] working at that outsourced

[24:17] company initially. So there are

[24:19] the point of all this is there

[24:20] are many different ways to look

[24:21] at this. You know what? There's

[24:22] not a cookie cutter answer for

[24:23] every community. You really do

[24:26] need to look at what's right

[24:26] for you. And that's where that

[24:30] feasibility study starts.

[24:31] Looking at those options very

[24:32] quickly, just to give you a

[24:33] flavor of the communities that

[24:34] are actually looking at public

[24:37] power now, there are a lot of

[24:38] them.

[24:40] And I'll just mention a few.

[24:42] But there are I contacted, I

[24:43] would say every other week by a

[24:44] new community or state that is

[24:47] looking at what the options

[24:49] MAY be. So St. Petersburg,

[24:50] Florida, they just approved

[24:54] funding for a feasibility study

[24:55] to be conducted this year.

[24:56] A Clearwater, Florida just

[24:57] completed a feasibility study.

[24:59] And so there they are now

[25:00] looking at their options,

[25:01] whether they decide to

[25:04] negotiate with the incumbent

[25:05] utility or create a public

[25:07] power utility. And on that

[25:08] note, I will just say that, you

[25:09] know, ultimately the goal MAY

[25:12] be to form a public power

[25:14] utility, but as you go through

[25:16] this process, the incumbent

[25:17] utility is likely going to

[25:18] offer concessions and they

[25:20] they're going to want you to

[25:24] drop this effort. So that's

[25:24] where you gives you some

[25:27] leverage, too. Maybe negotiate

[25:28] with them. And if they are

[25:29] willing to do whatever you need

[25:32] to do, whether it's reduced

[25:35] reduce rates, improve

[25:35] reliability. It gives you an

[25:37] opportunity to have that

[25:38] discussion with that with them.

[25:39] And that's where we have seen

[25:42] some situations where community

[25:43] will explore public power go

[25:44] through the process and then

[25:47] the incumbent utility comes

[25:48] back and says we will provide

[25:50] more renewable energy for you

[25:51] and it meets the needs of the

[25:54] community at that time. And

[25:57] they MAY. Later decide to move

[25:58] forward with public power, but

[25:59] at least in the short term,

[25:59] it gives them leverage to

[26:02] negotiate with that incumbent

[26:04] utility.

[26:05] A couple other examples,

[26:06] Slayton, Minnesota, small town,

[26:09] but they are actually the

[26:10] voters approved the acquisition

[26:11] and is now in the courts.

[26:13] They are determining what price

[26:14] they are going to pay. So they

[26:15] are likely going to form their

[26:19] utility in the next probably

[26:21] this year or next. San Diego,

[26:21] California. They looked at

[26:24] forming a public pair utility

[26:25] a little over 5 years ago.

[26:27] They did a feasibility study.

[26:28] They decided to continue to

[26:31] look at their their options.

[26:32] They re-signed a shorter-term

[26:33] ten-year franchise agreement so

[26:37] they could they have the time

[26:38] to look at their options.

[26:40] 5 years later, their rates are

[26:42] still skyrocketing. There's a

[26:43] lot of disaffected

[26:44] dissatisfaction in the

[26:44] community. So they just

[26:46] compete, completed a second

[26:48] feasibility study and more

[26:50] detailed one to look at what it

[26:51] would look like to take over

[26:53] for 5 years when that franchise

[26:56] agreement expires. A lot of

[26:57] other examples. San Francisco,

[26:58] California, Tucson, Arizona.

[26:59] It's really all across the

[27:01] country that we're seeing this

[27:05] type of activity. And then I'll

[27:06] wrap up just with on the

[27:09] process. It's not a quick and

[27:09] easy process. It takes time.

[27:12] It takes commitment from the

[27:13] community from leaders. You

[27:16] know, it starts with this.

[27:17] The education campaign.

[27:20] Explaining what public power is

[27:22] what you're trying to solve by

[27:22] forming a public power utility

[27:24] or at least the exploring

[27:26] firming of public power

[27:28] utility. The next step really

[27:30] is that feasibility study to

[27:31] determine does it really make

[27:33] sense for this community?

[27:34] That's where you put pen to

[27:37] paper. You hire an outside firm

[27:37] to look at this. They look at

[27:39] what the impacts would be on

[27:41] rates, reliability. What other

[27:43] issues you want to address,

[27:46] what the response MAY be from

[27:47] the incumbent utility.

[27:49] So that really is that tells

[27:50] you, do you want to move

[27:52] forward at all or you just or

[27:54] are you going to choose to

[27:55] negotiate with the incumbent

[27:56] utility and then you'll go

[27:58] through a number of options.

[28:00] After that, the legal analysis

[28:02] that evaluation, the financing

[28:03] options and then the actual

[28:05] acquisition, there will be a

[28:06] referendum at some point for

[28:09] the community to weigh in and

[28:10] there could be a referendum.

[28:11] See, you know, along the way to

[28:11] decide if you're going to move

[28:14] forward and then ultimately,

[28:16] if you do decide or 2 decide to

[28:18] move forward with the

[28:19] acquisition, there would be a

[28:19] reference locally and then off

[28:25] and if you see will have to

[28:27] approve approved the the actual

[28:29] acquisition. So all wrap up

[28:29] there and I'm happy to answer

[28:30] questions, but just really

[28:31] appreciate the opportunity to

[28:32] be here. And it's really

[28:34] exciting to hear about what you

[28:35] what you're what you're

[28:37] exploring here. Thank you for

[28:38] that excellent presentation.

[28:39] Absolutely. You. You've

[28:40] obviously done this before.

[28:45] So thank you so we'll go to

[28:47] our attorneys now

[28:48] focus on the micro level,

[28:49] namely what a lot of Wisconsin

[28:50] provides relative to municipal

[28:53] as Asian electric utilities.

[28:56] So please. Identify yourself

[28:57] and give us a little bit.

[28:58] Hi, good morning, everyone.

[29:00] And thank you for your time

[29:02] today. My name is Cat Grant.

[29:03] I am an attorney from Pine

[29:04] Spock, llp, the Milwaukee

[29:05] chapter of the Democratic

[29:08] Socialists of America asked us

[29:09] to research several key issues

[29:13] of importance to the power to

[29:13] the people campaign. Today, I

[29:14] will be sharing our findings

[29:17] regarding the legal process

[29:18] that the city of Milwaukee

[29:20] would need to follow in order

[29:21] to acquire the we energies

[29:22] facilities, the process through

[29:25] which such facilities would

[29:26] be evaluated and the

[29:27] feasibility of protecting

[29:28] workers organizing rights by

[29:31] contracting with a third-party

[29:32] managing entity given the size

[29:34] and scale of this proposal, it

[29:35] is incredibly important to note

[29:36] that there are several topics

[29:38] outside of the scope of what I

[29:40] will be speaking on today.

[29:41] That would require further

[29:43] research and more details on

[29:45] the topics that will be

[29:47] discussing today as well as

[29:47] citations are available in the

[29:51] memo that has been submitted

[29:53] for public record. So the city

[29:54] can acquire facilities like

[29:56] those of we energies through

[29:58] one of 2 processes. You can go

[29:59] through condemnation or

[30:00] negotiated purchase for the

[30:03] condemnation option. The city

[30:04] would first need to hold a

[30:06] public referendum to even

[30:08] approved the acquisition of the

[30:10] parts of the utilities property

[30:11] that are currently already used

[30:13] for the benefit of the public,

[30:14] including utility

[30:15] infrastructure. This means that

[30:19] the city would not legally be

[30:20] able to acquire any of the

[30:22] facilities or equipment that

[30:23] are not actively currently used

[30:26] for the benefit of the citizens

[30:28] of the city of Milwaukee.

[30:29] Following that referendum.

[30:30] The next steps depend on the

[30:32] date that the utility was

[30:35] issued. It's indeterminate

[30:36] permit if that permit was

[30:39] issued before JULY. 11th 19, 0,

[30:41] 7, the city would then need to

[30:42] initiate a lawsuit in circuit

[30:43] court and prove that the taking

[30:47] as necessary and necessary here

[30:48] does not mean it immediately

[30:49] has to happen or the world is

[30:50] going to explode and there will

[30:53] be no more electricity

[30:56] necessary here just means more

[30:58] beneficial than not

[30:58] essentially. However, if

[31:01] indeterminate permit was issued

[31:03] after JULY, 11th 19, 0, 7, the

[31:05] utility is legally considered

[31:06] to have already consented to

[31:08] the process. That follows after

[31:10] the referendum and the city

[31:12] would not need to initiate a

[31:14] lawsuit. It's currently unclear

[31:15] in our research what year the

[31:16] permit that we energies

[31:17] operates under was issued.

[31:20] But the company that we

[31:21] energies traces its roots to

[31:21] obtained its independence or

[31:25] it's indeterminate permit in

[31:27] 1911, if this were later permit

[31:28] is the one currently used by we

[31:30] energies than the court action

[31:33] is not necessary. Regardless

[31:34] of any court action, the city

[31:34] would then be required to give

[31:39] speedy notice to the Public

[31:40] Service commission. There is no

[31:43] legally specified timeline as

[31:45] to what counts a speedy.

[31:46] At this point. The Public

[31:48] Service Commission would hold a

[31:49] hearing to determine the amount

[31:52] of just compensation that the

[31:53] city must pay the utility and

[31:55] any other terms and conditions

[31:56] of the purchase parties must

[31:59] receive 30 days. Notice of that

[32:00] hearing.

[32:00] At some point following that

[32:02] hearing, the psc would issue

[32:03] its order and certification

[32:07] and the title would vest in

[32:07] the municipality. I will

[32:09] provide more specific

[32:10] information on how compensation

[32:12] is determined a little bit

[32:14] further in this presentation.

[32:14] Any party MAY appeal the pse

[32:18] order through the circuit court

[32:19] after it has come down and

[32:22] following that decision, if for

[32:23] some reason the city or its

[32:24] citizens decide actually, we

[32:26] don't want to do this. There

[32:27] is a 90 day period in which the

[32:29] city through resolution or the

[32:30] citizens through referendum

[32:32] could discontinue a

[32:35] condemnation. Alternatively, to

[32:36] that process, the city could

[32:37] acquire we energies property

[32:41] through a negotiated purchase

[32:43] Milwaukee is in a unique

[32:43] position legally here as

[32:46] Wisconsin's only certified

[32:49] first class city, Milwaukee can

[32:49] enter into a contract with we

[32:51] energies that provides for

[32:53] amongst many other options.

[32:54] The purchase of all or any part

[32:58] of the utilities property by

[32:58] the city in order for any kind

[33:02] of contract of that nature to

[33:03] be binding, it would need to be

[33:05] agreed to by the Common

[33:07] Council, the utility, the psc

[33:07] and the majority of the

[33:10] electorate through a

[33:11] referendum.

[33:13] If the city didn't want to use

[33:15] this option, that uniquely has

[33:17] there is a statutory mechanism

[33:19] that any city in Wisconsin I

[33:22] can use for the voluntary sale

[33:23] by the utility to any

[33:24] municipality, the city and

[33:27] utility would need to come to a

[33:28] mutual agreement on price and

[33:31] all other terms and conditions

[33:34] of the sale. The city has the

[33:35] option to pay for the property

[33:37] from its general fund or the

[33:39] proceeds of municipal

[33:40] obligations, including revenue

[33:42] Bonds. The Common Council would

[33:44] then need to hold a regular

[33:45] meeting preceded by one week

[33:47] of official newspaper. Notice

[33:49] and adopt a resolution

[33:49] specifying the payment method

[33:53] and submitting approval for the

[33:56] purchase, too public referendum

[33:57] if the referendum succeeded,

[33:59] the city would then proceed to

[34:02] purchase the utility property.

[34:03] Now I want to know a key

[34:04] distinction there with the

[34:06] condemnation process. The

[34:07] referendum comes first with the

[34:07] negotiates its sale option.

[34:10] The referendum comes after all

[34:13] of the other aspects have been

[34:16] determined.

[34:17] Most likely the city of

[34:17] Milwaukee would be required to

[34:20] install a seven-person board

[34:22] of directors by mayoral

[34:23] appointment and Common Council

[34:26] approval, which could then

[34:28] appoint its own managers.

[34:30] Moving on from that particular

[34:31] set of procedures that would

[34:33] MR. Sure. Yeah. I mean, I'm

[34:34] so sorry. I had a I think I

[34:35] want to clarify something for

[34:35] the for the eyes. And can you

[34:37] can tell me if I'm if I'm

[34:38] incorrect in this, but as we

[34:40] were talking about franchises,

[34:41] an indeterminate permits, they

[34:42] would just be clear that in

[34:44] some states not in Wisconsin,

[34:44] but in some states, the

[34:46] municipality actually has a

[34:48] chance to enter into a contract

[34:50] with the incumbent utility

[34:52] particular on a regular basis.

[34:53] And so looking Illinois,

[34:54] Chicago with Con Ed, they

[34:56] haven't caught. The city has a

[34:57] contract with them. We don't

[34:59] have that option here because

[35:02] of what cat has sided with

[35:04] Chapter one 97. We We don't

[35:04] have any sort of regular

[35:06] negotiation period with them on

[35:08] like Colorado, where Illinois

[35:09] we energies has this

[35:10] indeterminate permit, which

[35:14] means that they have a right by

[35:16] law to operate the utility in

[35:18] this in this area indefinitely,

[35:20] unless we as a city take action

[35:21] to usurp them. Is that correct?

[35:22] Cat? And yes, that is correct.

[35:24] Okay. Thank you. So I just want

[35:24] to clear about that. That's

[35:25] what we're dealing with.

[35:26] A determined permits. The

[35:27] franchises like in California.

[35:28] We're not something that's

[35:29] within our legal wheel house

[35:30] unless we get the law changed.

[35:33] But that's just want to make

[35:34] sure that that was that that

[35:36] was clear. And I just want to

[35:36] also confirmed can't because

[35:38] some people you want a

[35:39] precondition, this effort on

[35:40] knowing exactly every single

[35:41] penny that will have to pay

[35:42] for we energies,

[35:47] infrastructure. I think you

[35:48] stated in your that the psc and

[35:50] I think was also referring to

[35:52] the pier are in memo. But the

[35:54] psc doesn't do hearings on

[35:55] hypotheticals. That is

[35:57] incorrect. They're not

[35:58] interested in just doing the

[36:00] co. Let's flip that. Whoever

[36:01] whatever cities fancying this.

[36:01] Let's just hold it. Just a

[36:02] six-month hearing process for

[36:03] on vacation. They don't do

[36:06] that. We have to vote yes to

[36:07] move forward before. We'll

[36:08] determine valuation. Yes, that

[36:09] is the statute currently.

[36:09] Okay. Yeah. That's the country

[36:11] were under okay thing, right?

[36:12] And that's simply, you know,

[36:13] for the sake of the psc in the

[36:15] administrative burden that that

[36:17] would place on it. Obviously

[36:19] they do not have the time and

[36:20] resources to do the evaluation

[36:23] process for things that might

[36:24] not happen.

[36:27] So yeah, when we can move on to

[36:28] the issue of valuation,

[36:30] actually. So the best like I

[36:30] said, the pse can only

[36:32] determine the fair price for

[36:36] the property after a referendum

[36:37] already taken place. So first,

[36:40] the psc would need to consider

[36:41] previous sales of a similar

[36:42] nature. Look at the price in

[36:45] terms of any good faith sailed

[36:47] comparable property. So they

[36:48] factor in things like situation

[36:50] usability improvements that

[36:52] have been made to the

[36:53] facilities and other

[36:54] characteristics looking at

[36:55] those previous sales that would

[36:55] create basically a reasonable

[36:58] belief that it is, in fact,

[37:00] a comparable to the sale that

[37:02] we would be discussing in this

[37:04] case. The psc would then also

[37:06] evaluate any appraisals offered

[37:08] by both parties. So that would

[37:09] be and appraisal by the city as

[37:10] well as an appraisal from we

[37:12] energies in this case and it

[37:16] would take those into account

[37:18] in making its final decision.

[37:19] Generally, though, the psc

[37:21] historically seems to take an

[37:22] approach to valuation. That

[37:23] takes the average of 2 sons and

[37:28] they have kind of confusing

[37:30] the Inc. So you have the

[37:32] trended historical cost

[37:35] depreciated and the

[37:35] reproduction cost

[37:37] new depreciated so that trended

[37:38] historical cost appreciated.

[37:41] That takes the amount that the

[37:42] facilities and equipment and

[37:46] the land that is currently

[37:49] there how much that cost to

[37:51] build in purchase at the

[37:52] historical moment that those

[37:52] facilities were built. The

[37:55] equipment was bought. The land

[37:58] was bought. And then that cost

[38:01] is adjusted for inflation.

[38:02] Using a guy like the Handy

[38:02] Whitman Index of public utility

[38:05] construction costs. Now they

[38:06] don't have to use that specific

[38:08] guide, but that is a guy that

[38:11] they have used in the past.

[38:14] That number is then reduced to

[38:16] reflect the normal expected

[38:17] deterioration of equipment over

[38:19] an average service like in

[38:21] their metrics that they use for

[38:23] that as well. The second number

[38:24] reproduction cost new

[38:27] depreciated then takes what it

[38:29] would currently cost right now

[38:30] today to build an exact replica

[38:34] of the existing facilities as

[38:34] well as the land. If you used

[38:38] the same materials and the same

[38:39] historical methods to produce

[38:41] that same type of facility so

[38:44] they would not be using the

[38:46] most updated

[38:47] most efficient way of

[38:47] construction. Anything like

[38:49] that, that they would look at

[38:50] those old methods, how they

[38:50] were built and apply that to

[38:54] things like labor charges of

[38:54] material charges as they

[38:55] currently exist at this moment

[38:58] instead of a statistical model.

[39:01] I they then again reduce that

[39:02] number. So they take that based

[39:03] number. And then they reduce it

[39:06] by the age of the equipment and

[39:07] other facilities based again on

[39:11] that same statistical model of

[39:12] average service life. These

[39:12] 2 values are then averaged to

[39:15] determine what the reasonable

[39:17] purchase price would be.

[39:18] If any of the equipment or

[39:20] facilities have significant

[39:21] damage beyond what those

[39:24] statistical models of

[39:24] depreciation would reflect the

[39:28] psc can then further reduce

[39:31] that cost based on that level

[39:32] of damage. I'm now there are

[39:36] some complications here because

[39:38] the city would not be acquiring

[39:39] we energies and its entirety.

[39:41] We energy serves a large

[39:42] portion of southeastern

[39:45] Wisconsin. So this would only

[39:46] be a person taking there does

[39:50] seem historically from the psc

[39:50] to be a distinction that is

[39:52] made between property. That is

[39:56] part of a utility system in

[39:57] its entirety as opposed to

[40:00] property that is used to serve

[40:02] each of the separate public

[40:04] utilities operated by the

[40:05] company. Any property that is

[40:08] used to serve another

[40:08] community. In addition to

[40:11] Milwaukee under at least one

[40:13] other indeterminate permit

[40:15] would likely be considered

[40:15] system property and would not

[40:19] be eligible for acquisition

[40:21] and excluded from the potential

[40:22] valuation. This could be

[40:22] addressed through the

[40:24] establishment of the municipal

[40:26] power district involving other

[40:27] municipalities. But for the

[40:27] sake of time, I will not go

[40:29] into the details of that

[40:30] process. You can find further

[40:33] details of that in the memo.

[40:35] Up. So in terms of actually

[40:37] paying for the acquisition,

[40:40] the city would most likely want

[40:41] to use revenue bonds to finance

[40:42] it as opposed to general

[40:43] obligation, bonds, which are

[40:45] backed by the general tax

[40:49] revenues such as property

[40:52] income or sales tax revenue.

[40:53] Bonds are backed by the funds

[40:56] from the electric rates.

[40:57] And that is what finances those

[40:58] bonds. That means that the

[40:58] revenue collected from the

[41:04] utility itself would pay for

[41:05] the acquisition. I this is

[41:07] permissible, but the psc does

[41:09] set the amount that utility

[41:11] can collect from those rates.

[41:12] That's based on the value of

[41:16] the utilities, capital assets

[41:18] at original cost minus

[41:18] depreciation. Utilities are

[41:22] typically only able to recover

[41:24] rate of return about 6 to 7%.

[41:27] And the depreciation on their

[41:27] assets.

[41:30] Once the city has acquired a

[41:31] facility.

[41:34] We then run into the problem

[41:36] of it were to run into the

[41:37] facility directly. The utility

[41:38] employees would likely have

[41:40] their organizing rights

[41:42] curtailed under act. 10.

[41:42] There are however options

[41:46] available to avoid that

[41:46] outcome.

[41:49] Once the city has acquired a

[41:51] utility, it could in theory.

[41:52] Public utility plant to another

[41:55] entity like a co-operative to

[41:56] run it. But those cooperatives

[41:57] are particularly well suited

[42:00] for an urban municipality.

[42:01] They're more common in rural

[42:02] municipalities and it's

[42:04] unlikely that the city would be

[42:05] able to get the necessary

[42:08] approval from the psc for that

[42:09] type of model. Again, for the

[42:10] sake of time, I'll direct

[42:11] everyone to the written memo

[42:15] for more information on that

[42:15] particular topic, a simpler and

[42:19] much more likely way to avoid

[42:19] the pitfalls of act. 10 might

[42:21] be for the city to contract

[42:22] with a third-party managing

[42:26] entity to manage operations

[42:28] and assets. The existing we

[42:28] energies workforce would then

[42:31] become employees of that 3rd

[42:32] party, managing entity and

[42:35] likely not fall under the

[42:35] limitations of act. 10, this

[42:36] strategy would create a

[42:37] stronger possibility for the

[42:41] protection of pensions and

[42:43] other benefits that.

[42:45] The currently unionized.

[42:47] We energies workforce has

[42:47] access to now. There are a lot

[42:48] of complications regarding that

[42:50] and the obligations of a 3rd

[42:52] party managing entity in that

[42:54] regard not addressed by this

[42:57] memo. But I will say there is

[42:59] nothing that prevents a 3rd

[43:00] party entity from honoring the

[43:02] collective bargaining agreement

[43:03] currently held by the We

[43:04] Energies employees and the

[43:08] years of service of the current

[43:09] unionized workforce. The city

[43:09] enters into contracts on a

[43:12] regular basis. Of course, for

[43:13] a wide range of services,

[43:14] including but not limited to

[43:17] construction maintenance

[43:19] storage, towing health

[43:20] services. It services so many

[43:22] other things. This is a well

[43:23] established process by the

[43:26] city. There would need to be

[43:27] a competitive bidding process

[43:28] that's run through the

[43:30] purchasing division for the

[43:34] city of Milwaukee. This project

[43:35] would require that its be

[43:37] advertised, sealed and opened

[43:38] at a public bid opening with

[43:39] the final bit being awarded by

[43:42] the city's purchasing director.

[43:45] Like any option. This one also

[43:47] has complications to consider.

[43:49] It's unknown at this point what

[43:51] businesses or organizations

[43:54] currently exist that have the

[43:55] expertise and resources to take

[43:57] on a project of this scale.

[43:57] If a group or establish

[43:59] specifically for this purpose,

[44:02] it would need to have the

[44:03] capacity to take on operations

[44:04] before ever being granted the

[44:06] contract. It is also unknown

[44:08] at this point how much such

[44:10] a contract would cost the city

[44:12] compared to direct management

[44:12] has the final cost would be

[44:17] determined by the bidding

[44:18] process. As I stated my

[44:20] research today only touches on

[44:21] the key issues that I've

[44:22] addressed above and does not

[44:25] address other factors that we

[44:26] need to be considered nor does

[44:26] it address other alternatives

[44:30] outside of acquiring the we

[44:32] energies process. Given the

[44:33] scale of this project again,

[44:33] further research will be

[44:35] required. Thank you all for

[44:38] your time today. I'm happy to

[44:40] answer any questions. Thank you

[44:40] for that Questions at the end

[44:41] of everybody public. I can.

[44:42] I can wait than all right, Jim,

[44:47] we'll go to MISTER Rosenberg,

[44:47] please. Thank you. Thanks for

[44:50] the opportunity to do today.

[44:53] My name is Sam Rosenberg and I

[44:54] am here representing the

[44:57] more than 1700 members, 500 of

[44:57] them in Milwaukee at the

[45:01] International Brotherhood of

[45:01] Electrical workers. Local 21

[45:05] 50, I'm also an operations

[45:06] dispatcher at we energies.

[45:08] I want to talk about

[45:10] reliability members I represent

[45:11] reliability is not a slogan.

[45:14] It is the work we do every day

[45:15] and every night.

[45:16] It is the crews going out in

[45:18] the cold and the storms and

[45:20] emergencies to keep lights on.

[45:20] Keep guests service safe and

[45:23] get Milwaukee back up when

[45:28] something goes wrong.

[45:29] We saw this work in action

[45:29] earlier this month when strong

[45:32] storms and tornadoes hit

[45:33] southeast Wisconsin. Our

[45:36] members are star power. More

[45:38] than 80,000 customers. Some

[45:38] cases crews had to rebuild a

[45:39] major parts of the local

[45:41] electrical system that were

[45:42] badly damaged. There's a kind

[45:44] of work with liability. Depends

[45:49] on.

[45:49] Ibew, local, 2050 strongly

[45:50] opposes this municipal as a son

[45:53] proposal because it would put

[45:53] that reliability at risk.

[45:57] Milwaukee would not just be

[45:58] taking or polls wires and

[45:59] equipment the city would have

[46:01] to recreate any tire utility

[46:05] operation from scratch. When

[46:07] storms hit, we energies can

[46:07] move crews, trucks, poles,

[46:09] transformers, wire materials,

[46:10] and expertise across Wisconsin

[46:13] to where they're needed.

[46:16] Most. Milwaukee is not backed

[46:17] up by one isolated shop is

[46:17] backed up by a regional system

[46:20] with people and experience

[46:22] already in place. That is what

[46:23] reliability looks like in real

[46:25] life. It means crews can be

[46:26] shifted across regions and

[46:29] these materials can be found to

[46:30] move quickly. And these gas

[46:30] and electric emergencies can be

[46:33] coordinated at the same time.

[46:36] And these dispatchers and

[46:37] control room operators are

[46:38] working with field crews who

[46:38] know the system, the

[46:41] neighborhoods, the equipment

[46:43] and safety risks.

[46:44] City-run utility would have to

[46:46] build all that while keeping

[46:46] the lights on every day and

[46:47] would have to hire and train

[46:50] the workforce set up

[46:50] dispatching. By maintain

[46:53] equipment in his inventory,

[46:54] build the supply chain, prepare

[46:56] for storms and create regional

[46:59] backup support. There is not

[47:00] quick and it is not cheap.

[47:04] And it's not something Waukesha

[47:04] Gamble on. And this is not

[47:05] about we energies. This is an

[47:06] issue that affects every

[47:08] customer who expects heat on a

[47:10] cold night. Our during a storm

[47:14] in a fast response. And gas

[47:15] emergency happens.

[47:17] If the city breaks off

[47:18] Milwaukee from we energies

[47:19] statewide system, it also

[47:21] breaks away from the people

[47:22] tools, materials and backup

[47:25] support to help make service

[47:25] reliable.

[47:28] Our union workforce is proud of

[47:30] what we do. These are highly

[47:30] skilled union jobs bill.

[47:33] 10 years of training,

[47:36] experience and safety.

[47:37] Lineworkers gas crews,

[47:38] dispatchers control room

[47:39] operators, planners,

[47:40] supervisors, mechanics,

[47:41] warehouse workers and support

[47:44] staff all work together as one

[47:45] system.

[47:49] If workers are forced into

[47:49] uncertainty over pensions,

[47:51] healthcare, seniority,

[47:52] contracts and union

[47:53] protections. Many MAY not move

[47:57] to a city-run utility. They

[47:57] have options. And if they

[47:58] leave, Milwaukee loses more

[48:00] than employees at loses.

[48:01] The people. Who know the system

[48:05] and know how to restore service

[48:06] safely. At the end of the day

[48:07] or liability is not created by

[48:09] changing the name of the

[48:09] utility. It's created by train

[48:14] workers backed by statewide

[48:15] operation with crews. It's

[48:15] equipment, materials and

[48:18] experience to respond when

[48:19] people need help. That is what

[48:20] Milwaukee already has. And that

[48:21] is what this proposal puts at

[48:23] risk. Thank you. Thank you for

[48:26] the number. Okay. Next up is.

[48:30] We'll go away and is up.

[48:32] Brian rigor from will not

[48:35] waste.

[48:40] Rigors. I just couldn't see

[48:41] Ation of Rodgers on Rodgers.

[48:42] And that's our standard it.

[48:43] And that's what our bring I

[48:47] am grateful to be here this

[48:50] morning.

[48:55] It's a privilege being able

[48:56] to serve as a vessel.

[48:59] To bring the tree and

[49:01] creativity and wisdom.

[49:01] The moral imagination that

[49:02] exudes from neighborhoods like

[49:05] Lindsay Heights on the North

[49:08] side.

[49:08] And to carry the into the halls

[49:09] of power where decisions are

[49:12] made that quite literally in

[49:12] quite immediately, in fact, the

[49:15] lives of all of us that call

[49:16] Milwaukee home.

[49:18] And so the effects of those

[49:21] decisions fall. Symmetrically.

[49:24] On the city's hyper segregated

[49:25] society.

[49:26] Some decisions, shorten lives

[49:27] in some places. Well,

[49:30] lengthening them and others.

[49:33] Improving lives here on this

[49:35] block, harming that lockdown

[49:39] there. So it is the director of

[49:41] the Web. The Wisconsin Eagle,

[49:42] just his base buildings.

[49:45] It's a statewide movement.

[49:48] Infrastructure.

[49:50] Operation.

[49:51] That is seeking to expand

[49:52] community self-determination by

[49:54] strengthening the capacity of

[49:55] Wisconsin residents to shape

[49:56] the systems. The institutions,

[49:59] the decisions that affect their

[50:01] lives. How's that one away?

[50:04] Conservation Corps? We're

[50:05] focused on energy,

[50:05] affordability, House and

[50:06] justice, environmental health,

[50:09] Democratic participation we can

[50:10] use of.

[50:19] We're going to bring the

[50:22] Michael close for comfort of

[50:22] their wheelchair.

[50:26] So I'm I'm from here point

[50:27] raise my grandmother and her

[50:27] children in Lindsay Heights.

[50:29] See, my father took care of her

[50:31] in that same house. I'm told 15

[50:32] was rights. Chief while father

[50:35] who passed away earlier this

[50:39] month. At the age of 76 was

[50:39] living in the same room, but he

[50:41] cared for her mother and she

[50:44] died in. I'm at home is housed.

[50:46] A lot. A lot of history.

[50:50] A lot of promise. A lot of pain

[50:52] and disappointment. And that

[50:53] home belongs to 110 square

[50:54] block neighborhood of Lindsay

[50:55] Heights that has been under

[51:02] assault. Quietly. Pernicious

[51:03] For decades under watch by both

[51:03] white and black

[51:04] administrations, Democratic

[51:05] and Republican leadership in

[51:06] times of surplus and periods

[51:10] of deficit. So I know what

[51:11] killed my father.

[51:11] In the disgraced ascension

[51:13] money pit that doubles as a

[51:17] hospital. The bodily ailments

[51:19] that plague his life.

[51:19] Hyper chronic, chronic

[51:22] hypertension ever. Predator

[51:24] threats of diabetes.

[51:32] It's a bit.

[51:33] The threat of diabetes and

[51:34] heart attack the asthma, the

[51:35] actual stroke that he suffered

[51:38] that rendered him blind for the

[51:39] final 2 years of his life

[51:40] underneath this physiological

[51:43] physical airlines, a deeper

[51:44] disease.

[51:45] In the body politic of a

[51:46] society that would allow such a

[51:48] man to lead such a life in such

[51:49] a home inside such a

[51:54] neighborhood of such a city.

[51:55] Is this? So I'm here today to

[51:56] discuss. I mean, this was a

[51:56] shunt up to one of the 7

[51:58] Wisconsin statutes they do

[52:01] bring in to talk about data.

[52:02] They bring me and I presume for

[52:04] my rhetorical flourishing and

[52:05] better one. Yeah, yeah.

[52:07] But I want to begin suggesting

[52:07] that the most important

[52:08] question for us is not within

[52:12] walking should only utility.

[52:14] The more powerful query,

[52:14] perhaps as for the people of

[52:15] Milwaukee, should have greater

[52:18] power over the systems that

[52:18] shape the daily lives, its

[52:19] conversations, ultimately not

[52:23] about electric poles and wires.

[52:25] Forgive me, sir.

[52:27] It's not about substations and

[52:28] transformers, utility planning

[52:30] and accounting. If you're

[52:31] paying even marginally close

[52:32] attention, any of us to the

[52:35] public these days, it is so

[52:36] clearly about democracy.

[52:39] It is so self evidently about

[52:43] public health.

[52:48] Most obviously about economic

[52:49] justice and climate adaptation.

[52:52] So is therefore not in the

[52:53] least bit hyperbolic to suggest

[52:54] that the central political

[52:55] question a steak you today is

[52:57] who gets to decide what kind

[52:59] of future we build and then

[52:59] have to call and have it

[53:01] together before discussing

[53:04] minutes. A position itself.

[53:05] I think some of those with

[53:06] various an exciting fun forms,

[53:10] democracy can assume, indeed

[53:10] has assumed since the earliest

[53:12] record experiment in ancient

[53:15] Greece over 2500 years ago.

[53:15] If if you will permit me.

[53:18] Because there was this machine.

[53:21] In Athens be a phenomenal

[53:24] city-state. We're culture

[53:30] science.

[53:31] In Gora in Gora stands the

[53:34] Terry and Machine. This was a

[53:35] machine that looks pretty

[53:35] unremarkable. But in the

[53:38] context of ancient Greece was a

[53:42] central technology radical

[53:43] experiment in democracy.

[53:46] This machine, a big rock with

[53:47] slabs and it slips in it.

[53:51] Was the random selection

[53:52] lottery. That put people into

[53:54] office, administrative bodies

[53:58] on governing agencies. Of

[54:00] juries.

[54:01] So what does that tell us?

[54:03] Well, it says some things that

[54:03] Plato and Aristotle other

[54:04] political philosophers of the

[54:07] day. We're making very clear.

[54:11] Clear argument in favor of if

[54:13] you want a citizen the that can

[54:14] manage and govern its own

[54:15] affairs and to do so long, some

[54:17] values that we can all agree

[54:18] are common and ethical. Then

[54:21] everybody has to be ready at

[54:22] any point.

[54:27] Elections would tend to and we

[54:30] might say they have indeed 10

[54:31] towards hierarchy of power,

[54:31] concentration by those who have

[54:32] economic resources, those who

[54:33] have education, those who are

[54:35] well connected. In other words,

[54:39] any one of us up here? To some

[54:42] extent.

[54:45] It's very different in

[54:48] democracy. We have today.

[54:49] I think we agree.

[54:50] Now lets ask why this

[54:53] conversation is emerging now.

[54:55] Well, he did not suddenly wake

[54:58] up one morning and decide to

[54:58] be he's a chapter one. 97.

[55:00] This conversation has been

[55:03] occurring. For a long time.

[55:07] Occurring within a much larger

[55:11] social political economic and

[55:11] ecological contexts. Everyone

[55:12] is touched on them at some

[55:15] point in the remarks this

[55:16] morning.

[55:16] Families struggling with the

[55:18] rising cost of living in

[55:21] virtually every front. We are

[55:24] living through in Arab,

[55:25] expansive, expensive wars

[55:26] abroad and a tightening

[55:29] crushing austerity at home.

[55:30] Homelessness in the city's

[55:31] rises along with the deaths of

[55:34] despair in the countryside.

[55:35] Now 2026, there's more wealth

[55:38] being created than at any time

[55:41] in history.

[55:42] The bloated stock markets do

[55:43] not lie. It's been a steady

[55:47] diet of resource extraction,

[55:48] labor exploitation, profit

[55:49] generation of private

[55:50] accumulation accomplished

[55:51] increasingly by means of the

[55:52] magic of I don't even know what

[55:55] the f is. Financial is a shun.

[55:59] Communities are confronting

[56:00] worsen. Climate impacts,

[56:00] extreme weather flooding.

[56:01] Dangerous heat indeed. All of

[56:04] earth's life support systems.

[56:05] If we believe and fluidity in

[56:11] the methodology of science.

[56:11] Are being stretched either to

[56:13] their breaking point or human

[56:14] activity has already caused it

[56:17] to surpass its planetary

[56:19] boundaries.

[56:20] So from data centers to

[56:23] detention centers, foreign

[56:25] wars, fbi files across the

[56:27] nation, residents increasingly

[56:28] feel that many of the most

[56:29] consequential decisions

[56:30] affecting their lives are being

[56:32] made far away from the people

[56:33] who must live with the

[56:36] consequence and to know they're

[56:39] making bank doing it.

[56:40] So whether discussing housing,

[56:42] healthcare, detention centers,

[56:44] data centers, energy

[56:45] infrastructure, environmental

[56:45] permitting or economic

[56:46] development, communities are

[56:49] increasingly asking the same

[56:50] fundamental questions.

[56:51] Across very different right

[56:54] there. A mega Jason communities

[56:54] that are asking very pointed

[56:56] questions to their own mayor

[56:56] and Port Washington. I

[56:58] shouldn't say that about Port

[57:04] Washington anyway, who governs?

[57:05] Who benefits? Who bears the

[57:06] cost and who gets a meaningful

[57:08] voice in the decisions that

[57:11] shape the future. So what now?

[57:14] The conversation that means

[57:16] was a Shannan is simply one

[57:17] expression of that broader

[57:19] Democratic question. Again,

[57:20] 2 which and the ancient

[57:21] philosophers that we love to

[57:22] lionized had very specific

[57:23] concrete ideas and warnings

[57:27] about. The so-called democracy

[57:28] we enjoy. So from the

[57:29] perspective of the communities

[57:29] that web organizers with the

[57:30] current energy systems

[57:34] experienced. Few affordability.

[57:35] MR. Carpenter brought his

[57:38] literal bill to the hearing.

[57:43] We don't encounter the utility

[57:44] system. Some abstract policy

[57:45] debate we encountered instead

[57:48] through monthly bills.

[57:49] Difficult choices between.

[57:50] Any of the things that are way

[57:53] too expensive that we need to

[57:54] live.

[57:54] Longer than normal

[57:56] disconnections due to aging

[58:00] infrastructure. Poor

[58:01] maintenance. The cascade of

[58:01] shut offs that come every

[58:06] spring to our own manufactured

[58:08] poverty. To encounter it

[58:10] intimately inadequately

[58:10] insulated, housing, Asian

[58:11] furnaces, unsafe indoor

[58:12] temperatures in the constant

[58:15] stress that comes from living.

[58:16] One unexpected expense away

[58:18] from crisis. To raise your

[58:22] hand. If you are living one

[58:22] x, unexpected expense away from

[58:24] crisis in for Kerri Amaka look

[58:25] back. But I imagine everybody's

[58:27] hands are up behind thing.

[58:28] I do not even have to turn

[58:31] around in this so-called

[58:32] democracy. We enjoy.

[58:35] It's the overwhelming majority

[58:35] of us. Whatever ms prevail

[58:38] about the so-called middle

[58:41] class.

[58:42] We got the telling the story.

[58:45] But, you know, we got the data

[58:46] we've been in.

[58:47] I had this point. I don't know.

[58:50] It doesn't dockets with the

[58:51] psc from a very large customer

[58:52] tariffs. We work very closely

[58:53] with pines by love me. Some

[58:57] Chris and Eduardo props to

[59:01] pines Buck. Rate cases.

[59:02] Infrastructure dockets,

[59:03] affordability, investigation

[59:04] dockets creating low-income

[59:05] affordability program dockets.

[59:06] You name it. The Public Service

[59:09] Commission. Yeah, they're low

[59:12] on resources. Or something like

[59:14] that.

[59:16] The data shows the energy burns

[59:17] are significantly higher in

[59:19] many black brown in low-income

[59:19] neighborhoods and regional

[59:20] averages, especially when

[59:23] compared to white

[59:24] neighborhoods.

[59:25] Some communities now

[59:26] householder spending with over

[59:28] 6% of their income on energy

[59:31] costs. Some even upwards to

[59:35] 15, 20.

[59:36] We shouldn't reduce the

[59:39] question of public ownership

[59:40] to matter of technicality,

[59:41] accounting or asset valuation,

[59:44] though, all those are important

[59:46] questions.

[59:48] The spreadsheets the

[59:48] engineering studies legal

[59:49] procedures lies a much bolder

[59:51] and more fundamental question.

[59:53] Who should govern the

[59:56] conditions of life? And that

[59:59] means interest.

[1:00:01] We know one way that it can

[1:00:01] work because we are

[1:00:02] experiencing it. We're

[1:00:03] literally having a conversation

[1:00:06] about it because we're

[1:00:06] experiencing it.

[1:00:07] If it's in the interest of

[1:00:10] profit, private accumulation.

[1:00:13] Perhaps we might do something

[1:00:14] else to guarantee the quality

[1:00:16] provision of permanently

[1:00:18] affordable. We're live on

[1:00:20] fossil free energy. And they're

[1:00:25] doing it everywhere. Thank you

[1:00:26] for. Your example.

[1:00:27] So it turns out we have learned

[1:00:29] the hard way these objectives

[1:00:29] are frequently intention.

[1:00:33] You cannot identify maximum

[1:00:34] shareholder returns or sorry,

[1:00:35] enjoy indefinitely. Maximize

[1:00:36] shareholder returns while

[1:00:39] simultaneously minimizing costs

[1:00:40] to households.

[1:00:41] You can prioritize. Quarterly

[1:00:42] earnings will fully

[1:00:45] prioritizing affordability.

[1:00:46] You cannot build a system

[1:00:47] around the extraction of value

[1:00:48] and expected to consistently

[1:00:51] produce equity, resilience and

[1:00:51] Democratic accountability.

[1:00:54] If in fact, we care about those

[1:00:56] things.

[1:00:58] For investor owned utilities.

[1:00:58] The answer is constantly

[1:00:59] constrained by the structure

[1:01:01] matter how dedicated their

[1:01:04] employees. How sincere their

[1:01:04] intentions. They remain

[1:01:09] obligated to generate returns

[1:01:09] for investors. That

[1:01:10] obligation shapes everything,

[1:01:12] priorities, incentives,

[1:01:14] decisions.

[1:01:14] So the question before

[1:01:16] Milwaukee is with an essential

[1:01:17] service upon which every

[1:01:18] household business school

[1:01:21] hospital neighborhood depends

[1:01:22] on. Should be governed

[1:01:24] primarily by those incentives

[1:01:25] for the weather. Should we

[1:01:25] should govern them by a

[1:01:28] different set of values

[1:01:31] altogether.

[1:01:34] There's a lot more.

[1:01:35] I would say to some of my

[1:01:37] experience with the Public

[1:01:38] Service Commission.

[1:01:41] The regulator of we energies.

[1:01:45] Isn't Aaron Sorkin series

[1:01:46] called the Newsroom. Everybody

[1:01:50] should watch it. Jane Fonda,

[1:01:50] isn't it? She's great.

[1:01:52] Aaron Sorkin doesn't do great

[1:01:53] with the development. The

[1:01:55] complexity of female

[1:01:59] characters, but that's his

[1:02:02] problem. It's not ours. But

[1:02:03] Jane Fonda, it runs a media

[1:02:04] conglomerate, right? And Jeff

[1:02:06] Daniels is this like anchor

[1:02:07] who goes off on a student, a

[1:02:08] college student that is

[1:02:09] thinking about why is America

[1:02:12] the greatest country in or out?

[1:02:15] But it's not.

[1:02:18] She tells a joke. She says it's

[1:02:19] about GOD and golf. I'm not

[1:02:20] going to tell the joke because

[1:02:22] he's tells a much better.

[1:02:23] And Aaron Sorkin wrote it.

[1:02:26] The punchline is worth it

[1:02:31] because

[1:02:32] Moses is doing side. GOD is

[1:02:33] doing all these things. And one

[1:02:34] point Moses says to GOD, okay,

[1:02:37] are we going to go for you just

[1:02:38] going to f around? And that's

[1:02:39] literally I feel like what

[1:02:41] we're doing here. None of this

[1:02:44] is difficult. This is not hard.

[1:02:50] I mean, I don't have to turn

[1:02:51] around and every hand in the

[1:02:52] room went up to everyone in the

[1:02:55] room, but also in the room went

[1:02:56] up. Yeah. All right. So I rest

[1:02:58] my case with that

[1:03:04] visualization. There's so much

[1:03:04] more to say. But I.

[1:03:07] What look at what's happening

[1:03:08] in the world. Can we insulate

[1:03:11] ourselves from it? Not entirely

[1:03:12] isolated cells

[1:03:13] from it. No, we affected by

[1:03:14] what happens in Iran. What

[1:03:17] happened in China? What happens

[1:03:18] in Venezuela? Yes.

[1:03:19] So what are we going to do

[1:03:21] about that reason that people

[1:03:24] who want to make? But lots of

[1:03:26] money?

[1:03:27] Far addictions and our

[1:03:28] attention deficit disorders and

[1:03:31] off our hatreds. We let them

[1:03:32] do that to us. It's insane.

[1:03:35] So it's not difficult. It's

[1:03:36] not difficult. I appreciate

[1:03:37] the examples where the places

[1:03:41] the labor question is so

[1:03:45] delicate. Because young been

[1:03:46] abused, abused. It's crazy.

[1:03:47] Devil we energies employee a

[1:03:49] union do show up at a hearing.

[1:03:50] We're trying to say they don't

[1:03:52] build a gas plant. It's going

[1:03:53] to kill people. People don't

[1:03:54] want it. They don't even know

[1:03:55] what's happening. It's going

[1:03:56] to cost of so much money and

[1:03:57] then it's going to not want

[1:04:00] be used anymore. We're still

[1:04:00] gonna pay for it. We can't

[1:04:05] afford anything else in our

[1:04:07] lives. And this brave man steps

[1:04:09] up because the utility said go

[1:04:10] and he reads a statement about

[1:04:11] how he's so grateful that the

[1:04:14] utility give says family health

[1:04:14] care's that his child or

[1:04:15] whoever loved one in his life

[1:04:18] can actually get health care to

[1:04:19] deal with the illness that they

[1:04:20] most likely got from the fact

[1:04:23] that they work at a coal plant.

[1:04:32] It's just not hard to do.

[1:04:34] It's just not hard. And it's

[1:04:35] so clear that in 10 years, 20

[1:04:36] years, 50 years from now,

[1:04:37] depending on how this goes,

[1:04:39] everybody's a look back and

[1:04:39] say, well, what did you all do

[1:04:41] with a 9 people heared? What

[1:04:42] job do about it? Because

[1:04:43] everybody was telling you what

[1:04:46] the f to do about it. Did you

[1:04:50] do it?

[1:04:53] Thank you.

[1:05:07] A technical question and maybe

[1:05:07] first-look answer just ones.

[1:05:09] That is what are the typical

[1:05:11] models that are used for me as

[1:05:13] well should because we have a

[1:05:14] large public shareholder on

[1:05:17] utility that is regional, as

[1:05:17] he's pointed out.

[1:05:23] There are no generating

[1:05:24] stations in what is one

[1:05:25] generating station in with the

[1:05:26] city of Milwaukee. That's very

[1:05:29] small, primarily supplies

[1:05:31] steam. The major generating

[1:05:32] capacity is outside the city of

[1:05:33] Milwaukee. And in some cases

[1:05:36] outside the county of

[1:05:37] Milwaukee.

[1:05:39] There's transmission lines

[1:05:42] which is a high voltage long

[1:05:44] distance transmission

[1:05:46] equipment, their substations,

[1:05:46] theirs. The distribution

[1:05:48] network, which is the poles and

[1:05:50] wires we see in our

[1:05:52] neighborhoods. And then there's

[1:05:53] this vast array. As MISTER

[1:05:55] Rosenberg pointed out, there's

[1:05:55] material yards. There's even

[1:05:57] Tories of Poles and

[1:05:59] transformers and spare parts

[1:06:00] sitting in a yard waiting to be

[1:06:03] deployed in the case of renewal

[1:06:05] or repair.

[1:06:06] And then the whole question of

[1:06:07] all their vehicle to me, they

[1:06:09] must have 1000 light trucks are

[1:06:12] hundreds of light trucks that

[1:06:12] we it is a situation where

[1:06:14] okay, you get 3, we get one.

[1:06:15] You get 3 of these. We get one

[1:06:17] of these. The how does this

[1:06:19] work in practice? One of the

[1:06:22] models for municipal as Asian

[1:06:22] or is this more financial

[1:06:25] exercise where we basically are

[1:06:27] become just a reseller of power

[1:06:29] and leave the infrastructure

[1:06:30] under the ownership most or all

[1:06:31] of it and continue ownership

[1:06:34] of the shareholder when

[1:06:35] utility.

[1:06:37] That would. That would be where

[1:06:38] the feasibility study comes

[1:06:43] into play to look at all that.

[1:06:45] But generally. The public care

[1:06:46] utility, most public power

[1:06:47] utilities are distribution,

[1:06:50] only utilities. So you would

[1:06:52] likely. One option would be to

[1:06:53] just purchased the distribution

[1:06:54] system, which would be the clue

[1:06:56] to the polls on the wires

[1:06:58] within the city of Milwaukee.

[1:06:59] And then you would out there

[1:07:01] and then you would get your

[1:07:02] power supply from somewhere

[1:07:04] else you could. If you wanted

[1:07:05] to generate it yourself, you

[1:07:09] could. But most public power

[1:07:10] utilities purchase Harris plan

[1:07:12] on the open market or they work

[1:07:13] with joint action agencies

[1:07:14] which are groups of public

[1:07:16] power, utilities that come

[1:07:18] together for power supply.

[1:07:18] So they'll so here in

[1:07:21] Wisconsin, wpp, I energy is

[1:07:24] a joint actually agency that

[1:07:25] provides power to their members

[1:07:26] in Wisconsin in I believe

[1:07:30] they've one or 2 in Michigan

[1:07:31] as well. So they the purchase

[1:07:33] date the community will

[1:07:34] purchase power supply from

[1:07:36] those entities in terms of

[1:07:38] trucks and those types of

[1:07:40] equipment that could that could

[1:07:40] be negotiated. But likely the

[1:07:43] city would purchase their

[1:07:44] tracks. There are materials

[1:07:49] moving forward. He wouldn't.

[1:07:50] Purchase them from we energies.

[1:07:53] Mostly we ever do. Most likely

[1:07:53] you would purchase and have

[1:07:56] your own supply yard where you

[1:07:57] would have a, you know, a

[1:08:02] supply of poles and wires and

[1:08:03] so forth and I will say on the

[1:08:06] the idea of when there's a

[1:08:08] storm or you need extra

[1:08:08] assistance, you know, public

[1:08:09] power utilities, if the city of

[1:08:13] Milwaukee were to form of

[1:08:14] public power utility, your

[1:08:16] crews would live and work in

[1:08:17] the community that the first

[1:08:19] priority in a storm would be

[1:08:20] to restore power here in

[1:08:23] Milwaukee. So you have people

[1:08:23] that understand the system.

[1:08:26] They lived here. Their friends

[1:08:27] and family are here. They have

[1:08:30] a vested interest in return.

[1:08:30] Restoring

[1:08:33] power quickly beyond that,

[1:08:34] there is a mutual aid network

[1:08:35] of public power, utilities,

[1:08:38] investor owned utilities,

[1:08:39] co-ops.

[1:08:40] Come together. A ppa is the

[1:08:43] national convener of Public

[1:08:44] Power. Utilities that set

[1:08:48] whenever there is an unexpected

[1:08:49] storm. We meet. We have

[1:08:52] regional coordinators to me

[1:08:54] throughout the U.S. And they

[1:08:56] stage crews to come in and help

[1:08:58] public power utilities. And

[1:08:59] then once they've restored

[1:09:02] power to those public pair

[1:09:02] utilities, they help with co-op

[1:09:03] restoration and investor owned

[1:09:06] utility restoration as well.

[1:09:07] So just because you have a

[1:09:08] public Perry utility doesn't

[1:09:11] mean you don't have broader

[1:09:12] access to cruise.

[1:09:12] Across the country and often

[1:09:15] it is across the country.

[1:09:17] You start regionally that we've

[1:09:20] had crews from Washington State

[1:09:22] go to Florida to help with some

[1:09:24] of these storm restoration.

[1:09:25] So there is a network out

[1:09:27] there, but I would say it is

[1:09:34] extremely important to protect.

[1:09:35] The the employees and the Union

[1:09:35] employees. When you go through

[1:09:36] this and there are ways to do

[1:09:39] that, that's extremely

[1:09:42] important.

[1:09:48] And there are multiple ways to

[1:09:49] do that. So I think that but

[1:09:52] that goes without saying is you

[1:09:53] you went to whether it's

[1:09:56] providing them the same

[1:09:56] package, whether it's

[1:09:59] outsourcing your operations and

[1:10:00] bringing them on as employees.

[1:10:01] There are different ways to do

[1:10:06] that. But that is extremely

[1:10:07] important. Would this be a

[1:10:07] more efficient exercise?

[1:10:10] It was all a Milwaukee County.

[1:10:13] Which is 245 square miles.

[1:10:16] Milwaukee's 96 square miles.

[1:10:19] Milwaukee County's 900 and

[1:10:20] 40,000 people. The city's 5.70,

[1:10:23] and dropping. I'm just curious

[1:10:25] with that being more efficient

[1:10:28] model to at least aspire to.

[1:10:29] I believe. So. I believe that

[1:10:30] that I legally might be more

[1:10:33] efficient, but that would still

[1:10:35] run into the same legal

[1:10:37] complications of just how big

[1:10:38] the we energies infrastructure

[1:10:40] is and the realities. And I'm

[1:10:43] not an engineer. I went to law

[1:10:44] school an bad at math. But you

[1:10:46] know, that goes into the

[1:10:46] realities of just how big this

[1:10:47] infrastructure is and how

[1:10:50] intertwined it is throughout

[1:10:52] southeastern Wisconsin. Any

[1:10:54] other questions of the board?

[1:10:55] Yeah, I've got a few. Sure.

[1:10:56] Thank you so much. Yes. So just

[1:10:58] a couple things that popped up

[1:11:00] in And the I just want make

[1:11:04] sure the listening audience in

[1:11:06] the folks here we touched a

[1:11:07] little bit on revenue. Bonds

[1:11:10] for says general obligation

[1:11:11] to finance on. I just want to

[1:11:11] point out a couple things.

[1:11:13] Can't think maybe you can

[1:11:15] confirm been your research is

[1:11:17] found when the city revenue

[1:11:19] bonds to acquire income

[1:11:22] producing assets such as the

[1:11:26] infrastructure of utility that

[1:11:26] does not count against r

[1:11:28] bonding cap in the state's

[1:11:31] constitution. Is that correct?

[1:11:32] As far as I'm aware, I did not

[1:11:32] have the opportunity to do

[1:11:34] extensive research on that

[1:11:38] topic. That was a little bit

[1:11:39] outside my original parameters.

[1:11:40] But to my knowledge, that is

[1:11:41] correct. And that stated in

[1:11:42] Article 6 of the right of the

[1:11:43] state's constitution, that that

[1:11:46] cap is exceeded when it comes

[1:11:47] to. So the the question and

[1:11:49] then a revenue by your research

[1:11:52] is structured in a way that

[1:11:54] like the city itself are other

[1:11:56] assets besides the utility

[1:11:57] infrastructure would not rdr

[1:11:59] Treasury would not be on the

[1:11:59] hook when a revenue bond is

[1:12:02] issuing of years. Looking

[1:12:02] provides more details and that

[1:12:03] too. So we issue a revenue bond

[1:12:07] to make the acquisition or to

[1:12:08] upgrade the infrastructure

[1:12:10] that doesn't. That means that

[1:12:11] will that hasn't. That hasn't

[1:12:12] downgraded the credit of these

[1:12:13] other cities that do this and

[1:12:15] it and it certainly hasn't put

[1:12:17] their treasuries in jeopardy

[1:12:18] or made the city's less

[1:12:19] financially viable. Could you

[1:12:20] could talk about that first

[1:12:22] live. You've seen that with

[1:12:25] the Saudis. Yeah, absolutely.

[1:12:26] And so with revenue bonds

[1:12:27] obviously all of the repayment

[1:12:30] comes from the revenue that is

[1:12:31] generated from the utility and

[1:12:33] a utility is an essential

[1:12:34] service. It's not a risky.

[1:12:38] There are there will be revenue

[1:12:39] generated from that utility.

[1:12:40] So that's what's used to pay

[1:12:41] back those revenue bonds.

[1:12:41] And so that's completely

[1:12:45] independent from the general

[1:12:46] obligation, bonds. And then

[1:12:47] once you have and you use as

[1:12:48] revenue bonds to acquire the

[1:12:51] system, once you've acquired

[1:12:55] the system, all the

[1:12:56] improvements or other other

[1:12:58] investments you make can be tax

[1:13:01] exempt. Bonds can be used for

[1:13:03] for any upgrades or anything

[1:13:05] after you've purchased the

[1:13:07] system. So that's a much that's

[1:13:08] a more financially feasible

[1:13:10] type of finds that you're

[1:13:11] saving money there by using

[1:13:13] those Texas infants. So I think

[1:13:14] there is there to benefits.

[1:13:15] They're both using the revenue

[1:13:16] bonds and then having access to

[1:13:18] tax exempt Bonds, ft from the

[1:13:19] utility. So I I like to think

[1:13:21] of and maybe even Craig, if I'm

[1:13:22] wrong. But I do think of this,

[1:13:23] as you know, this is but it's

[1:13:24] not legally assume it's a

[1:13:25] kitchen or cousin of a mortgage

[1:13:27] that we're taking out on this

[1:13:30] property just like when people

[1:13:31] decide to own their own home.

[1:13:31] Very rarely. Does anybody have

[1:13:32] the cash in their bank account

[1:13:35] to purchase the House? They

[1:13:37] will use credit to purchase

[1:13:37] that. But then that builds

[1:13:38] equity and you own an asset

[1:13:42] that and have more legal rights

[1:13:42] to it. It's like I mean, we

[1:13:44] found benefit with It sounds

[1:13:45] like with this. I mean, it's

[1:13:47] not you know, I just I just

[1:13:50] want to get from you or have

[1:13:51] you confirm because some of the

[1:13:52] concern that I've heard when

[1:13:53] I've been out about has been

[1:13:54] all this is going to wreck the

[1:13:56] city financially, but actually,

[1:13:57] you haven't found has there

[1:13:58] been any example that you're

[1:14:01] aware of across the United

[1:14:02] States? We're a municipal

[1:14:03] utility has caused the city

[1:14:07] to declare bankruptcy or been

[1:14:09] in financial ruin.

[1:14:10] No, okay. There's no. There's

[1:14:10] none. The are aware of that.

[1:14:12] All ok, in fact, in fact, it's

[1:14:13] actually like been the opposite

[1:14:14] because sometimes these

[1:14:15] utilities can make a transfer

[1:14:16] to the general fund it there

[1:14:17] if they have excess revenue.

[1:14:22] Yeah, absolutely. And that's

[1:14:23] one of the kind of the the

[1:14:24] primary benefits of public

[1:14:26] power. But another benefit of

[1:14:28] public power is you are any

[1:14:29] revenue that is generated

[1:14:30] generated from the utility

[1:14:31] stays in the community. It can

[1:14:34] go back into the system in

[1:14:35] terms of making system

[1:14:36] improvements or it can be used

[1:14:39] to reduce rates in the

[1:14:41] community.

[1:14:42] And most almost all, probably

[1:14:43] all public power utilities with

[1:14:45] the exception of Oklahoma

[1:14:47] because they don't allow it.

[1:14:49] But public power, utilities

[1:14:50] provide tax exempt or payments

[1:14:53] in lieu of taxes to the city.

[1:14:56] So extra revenue goes to the

[1:14:57] city to pay for other city

[1:14:57] needs whether it be the police

[1:14:59] department. The fire

[1:15:02] department. Public schools.

[1:15:06] Anything that is generated from

[1:15:09] the committee, the utility goes

[1:15:09] back into the city and state's

[1:15:10] here for us is going to see

[1:15:13] that stockholders who with our

[1:15:15] water department. Exactly.

[1:15:15] Yeah, already has a publicly

[1:15:18] owned utility and that is the

[1:15:19] water park and inequities and

[1:15:20] in the past, MR. Sure you can

[1:15:21] confirm we've received payments

[1:15:23] maybe not every year, but we've

[1:15:24] received payments and or

[1:15:25] general fund. Everybody put

[1:15:26] your hands are a little tacky.

[1:15:27] That's exactly what we do know

[1:15:29] is that it's, you know, them.

[1:15:30] I had some further questions if

[1:15:30] you don't mind, sir. Thank you

[1:15:31] so much. Yeah, so that I just

[1:15:33] really appreciate that because

[1:15:34] that's a complicated issue.

[1:15:35] But I think I really appreciate

[1:15:37] what Brian brought the table

[1:15:38] that in the end like there's

[1:15:41] complexities. But it's a simple

[1:15:42] concept that we want to own

[1:15:43] one. Our own power. Jen, we

[1:15:50] want to own our own utility.

[1:15:51] You're right on. And just

[1:15:54] for Grant when we talk about

[1:15:55] potentially bring in a 3rd

[1:15:56] party because I complete my

[1:15:56] bed. I was the PRESIDENT Of

[1:15:59] local. I can please stand with

[1:16:03] organized labor in everything

[1:16:04] that I do But I do see

[1:16:05] friction a little bit here

[1:16:07] where we have we have an

[1:16:08] entity. I I think it is

[1:16:08] possible. I'll say this.

[1:16:09] I think it is possible for a

[1:16:11] good employer which we are just

[1:16:13] maybe I can't speak to that.

[1:16:14] But what we have possible for

[1:16:15] good employer to be a bad

[1:16:18] member of the community.

[1:16:18] I think that's what's going on.

[1:16:21] I'm here. It's going that, you

[1:16:25] know, those 2 tracks.

[1:16:26] So we want, you know, we've

[1:16:27] been just honor that. We want

[1:16:28] to honor with the world with

[1:16:29] the workers have their. I

[1:16:29] haven't heard that from.

[1:16:30] I mean, there have been

[1:16:31] winners. Employees have told me

[1:16:34] we're just not a good employer.

[1:16:35] So I would, you know, challenge

[1:16:35] the union also to make sure

[1:16:36] they're asking every single

[1:16:39] member what their thoughts are,

[1:16:42] too. But as far as the 3rd

[1:16:43] party entity that we could

[1:16:43] bring in that is legally

[1:16:44] possible to be identified for

[1:16:47] us to manage the day-to-day

[1:16:48] operations to avoid at 10

[1:16:48] concerns. And this for birdie

[1:16:51] in the audience are listening.

[1:16:51] X 10 is the law that strips

[1:16:52] what Wisconsin's public sector

[1:16:54] workers from collective

[1:16:56] bargaining to have contracts

[1:16:57] similar to what Idw has with.

[1:16:59] Well, we energies, but there

[1:17:01] wouldn't be anything legally

[1:17:04] stopping these workers of we

[1:17:05] energies from themselves.

[1:17:06] Forming a worker co-op to

[1:17:08] manage the day-to-day

[1:17:10] operations caught the boss

[1:17:11] entirely for legally forming a

[1:17:13] worker. Co-op that there's

[1:17:13] works with the union to have

[1:17:15] the same wages or better wages

[1:17:17] and benefits than we are just

[1:17:18] currently has. Is there

[1:17:19] anything the found in the

[1:17:19] statute that prohibits

[1:17:21] something like that as we move

[1:17:23] forward? There's nothing that I

[1:17:24] have found in any statutes that

[1:17:27] prohibits that the obligations

[1:17:28] of any 3rd party management

[1:17:30] entity really depend, you know,

[1:17:32] their primary legal obligation,

[1:17:33] as you know, if they are

[1:17:37] acquiring these employees and

[1:17:38] they intend to take on all of

[1:17:39] the currently unionized

[1:17:42] workforce that it was within

[1:17:44] the acquisition. They have an

[1:17:45] obligation to at the very least

[1:17:46] come to the bargaining table

[1:17:49] with those workforce is no,

[1:17:50] they are not legally obligated

[1:17:51] to honor the collective

[1:17:53] bargaining agreement as it

[1:17:55] currently stands. But they are

[1:17:58] obligated to go to the table

[1:18:02] with the union, which in any

[1:18:04] possible world could result in

[1:18:06] a better collective bargaining

[1:18:07] agreement. So there is really

[1:18:08] nothing legally that stop at

[1:18:09] 3rd party. Managing entity is a

[1:18:11] matter of the will of the

[1:18:12] third-party managing entity

[1:18:13] and we can build that will

[1:18:16] through worker power on the

[1:18:18] job site. All just all this

[1:18:19] comment that I'm interested for

[1:18:20] a question first love because

[1:18:21] of that. The issue has come

[1:18:22] up. When I talk to constituents

[1:18:23] of people about this issue of

[1:18:26] small towns, right, that is

[1:18:27] then the narrative being.

[1:18:29] Oh, well, you know, this works

[1:18:30] for Lily white, rural

[1:18:31] Wisconsin. They have a little

[1:18:33] weight, Jefferson, Wisconsin,

[1:18:34] to have a municipal

[1:18:36] utility. But nope, big, scary

[1:18:38] Milwaukee. This is going to be

[1:18:39] messed up. I'm here in

[1:18:40] Milwaukee is the narrative that

[1:18:41] the right wing and I'm sure

[1:18:42] talk radio is going to be.

[1:18:43] You're going to take that clip

[1:18:46] and put it up on 11:30am.

[1:18:48] Some point soon, too. The so

[1:18:49] that's that's the narrative

[1:18:50] right is like, oh, this works

[1:18:51] in in small towns. The biggest

[1:18:52] one we have in Wisconsin as

[1:18:53] Manitowoc, which I believe is

[1:18:54] just over 40,000 people.

[1:18:57] So barely a drop compared to

[1:18:57] what we have is forced

[1:18:58] population. But you made a

[1:18:59] comedy one time that it cares

[1:19:02] if you could elaborate more

[1:19:03] on that. There was some of the

[1:19:05] reasons that we don't have more

[1:19:07] of these big city utilities

[1:19:08] because of the political will

[1:19:11] that the utility industry has

[1:19:11] to squash these things

[1:19:13] specifically lake in Cleveland

[1:19:15] when Dennis Kuz it was the

[1:19:16] mayor. How the the actually try

[1:19:18] to wrestle the Cleveland

[1:19:20] utility from the city and put

[1:19:21] back in private hands. I'm not

[1:19:22] saying you need to be clear

[1:19:23] that situation. But the gist is

[1:19:24] that what you're seeing is that

[1:19:24] what you guys are seeing that

[1:19:25] there's a political is more of

[1:19:28] a political fight regarding

[1:19:29] with the big cities.

[1:19:31] Yes, absolutely. And you know,

[1:19:33] and I think part of the reason

[1:19:34] the big cities are often run

[1:19:36] by investor owned utility are

[1:19:37] served by investor owned

[1:19:40] utilities or that, you know,

[1:19:43] when electricity first.

[1:19:44] I guess. Yeah, the investor

[1:19:46] owned utilities were willing to

[1:19:48] serve those large communities

[1:19:50] because they were profitable

[1:19:51] and they weren't willing to

[1:19:53] serve smaller communities.

[1:19:55] So that's why public power

[1:19:57] utilities started in small and

[1:19:58] rural electric cooperatives.

[1:20:00] Strip started in small

[1:20:00] communities because the

[1:20:01] investor owned utilities were

[1:20:02] willing to serve them. That was

[1:20:04] the only way they could get

[1:20:05] power. So that's why you see a

[1:20:06] lot of large utilities are

[1:20:09] currently served by investor

[1:20:12] owned utilities

[1:20:13] we have seen a handful that

[1:20:14] have transitioned from investor

[1:20:15] owned utilities to public

[1:20:18] power. They don't because the

[1:20:22] company's Hilla t. We'll lose a

[1:20:23] lot of money if they were to

[1:20:25] form of public power utility

[1:20:26] there, you know, by Milwaukee

[1:20:27] forming a public or utility,

[1:20:29] they're losing a million

[1:20:31] customers. They're more willing

[1:20:33] to give up a community of

[1:20:34] 20,000 customers than they are

[1:20:39] larger community. So they're

[1:20:40] going to fight it much harder.

[1:20:41] They're going to there will be

[1:20:42] loss or suits. There will be pr

[1:20:43] campaigns and you have to be

[1:20:43] prepared for that. But they're

[1:20:47] not going to give up easily

[1:20:48] because it's a it's a lot of

[1:20:49] profit. A lot of customers, a

[1:20:50] lot of revenue that they're

[1:20:54] going to lose by by losing

[1:20:56] these larger cities.

[1:20:58] I would like to add to our

[1:20:58] experience in the public

[1:21:01] Service Commission docket work

[1:21:03] the last 4 years. He's made

[1:21:06] it really clear and attempts to

[1:21:11] to like prohibit.

[1:21:14] We energies use of rate payer

[1:21:14] dollars to effectively lobby

[1:21:16] against public interest rates.

[1:21:20] So they making campaign and

[1:21:21] political donations. They are

[1:21:23] slap a new name on any

[1:21:24] building. Even if that building

[1:21:25] has to do with I don't know

[1:21:29] that climate science or public

[1:21:31] health, which is

[1:21:31] again, insane using our our

[1:21:35] money right to do all their

[1:21:35] pr stuff. In some cases, we

[1:21:37] discovered that they're paying

[1:21:40] their attorneys over $3,000

[1:21:44] an hour.

[1:21:45] We're $1000 an hour. It's in

[1:21:46] regardless. It's insane, right?

[1:21:51] But that's not their money.

[1:21:55] That's that's our money.

[1:21:56] So I just I think it's very

[1:21:58] important right to on the one

[1:22:01] hand to know that like that's

[1:22:04] reckless use of public funds

[1:22:06] rate for relief for private

[1:22:07] gain. That also really works

[1:22:08] and distorts our political

[1:22:09] system. So it becomes really

[1:22:11] difficult to find political

[1:22:16] solutions in a situation where

[1:22:18] you have such thorough.

[1:22:19] Corporate capture of regulatory

[1:22:21] agencies and the Legislature

[1:22:22] by extension. And thank you so

[1:22:25] much that Brennan Mike's my

[1:22:25] question to the Idw would be

[1:22:27] that, you know what? We seem to

[1:22:29] have the bones of a path here

[1:22:31] to honor what you guys have

[1:22:31] with we energies, if not

[1:22:35] improve it for the day-to-day

[1:22:38] worker and so we have this path

[1:22:39] and if we are able to outline

[1:22:41] and find even more about this

[1:22:42] path and clarify it, will the

[1:22:45] ibew public to support this?

[1:22:49] Kelly comment whether or not

[1:22:50] they're going to support or

[1:22:53] not, the ibew, his best

[1:22:54] interest is really just getting

[1:22:57] the best contract and benefits

[1:22:57] for its members.

[1:22:58] That's the only thing I can

[1:22:58] really say to that is a

[1:23:01] community benefit coming to

[1:23:02] your guys considerations.

[1:23:05] Yes, I can be a question for

[1:23:07] me. Sorry, okay.

[1:23:09] The what I've seen with my

[1:23:10] brothers and sisters in the

[1:23:12] ibew across this country is

[1:23:12] that there's been a politically

[1:23:14] joined the utilities to oppose

[1:23:15] these things. For example, in

[1:23:16] Maine, the question of public

[1:23:20] ownership was on the ballot

[1:23:20] in Maine. In addition to

[1:23:23] utilities, spending on a

[1:23:23] misleading ad campaign. The

[1:23:24] ibew joined with millions of

[1:23:26] dollars expended out of its

[1:23:27] political action committee.

[1:23:32] As far as the vote. No campaign

[1:23:33] in Maine. Are you aware of any

[1:23:35] place in the United States

[1:23:36] where the Idw has supported

[1:23:39] public power of public power.

[1:23:42] Endeavor.

[1:23:44] I am not aware of a vice chair

[1:23:44] in the union and operations

[1:23:47] dispatchers says about the

[1:23:48] level I have.

[1:23:49] And that's what I just want to

[1:23:50] assure these questions is

[1:23:51] questions, get get put out

[1:23:52] there. I mean, we stand in

[1:23:53] solidarity with rather it like

[1:23:55] and we want, you know, we want

[1:23:55] every dispatcher to have a

[1:24:00] better job. We just want the

[1:24:04] ceo did not have a job

[1:24:12] and like that's that's where

[1:24:13] that's where a little too early

[1:24:14] for. Our our case is not

[1:24:15] against anybody. A member of

[1:24:16] the committee member of bwi

[1:24:17] that I think a lot of the

[1:24:19] members of the committee are

[1:24:20] disappointed with iv w's

[1:24:23] continued support of we

[1:24:25] energies publicly on its

[1:24:26] lockstep support up. And also,

[1:24:27] frankly, in a week it w

[1:24:29] standing with the construction

[1:24:32] of data centers because of its

[1:24:33] support for ai. I think a lot

[1:24:34] of people are disappointed that

[1:24:36] because we want to be in

[1:24:37] solidarity with you all.

[1:24:38] But we're not seeing solidarity

[1:24:39] for the cup for the community,

[1:24:39] from the Brotherhood of

[1:24:42] electrical workers at this

[1:24:46] time.

[1:24:47] That's what we do best. We pull

[1:24:48] double that. So we build the

[1:24:51] worker, an economy that we

[1:24:52] want. You I'm very frank about

[1:24:53] that. Like that's how we build

[1:24:56] is what we all stand together.

[1:24:57] In 1, 1, union when one union

[1:24:59] says that my interest come

[1:25:00] before the rest of the

[1:25:03] community, everybody sees that

[1:25:04] when they might win. Union says

[1:25:05] ai data centers are so

[1:25:07] important that we have to have

[1:25:08] the political will to build

[1:25:09] them and constructing I don't I

[1:25:10] don't begrudge anybody building

[1:25:10] that. That is what I do.

[1:25:11] Not begrudge the day-to-day

[1:25:12] worker at a data center because

[1:25:13] they have a job and they need

[1:25:17] to feed their families too.

[1:25:17] But as an institution, I would

[1:25:20] call in the Idw to join the

[1:25:21] rest of committees to oppose

[1:25:24] data centers and up and join us

[1:25:27] in opposing we energies.

[1:25:30] I will say to the ibew credit,

[1:25:32] you know, the dnc has met with

[1:25:34] you guys like you could.

[1:25:35] We have had conversation like

[1:25:38] there's not been a closed door.

[1:25:40] I can really appreciate that

[1:25:41] So but I just don't want to

[1:25:42] offer these things. We have a

[1:25:42] legal path. We have a legal

[1:25:45] path of the union to set up a

[1:25:45] worker co-op and make it make

[1:25:48] and get on the best deal it can

[1:25:51] from that co-op it is legal

[1:25:52] for Good Corcoran. Costa have

[1:25:53] union contracts, a live mic,

[1:25:53] Seminole Strange. But that is a

[1:25:54] legal arrangement that could

[1:25:58] be created under existing law.

[1:25:59] Were you guys could set the

[1:26:00] wages and benefits that that

[1:26:01] you want and then we could have

[1:26:02] a managing entity and that's

[1:26:03] until we get back 10

[1:26:05] overturned, which I think MAY

[1:26:07] happen so it like and then you

[1:26:07] know that we can have you

[1:26:08] joined the, you know, in the

[1:26:12] Derby could have a contract

[1:26:13] with the city to the question

[1:26:15] of the grid because I do want

[1:26:16] to come back. I think maybe

[1:26:16] Ursula can speak to this.

[1:26:20] The question of of the grid

[1:26:21] like I mean, I really

[1:26:22] appreciate what we are just

[1:26:23] been saying that they're that

[1:26:24] they're more efficient, a grid

[1:26:24] white. I mean, that's that's

[1:26:25] the case for taking over the

[1:26:28] entire grid crosses in her

[1:26:30] state or nation, bring all that

[1:26:32] under public First, let like.

[1:26:34] Maybe you can comment like,

[1:26:35] for example, La is is the

[1:26:38] largest municipal utility in

[1:26:39] the country. I mean, they

[1:26:40] probably have a ring of suburbs

[1:26:42] that with Pg e I believe the

[1:26:44] Genie Service territory.

[1:26:46] What la for getting the exact

[1:26:46] name of their utility, but

[1:26:47] cell. And I think I know some

[1:26:48] people from the public comment

[1:26:50] or to be sharing some stories

[1:26:54] about the la above power and

[1:26:55] light as well. But

[1:26:56] you know how it how easily been

[1:26:58] as far as as far as its ability

[1:27:00] the Palisades fire happened?

[1:27:01] You know that what reckless?

[1:27:01] I mean, how did how did the

[1:27:04] public power utility respond to

[1:27:05] that and how to respond on a

[1:27:07] day to day, even if it is an

[1:27:07] island amidst pga Pacific Gas

[1:27:10] and electric side service

[1:27:14] territory.

[1:27:17] Well, I mean, I would say, you

[1:27:21] know, once again, it comes down

[1:27:23] to that local oversight.

[1:27:24] And, you know, when there are

[1:27:27] issues within the community or

[1:27:27] the utility.

[1:27:32] The committee, the utility has

[1:27:34] to respond. Because customers

[1:27:38] are. They're demanding answers.

[1:27:39] And the ceo and all the

[1:27:41] employees live and work in the

[1:27:44] community, they can walk up to

[1:27:44] the cfo of the Los Angeles

[1:27:47] Department of Water and Power

[1:27:48] in the grocery store. You know,

[1:27:51] they have immediate access to

[1:27:54] them. You can call the mayor

[1:27:57] and that is that encourage it

[1:27:58] forces the utilities to address

[1:28:01] the needs that that part of

[1:28:03] a concern. And of course there

[1:28:04] are there are wildfires in la

[1:28:04] as well and they have to But

[1:28:08] they have done a really good

[1:28:12] job.

[1:28:13] Restoring and rebuilding their

[1:28:14] system since that last wild

[1:28:14] fire. And we actually we have

[1:28:17] our cold front and national

[1:28:19] conference coming up starting

[1:28:20] tomorrow. And we have the

[1:28:22] interim general manager from

[1:28:23] Los Angeles Department of Water

[1:28:26] and Power coming to talk about

[1:28:27] how they went through that

[1:28:28] restoration effort and what

[1:28:29] they've learned and how can

[1:28:31] other public power utilities

[1:28:33] learn from them. So that's it.

[1:28:34] The public power network is

[1:28:35] really strong. The we learn

[1:28:38] from one another, they're

[1:28:39] willing to share best

[1:28:40] practices. And that's what a

[1:28:42] ppa is there to do is to make

[1:28:42] sure that public power

[1:28:44] utilities have an opportunity

[1:28:47] to learn from one another.

[1:28:48] Thank you so much and it seemed

[1:28:49] to me there was mutual aid from

[1:28:51] what I read these materials

[1:28:52] that when when the la well

[1:28:54] first happened, there was

[1:28:56] mutual aid from other municipal

[1:28:56] utilities. The came in, we have

[1:28:57] municipal utilities around the

[1:28:59] state of Wisconsin as well.

[1:29:00] We have wp Pa and I would

[1:29:01] appreciate you explain a little

[1:29:03] more about that because that's

[1:29:05] as a joint action agency.

[1:29:07] They build generation work with

[1:29:09] municipal utilities like so

[1:29:10] there's already it. Please

[1:29:11] confirm this. There's the right

[1:29:12] now in Wisconsin that exist

[1:29:15] today that municipal utility

[1:29:19] Milwaukee could link him to

[1:29:20] to for support and and

[1:29:20] generation facilities. And our

[1:29:23] could you please just elaborate

[1:29:24] more on toward action agencies

[1:29:24] are essentially their groups

[1:29:27] of public power, utilities that

[1:29:30] come together for power supply.

[1:29:31] So wpp,

[1:29:35] I energy is a joint action

[1:29:35] agency that has members thereby

[1:29:38] believe they have 50 or more

[1:29:40] members in Wisconsin and

[1:29:43] surrounding states. But there

[1:29:44] are joint action agencies all

[1:29:44] across the country. There are

[1:29:46] some in and whether you were

[1:29:49] served by wpp. I energy either

[1:29:51] is American municipal power at

[1:29:53] There are several in Minnesota

[1:29:54] and so those are opportunities.

[1:29:57] So you don't have to build your

[1:29:58] own power supply and joint

[1:29:59] action agencies can small surf,

[1:30:00] small communities, but they

[1:30:04] also serve Los Angeles

[1:30:05] Department of Water Power,

[1:30:06] Pasadena, a lot of those larger

[1:30:06] California utilities are served

[1:30:10] by the Southern California

[1:30:12] Public Power Authority. So it

[1:30:14] it's not a unique situation.

[1:30:18] It's all across the country

[1:30:18] and there they are. These

[1:30:20] provide both power supply that

[1:30:23] many of them provide additional

[1:30:24] services, whether it be energy

[1:30:27] efficiency programs, it MAY be

[1:30:28] safety training. Get the

[1:30:29] they've certain they provide a

[1:30:32] number of resources to help

[1:30:34] public power utilities provide

[1:30:35] better service to their

[1:30:39] customers. So this wouldn't be

[1:30:39] Milwaukee. Just going it alone.

[1:30:40] Now, there's that we're here

[1:30:41] for you guys that you have like

[1:30:43] 80 staff and your offices in

[1:30:44] Washington that are in the

[1:30:45] Washington area that service

[1:30:46] public power, utilities.

[1:30:50] And so I just want to confirm

[1:30:50] that lake, the level of

[1:30:52] expertise that we energies MAY

[1:30:56] have because of larger size

[1:30:58] couldn't be. We can provide an

[1:30:59] equal support for a public

[1:31:01] power entity in Milwaukee as

[1:31:02] well. Absolutely. In public

[1:31:05] pair utilities higher from the

[1:31:05] same pool of employees and

[1:31:09] individuals that investor owned

[1:31:10] utilities higher from many of

[1:31:12] our the general managers are

[1:31:13] CEOs of our utilities come from

[1:31:15] investor owned utilities and

[1:31:15] vice versa. So there is a

[1:31:20] there's it's not like there's

[1:31:21] just a that employee pool for

[1:31:22] investor owned utilities and

[1:31:25] co-ops and investor unease or

[1:31:28] public care utilities.

[1:31:28] It's everybody. So you're

[1:31:29] pulling from the same workforce

[1:31:32] that we energies is calling

[1:31:32] for, calling from. And then

[1:31:36] like I said before, the public

[1:31:37] power community, there are 2000

[1:31:39] public care utilities in the in

[1:31:42] the U.S. They have over time.

[1:31:44] Over at probably over a

[1:31:44] million. I don't know how many

[1:31:48] employees they have off the top

[1:31:48] of my head. But, you know,

[1:31:50] hundreds of thousands, if not

[1:31:51] more employees, they come to.

[1:31:52] They come together. They

[1:31:55] support one another through

[1:31:55] mutual aid. We have events

[1:31:56] where they come together.

[1:31:58] We have our national conference

[1:32:02] where we have 2000, almost 2000

[1:32:02] people coming this weekend to

[1:32:06] hear from other public power

[1:32:07] utilities network make

[1:32:08] connections so they can call

[1:32:10] each other when there is a

[1:32:13] crisis and or they just need

[1:32:15] help. They have questions and

[1:32:17] ap can can be a convener for

[1:32:18] that. But you also have the

[1:32:20] municipal electric utilities of

[1:32:21] Wisconsin there. And it's those

[1:32:22] state association here in

[1:32:24] Wisconsin that represents the

[1:32:24] Wisconsin utilities. You have

[1:32:26] the joint action agency.

[1:32:28] So there's a really strong

[1:32:30] their work within public power

[1:32:34] for support and resources to

[1:32:35] assist. Thank you so much.

[1:32:36] I MAY have further questions

[1:32:37] come, but I noticed I want to

[1:32:38] other people ask what are the

[1:32:40] questions from members of the

[1:32:41] board before we go to public

[1:32:43] commentary and just a quick

[1:32:44] question, her assault, if we

[1:32:48] go to this model of publicly

[1:32:49] owned utility in Milwaukee

[1:32:51] doesn't mean Milwaukee has to

[1:32:54] build its own power plant,

[1:32:57] right? They can buy on the open

[1:32:58] from And so can you live right

[1:32:59] on that? Because some people

[1:33:00] MAY be scattered. All we have

[1:33:01] to build their own power plant.

[1:33:03] Yeah, absolutely. The vast

[1:33:04] majority of public power

[1:33:05] utilities do not own

[1:33:09] generation. Some of them own

[1:33:12] small peaking units but very

[1:33:12] few own generation themselves.

[1:33:16] They buy it on the open market

[1:33:17] or they work through joint

[1:33:19] action agencies or partner with

[1:33:20] other public power utilities,

[1:33:24] even so definitely you can own

[1:33:24] some generation sometimes

[1:33:27] public power utilities are more

[1:33:28] inclined to maybe have solar

[1:33:32] generation or wind generation

[1:33:33] or renewable generation

[1:33:34] locally. But it really that's

[1:33:35] it's really the decision that

[1:33:36] the community makes on whether

[1:33:37] you have that or whether you

[1:33:40] purchase it on the open market.

[1:33:40] And that's where the

[1:33:41] feasibility study is an

[1:33:43] important part of that. It can

[1:33:46] look at what the options are,

[1:33:49] you know, and what is important

[1:33:51] to you as a community and work

[1:33:51] that into the feasibility

[1:33:52] analysis and determine what

[1:33:55] the costs would be. If you

[1:33:57] chose to.

[1:33:58] Invest in whatever you would

[1:33:59] like to invest in. Yeah, we

[1:34:00] energies has been particularly

[1:34:03] bad. I understand and buying

[1:34:03] renewable energy from

[1:34:07] individuals who has put solar

[1:34:08] panels on the roof. And so with

[1:34:11] this with this model is maybe

[1:34:12] maybe easier have solar panels

[1:34:13] on and housing with we wear

[1:34:16] than this new entity would buy

[1:34:17] it.

[1:34:17] Yeah, that's definitely a

[1:34:19] possibility. Once again, if

[1:34:21] the community wants that,

[1:34:24] that's what to keep the utility

[1:34:25] can do if they choose to.

[1:34:27] And and I believe all on the

[1:34:28] search area believe Alderwoman

[1:34:29] Taylor's on the board also have

[1:34:33] a question in my text messages

[1:34:33] I could ask is well on and so

[1:34:36] that she had issued a question

[1:34:40] or does he

[1:34:40] want to of all the all the

[1:34:44] other euro? Yeah. Hi. Thank you

[1:34:45] so much for letting me ask this

[1:34:48] question. I I guess I am.

[1:34:50] I'm excited about the idea of

[1:34:51] possibility of possibly having

[1:34:54] a public how utility company,

[1:34:57] but

[1:35:02] concern would be that with

[1:35:06] that. But with the everyday

[1:35:08] citizen who is has high deals.

[1:35:11] So that's why this topic would

[1:35:12] be of importance to me

[1:35:13] because here there are houses

[1:35:17] that have outdated, anything

[1:35:22] can run

[1:35:22] furnaces and things like that.

[1:35:24] And until you have high bills

[1:35:27] because of that, and so how

[1:35:31] does having a public power

[1:35:31] utility company

[1:35:37] it helped to make that better

[1:35:38] for for the everyday citizen

[1:35:39] and had the basically because

[1:35:40] they're renting. How does that

[1:35:42] how does that help or how would

[1:35:43] that affect them?

[1:35:44] It once again, it really comes

[1:35:46] down to it. That's an issue

[1:35:48] that's important to the

[1:35:49] community. Then public power,

[1:35:51] utilities all across the

[1:35:53] country offer different

[1:35:54] services every every community

[1:35:56] is different. They MAY have low

[1:35:58] income programs. They MAY have

[1:36:01] programs where they go in and

[1:36:02] renovate

[1:36:06] renovate the hvac or, you know,

[1:36:08] or have contracts with

[1:36:09] companies that can going to do

[1:36:10] that. And that's where each

[1:36:12] community is able to make the

[1:36:16] decision themselves. Obviously,

[1:36:17] a large investor owned utility

[1:36:17] can't customize the services

[1:36:18] for every single community

[1:36:20] serve when they serve multiple

[1:36:21] communities across many states

[1:36:24] often. So that's where public

[1:36:27] pair are really. It allows you

[1:36:27] to decide what you want to

[1:36:28] focus on. And if if that's

[1:36:33] important to the community.

[1:36:34] And you can develop

[1:36:35] those services 2 on for the

[1:36:37] two-year permit community.

[1:36:38] That's exactly what public

[1:36:38] power is. You can customize

[1:36:42] your services to meet the needs

[1:36:44] of your customers.

[1:36:46] Andy. And to be backing them

[1:36:46] are chair for Brian. You've

[1:36:48] participated a lot of these

[1:36:49] dockets before Public Service

[1:36:50] Commission. Can you confirm for

[1:36:52] me that the kind of mechanism

[1:36:54] here like the utility makes

[1:36:55] proposals to the psc and then

[1:36:58] the psc adjudicate those

[1:36:59] proposal. So

[1:37:01] you could. I'm imagining that

[1:37:01] we could make a proposal the

[1:37:02] psc to make it easier and

[1:37:05] better for low-income customers

[1:37:05] to keep the lights on here in

[1:37:07] Milwaukee or potentially even

[1:37:09] have a shot off moratorium,

[1:37:12] like I believe, is being

[1:37:13] practiced in la right now with

[1:37:13] our municipal utility. I mean,

[1:37:14] what you see the ripples, what

[1:37:16] do you see as far as the gamut

[1:37:16] in the possibility that we have

[1:37:17] for proposals? The psc we I

[1:37:18] believe they believe weeks left

[1:37:20] to go through them as a

[1:37:24] municipal utility. Yeah.

[1:37:25] I mean, I think.

[1:37:27] To some of what we were talking

[1:37:27] about earlier, the regulatory

[1:37:29] capture by the investor owned

[1:37:32] utility of the entity that is

[1:37:34] supposed to regulate it is a

[1:37:36] structural problem, right?

[1:37:37] And so you have 4 and the

[1:37:38] Department of Natural Resources

[1:37:39] is is implicated in this as

[1:37:42] well. And of course, the

[1:37:43] Legislature, 80.

[1:37:44] Because they all kind of pass

[1:37:46] the buck, right? They say will.

[1:37:51] And can they do that or if we

[1:37:52] do do that, vote with our like

[1:37:54] with the data and with

[1:37:56] community concern and with

[1:37:58] cetera, they will get fired

[1:38:00] because the legislation, the

[1:38:02] Legislature confirms

[1:38:03] appointments to the Public

[1:38:04] Service commission. So that's

[1:38:06] one problem, right? There's a

[1:38:10] structural issue about the

[1:38:11] regulatory system that just

[1:38:12] confers advantage to people who

[1:38:14] already have power and access.

[1:38:15] So that's a big problem

[1:38:16] specifically to your point

[1:38:17] around that. So what is our

[1:38:20] experience in the dockets ban?

[1:38:21] Well, that's

[1:38:22] was it like that's resistance,

[1:38:23] right? We do not want things to

[1:38:26] happen. Like rate increases.

[1:38:26] So will go argue against that.

[1:38:29] I would say pretty

[1:38:31] compellingly.

[1:38:32] The outcome of that first rate

[1:38:35] case in 20 to 22 win Walnut

[1:38:36] Way held its ground.

[1:38:38] Forced the public Service

[1:38:39] commission to mandate the

[1:38:42] utility we energies and some

[1:38:43] other intervening parties,

[1:38:46] including all the way to enter

[1:38:49] what became a 3 year.

[1:38:50] Conversation. I shouldn't

[1:38:52] downplay it. It was an

[1:38:52] investigative docket around

[1:38:55] affordability. How are we going

[1:38:57] to?

[1:39:00] Collectively negotiate the

[1:39:01] terms of a low-income

[1:39:02] affordability program that

[1:39:04] actually addresses the scale of

[1:39:08] the need of the utilities

[1:39:09] captive customers.

[1:39:12] It's a ridiculous sentence that

[1:39:12] I just said, right? Yeah.

[1:39:15] Okay. So making sure people are

[1:39:16] clocking that.

[1:39:19] Because that then falls back to

[1:39:21] hey. So if resistance is really

[1:39:21] hard, if what Coleman dates

[1:39:22] from that 3 year, nearly

[1:39:24] three-year process is a series

[1:39:27] of recommendations that pse

[1:39:28] staff makes to the

[1:39:29] commissioners. Then we are not

[1:39:32] their bank because people's

[1:39:32] bills aren't getting any less.

[1:39:34] But the people's bills are

[1:39:36] going down. They're only going

[1:39:36] up. So we actually haven't

[1:39:38] accomplished anything in that

[1:39:38] arena except for the

[1:39:39] realization that we need to

[1:39:44] do more than resist. We have to

[1:39:46] build right. So that we're and

[1:39:48] the psc is proactive and

[1:39:50] offering grants for feasibility

[1:39:51] studies around solar generation

[1:39:52] right along the way is going to

[1:39:55] build that some point in the

[1:39:58] short order, a megawatt of

[1:40:00] solar in Lindsay Heights.

[1:40:00] But how do how does that

[1:40:04] translate into immediate relief

[1:40:06] for? Residents of Lindsay

[1:40:08] Heights. That's really

[1:40:09] complicated. Legally. The

[1:40:11] ownership structure is a

[1:40:12] complicated why? Well, again,

[1:40:14] because our political system

[1:40:15] has been held hostage by the

[1:40:16] dictates of private capital.

[1:40:19] And Gail Clapper, you know,

[1:40:21] to, but I guess what I'm what

[1:40:25] I'm positive view is that like

[1:40:25] we could as a municipal

[1:40:27] utility, then make up our own

[1:40:29] positive proposals to the psc.

[1:40:31] You haven't seen anything

[1:40:33] that's blocked a good idea from

[1:40:34] being proposed by utility

[1:40:35] except except the utility

[1:40:36] investors not wanting to make

[1:40:38] of proposals re? Well, I mean,

[1:40:40] because as they say, like the

[1:40:41] system is, the system is so

[1:40:42] ridiculous. It's actually very,

[1:40:44] very brittle, right? It's

[1:40:46] actually not all that

[1:40:48] resilient. If the public knows

[1:40:51] the pressure points, this is a

[1:40:52] really good pressure point.

[1:40:53] Now some people say this is

[1:40:56] this is this doesn't make any

[1:40:58] sense because if we do this,

[1:40:58] then that means despite

[1:40:59] everything in your

[1:41:00] presentation, though, still

[1:41:04] assume conclude prematurely.

[1:41:05] That then that means we're just

[1:41:06] got the contract. We energies

[1:41:07] to operate the whole thing in

[1:41:07] the making charges, whatever

[1:41:11] they want to really lose money.

[1:41:11] And that's some people are

[1:41:14] running that argument right

[1:41:17] now. It lacks imagination.

[1:41:19] It

[1:41:21] also expects so. Yeah. So we

[1:41:21] see it. We can't listen to

[1:41:23] those people, right? We can't

[1:41:24] listen to. People were saying

[1:41:25] like, oh, I don't know what

[1:41:26] we've done this before with

[1:41:27] down the block. They've done it

[1:41:27] successfully for decades.

[1:41:31] We can't listen to the people

[1:41:32] who say, well, it's not use

[1:41:33] our imagination was not believe

[1:41:35] in the people to think together

[1:41:37] to solve their own problems.

[1:41:37] We're gonna build a megawatt of

[1:41:39] solar in the heights. We're

[1:41:40] going to figure out a way again

[1:41:41] this year point to the Public

[1:41:42] Service Commission got a really

[1:41:45] good idea on how to connect

[1:41:46] that in 2, the current energy

[1:41:49] grid and then because we don't

[1:41:51] have community solar enabling

[1:41:52] legislation because we can't

[1:41:54] with the figure out another

[1:41:56] way to channel a bill credit.

[1:41:57] 2 people who live in the

[1:41:58] Lindsay Heights improvement

[1:41:59] neighborhood improvement,

[1:42:00] District 2. But that's what

[1:42:00] we'll be right will generate

[1:42:04] this power will store some.

[1:42:05] We'll sell. We come back and

[1:42:06] what we make. We then

[1:42:07] distribute as a bill credit to

[1:42:08] the residents living there,

[1:42:11] bringing down people's energy

[1:42:12] right? Also, let's talk about

[1:42:13] comprehensive solutions because

[1:42:14] you can't think about this in

[1:42:16] isolation. The energy system

[1:42:17] dictates. I mean. A friend of

[1:42:18] mine is writing a book about

[1:42:19] energy policy. And if you can

[1:42:22] tell the history of the world

[1:42:25] just through. Looking at the

[1:42:27] oil tankers, Satan.

[1:42:29] Abby Martin just released an

[1:42:30] incredible documentary about

[1:42:31] the United States military

[1:42:35] complex is the largest consumer

[1:42:38] of fossil fuels.

[1:42:39] Watch that. But the

[1:42:41] comprehensive. But this is not

[1:42:42] a comprehensive approach.

[1:42:44] It is going to not be as

[1:42:45] effective as it could be.

[1:42:46] Otherwise. That's why we would

[1:42:47] want to have a city wide

[1:42:48] discussion about this and then

[1:42:50] a citywide utility tonight by

[1:42:51] the county wide discussion to

[1:42:52] Alderman Bauman's point.

[1:42:54] I think it's really salient and

[1:42:56] we MAY we MAY be constructed

[1:42:56] by statute on that because one

[1:42:57] 97 is only for municipalities,

[1:43:01] but I believe one 98, which

[1:43:02] we haven't fully explored.

[1:43:02] But chapter one, 98 provides

[1:43:04] for multiple municipalities

[1:43:06] to join together. Is that

[1:43:06] correct? That is my

[1:43:07] understanding. Yes. So there's

[1:43:11] there are possibilities there

[1:43:12] as well.

[1:43:14] And I love cops aren't sure

[1:43:15] don't know. You're doing fine.

[1:43:18] I'm just saying like if we're

[1:43:20] having this discussion because

[1:43:23] evil corporate actor is making

[1:43:24] lives difficult for everybody,

[1:43:27] workers and everybody remember

[1:43:28] the hands that raise an

[1:43:29] unexpected expense. Then it

[1:43:30] makes sense that we would be

[1:43:33] having this same conversation

[1:43:33] about any other system that

[1:43:37] delivers necessary benefit to

[1:43:39] the public right. So we're

[1:43:39] talking about in terms of

[1:43:40] energy and we energies. Why

[1:43:44] would we not also be talking

[1:43:46] about it? And so I just we've

[1:43:48] got to stress that like all of

[1:43:49] this is connected. And thus

[1:43:49] the problems are systemic and

[1:43:51] we have the power to figure

[1:43:54] out in advance solutions and

[1:43:58] I applaud this as it as it

[1:44:00] really. Encouraging step in

[1:44:03] that direction. Okay. Thank you

[1:44:03] so much

[1:44:08] in that MR. Him that I have

[1:44:08] 2 questions

[1:44:11] does establishing a municipal

[1:44:13] public utility.

[1:44:15] Take you out from under the

[1:44:16] Public Service Commission

[1:44:19] regulation? No, it does not.

[1:44:21] It is still under the psc.

[1:44:23] And as that happened in some

[1:44:25] states, there are only 12

[1:44:26] states that public power

[1:44:27] utilities are regulated by the

[1:44:28] Public Service Commission.

[1:44:29] So it it's unique, but there

[1:44:32] are 11 other states that do

[1:44:34] that as well.

[1:44:34] Thank you. And my other

[1:44:37] question, just out of

[1:44:40] curiosity.

[1:44:43] Have there been any?

[1:44:44] Municipalities that had public

[1:44:45] utilities that have gone the

[1:44:48] other direction that it

[1:44:50] privatized.

[1:44:51] Yeah. And once again, there's

[1:44:51] ownership changes in either

[1:44:53] direction or air. They're

[1:44:57] pretty even. You know, we do

[1:44:57] have it is also very small

[1:44:59] communities that typically have

[1:45:01] not been maintaining their

[1:45:03] system that and they usually

[1:45:04] sell to a rural electric

[1:45:04] cooperative. Actually, they

[1:45:07] very rarely sell to an investor

[1:45:08] owned utility. It's almost

[1:45:10] always a rural electric

[1:45:11] cooperative that surrounds

[1:45:14] them. And there are those small

[1:45:14] communities that have just it's

[1:45:17] easier for them to sell to the

[1:45:20] to the co-op. So that does that

[1:45:21] changes happen in both

[1:45:21] directions. But there's no huge

[1:45:24] movement in either direction.

[1:45:25] To be honest.

[1:45:27] And that it all just offer that

[1:45:28] did happen in Wisconsin.

[1:45:29] We have 82 municipal utility

[1:45:30] went on to 81. It was a rural

[1:45:33] community. I'm forgetting the

[1:45:33] name right now. But there was a

[1:45:34] world community that decided

[1:45:36] it was a town of 600 people and

[1:45:39] they decided why are we doing

[1:45:41] this separately? We have a and

[1:45:42] so they made a decision

[1:45:43] democratically to does all that

[1:45:44] and join. I believe the role

[1:45:45] Co-operative, the I believe was

[1:45:48] dairyland that they joined up

[1:45:49] with. I also add, though, like

[1:45:50] the existence of the public

[1:45:52] service commission and this

[1:45:56] sort of uniqueness of their

[1:45:57] regulating public power.

[1:45:58] It could actually be a real

[1:46:02] advantage to as much as as much

[1:46:02] as I complain about the public

[1:46:03] service commission and the

[1:46:06] valid complaints. They know it.

[1:46:08] They're brilliant. You know, I

[1:46:10] mean, look, they're really,

[1:46:11] really smart, dedicated people

[1:46:15] that, you know, public servants

[1:46:16] that are committed to.

[1:46:17] Doing things correctly, right?

[1:46:20] So like they are rigorous and

[1:46:21] and they will accept good

[1:46:22] ideas, right? I think it's

[1:46:23] again, not about individuals

[1:46:26] working in institutions, but

[1:46:28] rather like the institutions

[1:46:29] themselves just structurally

[1:46:33] don't allow for the best ideas.

[1:46:36] The best methods, the best data

[1:46:37] to prevail. So I think under

[1:46:38] different circumstances and

[1:46:40] different structural

[1:46:41] arrangements that regulatory

[1:46:44] relationship would actually

[1:46:46] be extremely beneficial as

[1:46:47] another layer of oversight and

[1:46:50] regulation on top of the local

[1:46:53] institutions.

[1:46:54] Okay. I think we can go to

[1:46:57] public comment. We're all on

[1:46:57] schedule.

[1:46:59] And MR. Believe a few of our

[1:47:01] experts do need to leave at

[1:47:05] some point. Take a look at what

[1:47:05] the experts are willing to

[1:47:06] welcome to stay for goal,

[1:47:07] whoever your schedules require

[1:47:08] because we will use the

[1:47:09] standing. Mike for public

[1:47:10] comment. So the folks at the

[1:47:13] table can stay at the table if

[1:47:14] they wish to.

[1:47:17] So we were trying to close this

[1:47:20] off

[1:47:21] at noon. So that gives us 65 to

[1:47:22] hear public testimony. I'm

[1:47:25] going to try to restrict full.

[1:47:28] We have 46.

[1:47:29] Forms filled out for public

[1:47:32] testimony. It here, folks have

[1:47:32] the same basic message for us.

[1:47:35] You're you're you're entitled

[1:47:38] to be brief.

[1:47:40] There's no there's no

[1:47:41] requirement that we reinvent

[1:47:44] the wheel every 46 times a week

[1:47:46] testify here. And so we will go

[1:47:46] in the order that they were

[1:47:50] collected and please used to

[1:47:52] standing. Mike and we will jump

[1:47:53] right into again. We will we

[1:47:57] have the time or if we're going

[1:47:58] to try to put folks on a 2

[1:47:59] minute time. Secrets are out of

[1:48:00] respect for everybody. So for

[1:48:03] everybody, almost everybody can

[1:48:05] be heard. What we're trying

[1:48:06] to get the 42 in in 65 minutes.

[1:48:09] So that's a little under 2

[1:48:10] minutes ever change.

[1:48:13] Could we get field glasses out

[1:48:17] there?

[1:48:20] Okay. First up is a morrow

[1:48:23] Aaron.

[1:48:27] MR. Chair. If you read the

[1:48:28] second or 3rd mean to them, a

[1:48:29] couple people can line up in

[1:48:33] John McIntyre after that, Lisa

[1:48:36] Cottrell after that.

[1:48:39] I live in River a tutor.

[1:48:40] I worked for historic theater.

[1:48:43] Every degree in media studies.

[1:48:44] I'm not here with a group lets

[1:48:45] you consider my neighbors or

[1:48:48] friends who can't be here

[1:48:49] because they work 9 to 5.

[1:48:49] It's been a long time since I

[1:48:53] could afford to work one job.

[1:48:54] And one of the things that I

[1:48:58] really struggle with is with

[1:49:01] our bills with we energies,

[1:49:02] we've seen concentrate heights

[1:49:03] rate hikes. Despite 1.6 billion

[1:49:07] dollars in profit. Last I heard

[1:49:09] for we energies. I know the ceo

[1:49:09] has also talked about the $0

[1:49:12] paid in taxes. Please correct

[1:49:13] me if I'm wrong on that.

[1:49:14] And I'm thinking about the

[1:49:16] future. I don't want to beg

[1:49:17] for mercy from we energies when

[1:49:20] it comes to deciding rates.

[1:49:21] We have constant outages,

[1:49:24] constant gas leaks of survive.

[1:49:25] 3 gas leaks at home. Now.

[1:49:26] One of the things we know

[1:49:27] that's happening due to climate

[1:49:31] change. Tornado Alley is

[1:49:32] shifting further east, even in

[1:49:33] Milwaukee, which normally has

[1:49:35] been well protected by the

[1:49:36] lake. We're seeing much more

[1:49:37] common like the large storms,

[1:49:40] damaging trees and

[1:49:41] infrastructure.

[1:49:43] And I do think it's ironic that

[1:49:44] the we energies representative

[1:49:45] talks about the city taking a

[1:49:46] gamble when we energies is

[1:49:48] insisting that we as a city

[1:49:51] allowed data centers to foist

[1:49:52] the risks of data center

[1:49:53] center, credit requirements on

[1:49:53] to regular rate pairs as

[1:49:56] reported by Wisconsin. Watch.

[1:49:58] My background in media studies

[1:50:00] of one of the things that I

[1:50:01] really want to be able to

[1:50:02] communicate. I know I've a

[1:50:04] short amount of time is up to

[1:50:06] speak about the tech bubble.

[1:50:09] Obviously, technology is sort

[1:50:09] of a hot moment right now.

[1:50:11] Commerce is flowing quickly and

[1:50:13] intensely, but it is a volatile

[1:50:13] market. And everybody right now

[1:50:16] is trying to get theirs before

[1:50:18] this bubble bursts. The tech

[1:50:18] comes on quick is funded

[1:50:20] frequently by actors in the

[1:50:23] defense sector. Rarely sees

[1:50:26] widespread adoption. But as

[1:50:27] propped up by the private

[1:50:28] interests. And I just want to

[1:50:31] ask how it can be that we live

[1:50:32] in a time where it's treated

[1:50:32] as an inevitability that the

[1:50:35] infrastructure for data centers

[1:50:36] will be built. But we can't

[1:50:37] imagine building infrastructure

[1:50:40] for publicly owned utilities.

[1:50:46] What I hope for is a stronger

[1:50:47] and more resilient community in

[1:50:49] Milwaukee. I love my neighbors.

[1:50:50] I love this city. I love living

[1:50:53] here and I would love to see

[1:50:54] the wealth and the extraction.

[1:50:55] I don't want this wealth from

[1:50:57] the city to continue to be

[1:50:59] extracted to we energies

[1:50:59] shareholders. There's an

[1:51:02] obvious economic benefit to

[1:51:04] keeping money in the city and

[1:51:06] public goods have value far

[1:51:07] beyond their economic value.

[1:51:09] There's a reason that we value

[1:51:11] public public transit, public

[1:51:13] education, public utilities

[1:51:14] should fall under that same

[1:51:15] value for the what they provide

[1:51:17] to us as a society. I thank you

[1:51:18] so much for your time.

[1:51:24] A few minutes. But go ahead.

[1:51:26] Hi, thanks for the time.

[1:51:27] My name is John McIntyre.

[1:51:29] I'm proud to say that I live in

[1:51:31] the city of Milwaukee. I reside

[1:51:32] at 39. 41 south of 60th Street.

[1:51:33] I'm also really proud to say

[1:51:36] that I'm a licensed electrician

[1:51:40] in the idw. My state license

[1:51:42] number is one to 8, 5, 2, 7,

[1:51:45] 8 Dash j Eaton and my Union

[1:51:49] card number is 4, 7, 4, 3, It's

[1:51:50] 7, 3, 5, But I'm here speaking

[1:51:54] just as myself as a resident,

[1:51:55] the taxpayer and as a member of

[1:51:56] the Milwaukee dsa and as a

[1:51:59] canvas or for the part of

[1:52:00] people campaign.

[1:52:01] I'm here to support. I'm here

[1:52:03] to voice my support in dairy

[1:52:05] say to demand public power for

[1:52:06] the city of Milwaukee. I

[1:52:08] believe the choice for the

[1:52:09] consumer is clear. Let's talk a

[1:52:11] little bit more about the

[1:52:12] impact on the workers. I would

[1:52:14] like to invite my union

[1:52:16] brothers and sisters

[1:52:19] represented by local 21 50 in

[1:52:20] both the outside line work and

[1:52:20] uni sectors. The professional

[1:52:23] and industrial sectors to

[1:52:25] review our plan. And to remain

[1:52:26] open to the opportunity to

[1:52:27] negotiate their well earned

[1:52:30] and well-deserved improvements

[1:52:32] in wages, benefits and working

[1:52:32] conditions with the city rather

[1:52:33] than sitting across the

[1:52:36] bargaining table from a massive

[1:52:38] for profit corporate entity.

[1:52:40] I suspect that the bargaining

[1:52:42] position and the contractual

[1:52:44] options available improve for

[1:52:45] workers under our plan while

[1:52:48] keeping costs low in improving

[1:52:49] service quality.

[1:52:49] Including shortening the

[1:52:53] duration of service outages.

[1:52:57] I think this makes it a win-win

[1:52:58] situation for both of our

[1:52:58] area's workers and our

[1:52:59] residents. I think the only

[1:53:02] losers in this proposition are

[1:53:03] the executives and

[1:53:06] shareholders. I don't see them

[1:53:07] in this room. So I take

[1:53:09] seriously, this is a little bit

[1:53:11] of a shibboleth for my brother

[1:53:12] who decided to not stay but

[1:53:16] I take seriously my obligation,

[1:53:16] my promise, my agreement to

[1:53:18] further the purposes for which

[1:53:19] the I b w's Institute. It my

[1:53:22] promise to bear true allegiance

[1:53:24] to it and it never sacrifice

[1:53:26] its interests in any manner.

[1:53:28] And I so I see no reason to

[1:53:29] believe that our public power

[1:53:30] plan for the city of Milwaukee

[1:53:30] is contrary to that solemn

[1:53:33] promise. I would not be

[1:53:34] fighting for a plan that sells

[1:53:35] out or sell short by outside up

[1:53:39] and I brothers and sisters of

[1:53:41] the I b w nor the inside and

[1:53:42] of local 4.94 Were employed in

[1:53:45] ongoing generation upgrades

[1:53:47] projects that we energies

[1:53:48] facilities continuing to allow

[1:53:49] we energies to extract profits

[1:53:52] from city residents sell this

[1:53:53] all out for me. The choice is

[1:53:54] clear. The Common Council

[1:53:56] should move urgently towards

[1:53:57] replacing we energies with a

[1:53:59] publicly owned utility provider

[1:54:03] in solidarity.

[1:54:09] We have a couple of folks

[1:54:11] lineup, but Andy Barber and

[1:54:15] Steinberg me down here. Hi,

[1:54:19] good morning. My name is Doctor

[1:54:21] Lisa Cottrell. I'm a Milwaukee

[1:54:23] resident and clinical health.

[1:54:25] Psychologist, you've heard

[1:54:27] today about the greed of we

[1:54:28] energies and the economic in

[1:54:31] service benefits of publicly

[1:54:33] owned utilities. Those include

[1:54:34] more rapid transition to

[1:54:38] renewables, a benefit to public

[1:54:40] health.

[1:54:41] Consider then the grievous and

[1:54:44] even fatal human caused of

[1:54:48] profit driven energy.

[1:54:49] Think of my patient Cora, a car

[1:54:51] had several medical conditions.

[1:54:53] She worked very hard to manage.

[1:54:54] She came to me because she

[1:54:58] still struggled with chronic

[1:54:59] pain and sleep problems as we

[1:55:01] work to improve her sleep.

[1:55:03] I learned that the nighttime

[1:55:05] temperature in her Milwaukee

[1:55:07] home was reaching 90 degrees

[1:55:09] many nights well above the safe

[1:55:11] temperature for healthy adults.

[1:55:14] She had air conditioning.

[1:55:14] She would not use it because

[1:55:18] the cost of running it had

[1:55:20] become too high. But the cost

[1:55:21] to health and well-being from

[1:55:23] sleep deprivation. Their

[1:55:24] results from high night time.

[1:55:28] Temperatures is even greater.

[1:55:29] I've seen many patients whose

[1:55:31] health is damaged as a

[1:55:33] consequence of bills. So high,

[1:55:36] that healthy home environment

[1:55:38] cannot be maintained. This

[1:55:40] incalculable human cost compels

[1:55:43] us to replace the profit

[1:55:44] driven. We energies with a

[1:55:46] public utility and truly serve

[1:55:49] the public good. Thank you.

[1:55:52] Thank you.

[1:55:57] Hi, my name is Andy Barber.

[1:56:01] I'm co-chair of the Milwaukee

[1:56:02] Democratic Socialists of

[1:56:05] America. I want to share some

[1:56:06] more facts and figures from our

[1:56:06] research that we've conducted

[1:56:09] our campaign and most of us are

[1:56:10] familiar with these as

[1:56:12] ratepayers. But we energies was

[1:56:15] granted in late 2020 for a 6.9%

[1:56:19] rate increase that affected

[1:56:20] all customers in 2025. In an

[1:56:23] additional 4.8% increase for

[1:56:26] the year 2026, which is a total

[1:56:27] of 12% in these 2 years.

[1:56:29] And these rate increases as

[1:56:30] well as the year prior. You

[1:56:32] know, unsurprisingly help to

[1:56:34] make Milwaukee the second most

[1:56:36] expensive major U.S. City for

[1:56:38] utilities with average monthly

[1:56:40] monthly bills of more than $580

[1:56:44] a month and over 4,350 a year

[1:56:45] per household. For the past

[1:56:46] several years, we energies

[1:56:50] rates per kilowatt hour have

[1:56:50] been 30 to 40% higher than

[1:56:52] public power rates from

[1:56:54] Wisconsin. Public power,

[1:56:55] utilities and the psc that

[1:56:57] we've been talking about does

[1:57:01] guarantee we energies a profit

[1:57:02] rate of 9.8% And this limit

[1:57:03] doesn't even in practice mean

[1:57:07] that we energies is capped at

[1:57:08] this rate of 9.8% The utility

[1:57:09] provides a yearly estimates

[1:57:12] which the psc reviews and

[1:57:13] approves. And then we energies

[1:57:14] then sets the rates

[1:57:15] accordingly. However, of

[1:57:17] course, in the event that costs

[1:57:18] are lower revenues higher than

[1:57:20] anticipated. The actual rate

[1:57:21] of return is going to be higher

[1:57:26] than that actual target rate of

[1:57:28] 9.8% So the decision makers at

[1:57:30] companies such as we energies

[1:57:31] are still very much

[1:57:31] incentivized to engage in

[1:57:33] profit maximizing behaviors

[1:57:36] despite this, you know, quote,

[1:57:38] unquote, profit limit. And in

[1:57:39] Wisconsin, residents with

[1:57:39] private utilities experience

[1:57:42] 108 minutes of downtime in a

[1:57:43] typical year for says. 48

[1:57:46] minutes a year for those served

[1:57:47] by public utilities in the

[1:57:47] state. I'd last but not least.

[1:57:50] I do want to say that we

[1:57:54] energies has committed to

[1:57:55] eliminating coal usage by 2032

[1:57:57] and is striving to reach carbon

[1:58:00] neutrality by the year 2050,

[1:58:01] which these commitments failed

[1:58:02] to meet. Even the more modest

[1:58:03] target set by the state of

[1:58:04] Wisconsin, which has a goal

[1:58:07] of carbon-free electricity by

[1:58:07] 2050. And of course, are still

[1:58:10] far below the limits that we

[1:58:11] need in order to actually

[1:58:12] meaningfully fight climate

[1:58:14] change in this community.

[1:58:15] So all this to conclude that

[1:58:17] we need Democratic control of

[1:58:18] our utility here in Milwaukee

[1:58:18] and our economy as a whole.

[1:58:21] I would argue. Thanks so much.

[1:58:29] My name is and Steinberg.

[1:58:30] I live in Milwaukee. I didn't

[1:58:32] prepare remarks. But one thing

[1:58:36] I wanted to add that I haven't

[1:58:36] heard is that we energies is

[1:58:39] guaranteed profits for making

[1:58:40] decisions that are bad. I

[1:58:41] watched them build a power

[1:58:43] plant. That was coal powered

[1:58:46] when the communities that they

[1:58:48] didn't want. It was a bad

[1:58:49] economic decision. Now, that

[1:58:51] plant is no longer need is way

[1:58:53] too expensive to use coal and

[1:58:57] the rate payers have to pay

[1:58:58] to keep for their mistakes so

[1:58:58] over and over. They've made

[1:59:00] decisions that were bad for

[1:59:04] our community and they've

[1:59:05] profited from it. And I think

[1:59:07] that's one of the reasons we

[1:59:10] need public control and also

[1:59:12] the psc doesn't listen to

[1:59:13] environmental or health

[1:59:16] concerns. And I think a

[1:59:17] municipal on. Utility would put

[1:59:20] our interests first. So thank

[1:59:24] you. Thank you.

[1:59:32] If a dancer and Brian intense

[1:59:33] key and did you say Madonna,

[1:59:34] you before you get your yeah

[1:59:37] here in the next post. Got it.

[1:59:38] Thanks. So yeah, I'm Amy

[1:59:39] Donahue. My pronouns are they

[1:59:41] Sheehy rolling? I live in the

[1:59:42] River West neighborhood and the

[1:59:43] candidate for public office and

[1:59:45] a member of Citizen action of

[1:59:47] Wisconsin. The Green Party,

[1:59:47] the health care workers,

[1:59:50] organization, healthy Climate,

[1:59:52] Wisconsin, for the month.

[1:59:54] And the Milwaukee dsa today.

[1:59:55] I'm speaking in absolute

[1:59:57] support of the creation of a

[1:59:57] municipal public energy

[1:59:58] utility. I'm speaking as a

[2:00:00] clinical health care worker.

[2:00:00] And as a librarian grounded

[2:00:03] in evidence-based practice.

[2:00:05] What that means is working at

[2:00:08] the intersection of knowledge,

[2:00:09] gained through research,

[2:00:11] expert, opinion and communities

[2:00:13] and individuals with lived

[2:00:13] experience professionally and

[2:00:15] politically. I am an advocate

[2:00:15] for true informed consents

[2:00:17] which includes having choices

[2:00:18] knowing what each choice means

[2:00:21] and having the resources to

[2:00:22] make choices responsibly.

[2:00:24] Everything I've read and

[2:00:26] learned and talked with people

[2:00:26] about tells me that a public

[2:00:30] power utility is evidence based

[2:00:31] solution. We need.

[2:00:34] And informed consent along with

[2:00:34] that of the thousands of

[2:00:35] Milwaukee and to have been

[2:00:36] working for this for years.

[2:00:37] Thanks for the Ptp campaign

[2:00:38] and rest assured. We'll keep

[2:00:42] that up and we'll keep working

[2:00:43] to bring more folks in. In

[2:00:44] addition to my healthcare

[2:00:46] background as a person with

[2:00:47] asthma parents and a community

[2:00:48] organizer. I also bring my

[2:00:50] personal perspective, an

[2:00:51] argument that a public power

[2:00:52] utility is what we need to

[2:00:55] democratically indirectly built

[2:00:55] clean energy in support of

[2:00:56] public health, emergency

[2:00:58] preparedness and response.

[2:00:59] That is knowledgeable and

[2:01:02] responsible to our community

[2:01:04] and keep costs affordable and

[2:01:06] transparent. Change can be hard

[2:01:07] and even scary. But the people

[2:01:10] of this community has was being

[2:01:11] brought up as after I read,

[2:01:12] these are ready to support each

[2:01:14] other, including the we

[2:01:15] energies records who could be

[2:01:16] impacted and the democratically

[2:01:17] elected leaders who are from

[2:01:20] our communities and accountable

[2:01:21] to us. So thank you to the many

[2:01:22] people who work to get us in

[2:01:25] this room together to the

[2:01:26] members of this board. So the

[2:01:27] experts who showed up today and

[2:01:30] to all the working class people

[2:01:32] who are here in person and in

[2:01:32] spirit, the power of the people

[2:01:34] in stop. And I'm so grateful to

[2:01:36] be a tiny part of this work

[2:01:37] demonstrates what that phrase

[2:01:38] means and tried to commit to

[2:01:41] continuing whatever comes next.

[2:01:53] Coming up after police.

[2:01:59] Who's up next? The Bryan

[2:02:02] intensity. Please.

[2:02:04] All right. You're going to live

[2:02:11] right by the U.S. Hi. My name

[2:02:13] is Ava. I'm a uwm student and

[2:02:13] I wanted to talk about my

[2:02:17] experience with we energies as

[2:02:19] a college student

[2:02:22] when I was in my old apartment,

[2:02:24] i had 4 other roommates.

[2:02:27] And during the winter time I

[2:02:28] was wearing sweaters and

[2:02:29] multiple layers of sweat pants

[2:02:33] every night because it was

[2:02:33] freezing in my apartment.

[2:02:36] We found out that my landlord

[2:02:36] had let a broken window.

[2:02:40] Stay open throughout the

[2:02:41] duration of winter and our

[2:02:43] electric bill because of this

[2:02:48] broken window was $600 a month

[2:02:49] split between us

[2:02:53] this is more so a matter of

[2:02:53] bringing up the point of

[2:02:57] autonomy in our ability to

[2:02:58] live.

[2:03:00] My landlord told us to stay

[2:03:03] warm when we tried to address

[2:03:06] it and we didn't have a pathway

[2:03:07] to actually bring up the

[2:03:09] problem again or to lower the

[2:03:13] price of electricity. So I

[2:03:15] guess.

[2:03:17] The point I'm trying to make is

[2:03:18] that this is autonomy that all

[2:03:19] of us in this room, one to gain

[2:03:21] and this is the path way of

[2:03:24] doing it. Yeah. Thank. Thank

[2:03:27] you.

[2:03:32] A tense key will have submit

[2:03:35] Mendoza. My pronounced in

[2:03:36] Maine.

[2:03:37] Handwriting is not completely

[2:03:38] clear to me, but thank all

[2:03:39] right. He knows who he is.

[2:03:40] All right. And that autumn

[2:03:40] Pickett and after that q#

[2:03:41] #

[2:03:46] Gorton.

[2:03:49] Yep. PRESIDENT And members of

[2:03:52] the Council. My name is Brian.

[2:03:56] That and ski or key homeowner

[2:03:56] and we

[2:03:58] energies customer. And I want

[2:04:02] to give you a personal account

[2:04:05] of what happens when you try

[2:04:07] to move to

[2:04:09] renewable resources and

[2:04:10] extricate yourself from we

[2:04:13] energies monopoly. So 7 months

[2:04:17] ago.

[2:04:17] DECEMBER I had solar panels

[2:04:19] professionally installed on

[2:04:21] my roof by a licensed company.

[2:04:23] The work was done correctly.

[2:04:26] The panels are installed safe

[2:04:30] and ready. And they've produced

[2:04:32] nothing. So not one kilowatt

[2:04:36] hour. The only thing between

[2:04:38] me and my own. Like getting

[2:04:39] energy from from my solar

[2:04:42] panels is we energies approval?

[2:04:43] Que?

[2:04:47] I meet are sat in the same spot

[2:04:50] for years. The moment I tried

[2:04:51] to generate my own power,

[2:04:53] though we energies decided that

[2:04:58] that location wasn't acceptable

[2:04:59] and demanded. I move it, which

[2:05:01] triggered a new poll, a new

[2:05:04] line, a fresh round of

[2:05:05] approvals and the obstacle

[2:05:06] appeared exactly when I stopped

[2:05:07] being a pure customer and

[2:05:10] started competing with their

[2:05:12] sales.

[2:05:13] I installer could do the

[2:05:16] physical work in 3 days.

[2:05:19] They told me the other 7 months

[2:05:22] sits on the desk of we energies

[2:05:24] with no deadline, no

[2:05:25] consequences. They burned my

[2:05:28] entire peak season and it's

[2:05:31] given me nothing. And when they

[2:05:33] finally pay me for my excess

[2:05:34] power, it'll be $0.04 a

[2:05:36] kilowatt hour. I've heard now

[2:05:40] $0.03 It's moving down to while

[2:05:41] they sell it to my neighbors

[2:05:45] for 17 and or $0.18 caught out.

[2:05:49] And not only that, but if you

[2:05:51] know anything about the solar

[2:05:53] panels and efficiency, the

[2:05:55] aggravation over its time

[2:05:57] period that 7 months that my

[2:06:00] panels have been sitting there

[2:06:02] up in the sunlight.

[2:06:03] Degrading their power

[2:06:03] efficiency. And I haven't even

[2:06:06] yet been able to start using

[2:06:08] it.

[2:06:10] So this is what a monopoly with

[2:06:12] no reason to hurry. Looks like

[2:06:15] and chapter one. 97 is how we

[2:06:16] take that timeline back.

[2:06:19] Please support it. Thank you.

[2:06:29] Good morning. My name is I

[2:06:30] mean, I suppose just recently

[2:06:32] moved to city Milwaukee about

[2:06:32] a year and a half. But before

[2:06:35] that, I was living in the city

[2:06:36] of Los Angeles, have 9 years of

[2:06:39] experience working for the city

[2:06:40] of Public works. 5 of them

[2:06:40] specifically for its

[2:06:43] construction inspection.

[2:06:49] But the rest of that with the

[2:06:50] street lighting and street

[2:06:51] tree maintenance. So I am

[2:06:52] pretty familiar with the way

[2:06:54] that Los Angeles Department of

[2:06:58] Water and Power work basically

[2:07:00] they are about 12,000 employees

[2:07:01] in that department, which is

[2:07:06] about 20% of the city of the

[2:07:09] entire city employee

[2:07:10] departments and basically their

[2:07:10] whole model working is

[2:07:14] basically they work everything

[2:07:15] in-house. They have. They're

[2:07:18] very specific tree trimmers.

[2:07:19] There's specific maintenance

[2:07:21] workers, equipment, operators,

[2:07:23] equipment, maintenance

[2:07:24] operators, steelworkers,

[2:07:25] welders, cement finishers.

[2:07:28] Basically everything that they

[2:07:28] do is They're completely

[2:07:30] responsible with what they do

[2:07:32] and they're paid very well

[2:07:33] because a lot of that comes

[2:07:37] with the risk of working around

[2:07:37] high voltage lines and just

[2:07:38] other hazardous issues. And

[2:07:41] also they provide a lot of

[2:07:42] training for people who have

[2:07:43] enough experience to get

[2:07:47] started, but not enough to work

[2:07:48] on their own. So.

[2:07:51] The issue of it affecting the

[2:07:54] employees from we energies is

[2:07:56] basically nonexistent.

[2:07:58] The most the most paid

[2:08:00] employees for the city are

[2:08:02] people who worked to the lead

[2:08:03] up. I've had the opportunity to

[2:08:04] work for them, but I knew that

[2:08:07] if I did end up taking a job

[2:08:08] with led

[2:08:09] to bp, I probably wouldn't have

[2:08:11] moved to moved out of that

[2:08:14] department. Did not came up to

[2:08:17] the city inspectors. So

[2:08:17] basically.

[2:08:20] The employees are pretty much

[2:08:22] safe to be.

[2:08:22] Working in-house and also

[2:08:24] improve in their skills and

[2:08:28] also bring in more people who

[2:08:30] can share with their who can

[2:08:31] increase their experiences.

[2:08:34] They think, yeah, yes, they are

[2:08:36] actually know. We work with The

[2:08:37] m o u a Memorandum of

[2:08:39] Understanding that. Do you have

[2:08:43] kind of like a a group of

[2:08:46] members who

[2:08:47] negotiate with

[2:08:50] the c departments. But

[2:08:51] basically there are chances

[2:08:53] where if the if then will, you

[2:08:57] does not meet the standards

[2:08:58] of what the employees are.

[2:08:59] Employee reps are asking for

[2:09:00] their pensions. There have been

[2:09:03] times where there have been

[2:09:07] a strike than that has not.

[2:09:07] That has led to

[2:09:08] very contentious problems with

[2:09:12] the city. So usually those gets

[2:09:14] resolved very quickly.

[2:09:16] Thank you, MISTER. Just to just

[2:09:17] to clarify, we do have time to

[2:09:18] seeing that there's multiple

[2:09:19] locals that represent,

[2:09:20] including ibew, local 11.

[2:09:21] The represents thousands of

[2:09:23] civil service workers in l a

[2:09:25] as part of their department

[2:09:26] what was the name of it.

[2:09:29] Again, the Department of Water

[2:09:30] and Power. Yeah, okay. Yes,

[2:09:31] they're there and they're all

[2:09:31] there are. There are union

[2:09:32] locals that represent the

[2:09:33] multiple see department.

[2:09:36] Thank you for the correction

[2:09:39] Lent. You can thank you.

[2:09:46] They all names. Adam, take it.

[2:09:47] I and one of the other co

[2:09:54] chairs of the essay. Also,

[2:09:54] So click raise of hands.

[2:09:57] If you are a dsa member in this

[2:09:58] room. Take a look around.

[2:10:02] Thank you. Thank you all for

[2:10:04] showing out the real issue here

[2:10:05] that I think it's kind of

[2:10:06] fundamental is democracy has

[2:10:08] eroded across this country.

[2:10:11] We feel it in our everyday

[2:10:12] life. And we're talking about

[2:10:14] a public, you know, in this

[2:10:15] position here, it's just proven

[2:10:16] across the board that you get

[2:10:18] lower rates, you get a matter

[2:10:21] of time. We're actually able to

[2:10:23] take care of our workers right?

[2:10:24] And so why aren't we doing

[2:10:26] this? You know why? Why has

[2:10:26] this not happened? We have

[2:10:30] 15,000 people have signed on to

[2:10:31] petitions across the city

[2:10:32] and and then another quick

[2:10:33] check. Do we have anybody from

[2:10:36] we energies in this room right

[2:10:38] now? Anybody he planned to

[2:10:39] testify? They don't believe

[2:10:41] that they need to be in the

[2:10:45] room with us. They can by the

[2:10:46] politicians on their own time

[2:10:46] that they've gone to Tara Reid

[2:10:48] has done probably what they've

[2:10:49] done with Kelda Roys who have

[2:10:51] all received money from we

[2:10:52] energies. They don't believe

[2:10:53] they need to be here in the

[2:10:54] room where democracy actually

[2:10:58] happens because they don't

[2:10:58] believe in democracy. They have

[2:10:59] a board of directors that is

[2:11:03] not elected with guaranteed

[2:11:04] profits right? So it's a

[2:11:05] monopoly without say. And where

[2:11:07] what like 10 days away or so

[2:11:09] from the America's 250 per se

[2:11:13] talk about taxation without

[2:11:16] representation. Yeah.

[2:11:21] So we're on on this core

[2:11:22] principle of democracy trying

[2:11:23] to rebuild something in this

[2:11:25] here locally and from the

[2:11:28] ground up across the country.

[2:11:30] If you if you saw the news this

[2:11:31] morning are elected in New

[2:11:34] York, one across the board,

[2:11:37] Democratic Socialist.

[2:11:42] A democratic socialist are

[2:11:45] winning across this country and

[2:11:46] it's not just this pop-up

[2:11:47] movement. It's because people

[2:11:47] realize that something

[2:11:48] fundamentally has to change.

[2:11:49] We're feeling in our bones and

[2:11:53] organizing it day to day.

[2:11:54] The Petro dollar

[2:11:55] is dying. Climate refugees are

[2:11:56] happening. We've talked about,

[2:11:59] you know, folks from us from La

[2:12:00] having to move out in the midst

[2:12:04] of fires started by other, you

[2:12:07] know, a

[2:12:08] utility companies. And and

[2:12:08] meanwhile, we energies is

[2:12:11] building more natural gas

[2:12:12] plants.

[2:12:13] They have 2 more on the slate

[2:12:16] right now. And they're trying

[2:12:19] to have us pay for for their

[2:12:22] increased rates with the data

[2:12:22] centers. And so we have a

[2:12:23] limited amount of of direct

[2:12:25] oversight that we can get with

[2:12:26] the psc. But ultimately we need

[2:12:28] to take it back. We need to

[2:12:29] rebuild democracy in this

[2:12:32] country. And this is how we

[2:12:35] start today. Thank you.

[2:12:41] Once again, everybody. There's

[2:12:43] no requirement that you use all

[2:12:44] 2 minutes. We're trying to get

[2:12:45] everybody in by noon. And

[2:12:49] that's 40 minutes from now.

[2:12:52] So all right, hello. Good

[2:12:53] morning. I'm Quinn and I ms of

[2:12:54] the student and member of tsa

[2:12:57] and why tsa tsa's youth wing.

[2:13:02] Well that her son I live off

[2:13:05] campus not too far from here.

[2:13:06] I rode my bike here this

[2:13:07] morning in JANUARY, as I'm sure

[2:13:10] you all remember Milwaukee face

[2:13:11] an Arctic blast. The drop temps

[2:13:13] down to minimum of negative

[2:13:17] 13 degrees negative. 42 with

[2:13:18] wind chill. This blast was so

[2:13:20] bad that Ms Louise campus shut

[2:13:21] down for several days. If you

[2:13:25] know msa we that doesn't happen

[2:13:26] very often. I remain. I bundle

[2:13:28] mostly stuck to our ce our

[2:13:31] rooms on the second floor.

[2:13:33] Heat rises after all. Still to

[2:13:35] come, the first at around 68

[2:13:39] degrees electric bill for that

[2:13:41] month was $350.

[2:13:43] I sought surely that can't be

[2:13:44] right. I was concerned. My

[2:13:46] roommate was running a server

[2:13:47] in their bedroom or something.

[2:13:48] There are computer They do

[2:13:53] stuff like that. But I asked

[2:13:56] then I emailed we energies

[2:13:57] thinking that there was a meter

[2:14:00] issue and the support Tech said

[2:14:00] that there was no way that

[2:14:03] could be the Ears are remotely

[2:14:04] reported. That can be a

[2:14:06] problem. They offered to send

[2:14:10] me a energy efficiency kit and

[2:14:11] I said sure sounds great.

[2:14:13] In the kit were to led light

[2:14:14] bulbs, smart, plug some window

[2:14:18] film we energies branded night

[2:14:22] How was a night late? Supposed

[2:14:25] to help me with my high

[2:14:26] heating bills and we have faced

[2:14:26] extravagant heating bills and

[2:14:29] I'm sure everyone in this room

[2:14:32] hats. And what is we energies

[2:14:34] doing with that money? Pride in

[2:14:36] our elected officials

[2:14:36] apparently according to

[2:14:39] Milwaukee Courier, Lieutenant

[2:14:40] Governor and governor candidate

[2:14:41] Sarah Rodriguez was one of 4

[2:14:43] Democrats to vote yes on a b

[2:14:46] one. 91 a bill to repeal

[2:14:47] personal property taxes.

[2:14:48] That was later blocked by

[2:14:50] Governor Evers in part because

[2:14:51] it could exempt utility

[2:14:53] companies for millions of

[2:14:55] dollars in taxes on their

[2:14:56] infrastructure. After the vote,

[2:14:59] Rodriguez received a donation

[2:15:00] of almost $1300. No thoughts

[2:15:04] are not searching $113,000 from

[2:15:05] wc energy use wc reported

[2:15:07] income of over 8 billion

[2:15:09] dollars last year and currently

[2:15:10] pays their executives over

[2:15:13] 32 million dollars. Total

[2:15:14] wrapped-up can do

[2:15:16] as a great pain says. And I

[2:15:17] urge the Common Council to

[2:15:18] replace them with a public

[2:15:19] utility that operates for the

[2:15:23] good of the people, not for

[2:15:26] profits. Thank you.

[2:15:31] Except he's a representative.

[2:15:35] Ryan Clancy following him is

[2:15:35] Tim Schaeffer from Ed Gary and

[2:15:37] Medicines Office and following

[2:15:40] that is Brian's of Paris.

[2:15:44] Bryson cares.

[2:15:47] Coming up, right? Yeah.

[2:15:52] I'm Ryan Clancy, representative

[2:15:54] to Wisconsin's 19th Assembly

[2:15:55] district. I'm here to call for

[2:15:56] a publicly own democratically

[2:15:59] run utility in Milwaukee and an

[2:16:00] ends to we energies and I am

[2:16:02] beyond grateful to see so many

[2:16:02] people show up in favor of

[2:16:04] this. Today. I was looking

[2:16:07] through my pictures this

[2:16:08] morning and I found one of my

[2:16:10] then 7 year-old and I surveying

[2:16:12] our neighbors back in 2021.

[2:16:13] For the power of the people

[2:16:14] campaign. A lot has changed.

[2:16:18] Since then. My child is now

[2:16:19] 12 years old. They're in a

[2:16:20] different school. They have a

[2:16:22] much different fashion sense

[2:16:23] than they did several years ago

[2:16:26] of a lot is not. They're still

[2:16:27] in favor of public power are

[2:16:28] both very excited to see public

[2:16:32] power gain traction with this

[2:16:33] hearing here today. The

[2:16:34] clipboard they were holding in

[2:16:35] that picture 5 years ago noted

[2:16:36] that the person that we talked

[2:16:39] to had a, quote, very negative

[2:16:39] view of we energies that is

[2:16:42] certainly not changed in the

[2:16:43] last half decade because we

[2:16:46] energies is built to fail.

[2:16:47] The people of Milwaukee we can

[2:16:48] be for Mitt be could force it

[2:16:49] to do its job a little bit

[2:16:52] better. That is still an

[2:16:52] investor owned utility design

[2:16:53] not to deliver power to the

[2:16:56] people that profits to

[2:16:57] investors.

[2:16:59] Investor owned utilities, have

[2:17:00] a built-in profit motive and

[2:17:02] are driven to maximize profits

[2:17:04] for their shareholders over

[2:17:05] affordability. Sustainability

[2:17:09] and the actual urgent needs

[2:17:12] of people.

[2:17:12] That makes them as bad as any

[2:17:14] monopolistic corporation.

[2:17:16] But even worse, they do have

[2:17:18] a guaranteed nearly 10% rate of

[2:17:19] return on what they billed.

[2:17:21] That's why they want more data

[2:17:22] centers, more giant gas plants

[2:17:22] to power them. That's why

[2:17:26] they'll never invest in their

[2:17:27] own. Infants instructor to

[2:17:27] increase up time and keep many

[2:17:30] neighborhoods from having

[2:17:31] constant power outages. That's

[2:17:31] why they'll never make

[2:17:34] decisions that prioritize the

[2:17:35] environment over dollars.

[2:17:36] The profit motive is why they

[2:17:38] don't care if the decisions

[2:17:40] they make are in our long-term

[2:17:41] interest. That's what every few

[2:17:42] years they push for.

[2:17:45] Disproportionate increases to

[2:17:46] residential rates. Because

[2:17:47] right now you and me and every

[2:17:50] other we energies customer pays

[2:17:51] for their perpetual expansion

[2:17:53] and inefficiency, whether it's

[2:17:54] needed or not, the public

[2:17:56] ownership would replace the

[2:17:57] pursuit of profits. But

[2:17:59] Democratic oversight and

[2:18:04] liability and affordability.

[2:18:04] This isn't hypothetical.

[2:18:05] 81 municipalities, Ms Constand

[2:18:06] already used this model to see

[2:18:07] lower bills and enjoy better

[2:18:09] more reliable service. We have

[2:18:12] the tools to do this. We know

[2:18:13] how it works and we know what

[2:18:15] works in places with even fewer

[2:18:17] resources than here in

[2:18:18] Milwaukee. And the good news is

[2:18:20] this we energies does not have

[2:18:23] the legal power to stay a

[2:18:23] damaging private entity

[2:18:25] forever. Chapter one 97 in

[2:18:27] existing Wisconsin state law

[2:18:29] allows the municipality to buy

[2:18:30] and operate their local

[2:18:31] utilities. We just need the

[2:18:32] courage and action from people

[2:18:34] with the power to do it.

[2:18:37] That's all of you. For our part

[2:18:39] of the state. We're committed

[2:18:40] to codifying the end of Act 10

[2:18:44] in ensuring that a public

[2:18:49] utility. And employee.

[2:18:50] An employee and fairly

[2:18:51] compensate public union

[2:18:52] employees. That could certainly

[2:18:55] happen after the creation of a

[2:18:56] co-op or 3rd party entity.

[2:18:56] I'm a Democratic socialist.

[2:18:59] The way know that at least some

[2:19:00] people in this room aren't

[2:19:02] public ownership and control

[2:19:02] of public goods is core to

[2:19:07] socialism, but also court to

[2:19:08] Milwaukee's history. And it's

[2:19:09] like Democratic socialism is an

[2:19:10] increasingly popular and

[2:19:11] powerful alternative to the

[2:19:14] obvious failures of the status

[2:19:15] quo. Like we energies. I

[2:19:16] welcome you to be our ally on

[2:19:19] this critical and clearly

[2:19:22] popular issue.

[2:19:23] I ask you to listen to the

[2:19:24] overwhelming testimony in favor

[2:19:26] of the public utility today.

[2:19:28] And to give honest

[2:19:29] consideration to this practical

[2:19:30] and efficient idea, I'm very

[2:19:33] happy to stand with the

[2:19:33] Milwaukee dsa. They're

[2:19:34] dedicated organizers for power

[2:19:35] to the people and everyone else

[2:19:38] stepping up for public power

[2:19:41] today. Thank you.

[2:19:48] Thanks for Plan, My name is

[2:19:51] Tim Schafer. I'm the director

[2:19:52] of communications and

[2:19:52] constituent services for

[2:19:55] Representative Darren Madison.

[2:19:56] Intense Assembly district,

[2:19:56] including parts of Milwaukee

[2:19:58] already suffering under study

[2:20:00] increasingly high energy costs

[2:20:02] often on affordably high energy

[2:20:04] costs and unreliable service.

[2:20:05] I'm excited and honored to

[2:20:08] share this testimony on behalf

[2:20:09] of Representative Madison.

[2:20:11] Milwaukee in the entire state

[2:20:13] of Wisconsin are facing a clear

[2:20:15] present and mounting energy

[2:20:16] crisis. Many of my constituents

[2:20:17] are severe the energy burden,

[2:20:18] which means they're paying at

[2:20:20] least 10% but up to 20% and

[2:20:24] even more of their income for

[2:20:25] utilities alone with many

[2:20:26] others, forces survive on low

[2:20:27] or utility usage because they

[2:20:29] cannot afford to safely

[2:20:31] comfortably heat or cool their

[2:20:32] homes even worse. Their

[2:20:34] constituents of mine that have

[2:20:36] that had their energy shut off

[2:20:37] entirely and some of experience

[2:20:37] long and frequent blackouts

[2:20:40] gonna neighborhoods through no

[2:20:42] fault of their own. Meanwhile,

[2:20:43] we energies refuses to

[2:20:44] transition to renewable clean

[2:20:46] energy at the pace and scale

[2:20:48] our climate crisis demands.

[2:20:48] This is deepening our energy

[2:20:50] crisis and entrenching our

[2:20:52] commitment to dirty energy

[2:20:53] sources. None of my

[2:20:54] constituents or yours can

[2:20:55] afford to lose the environment

[2:20:56] where they work live and play.

[2:20:59] And these are the stakes were

[2:21:01] talking about today.

[2:21:01] So let me be very clear.

[2:21:03] Every resident of Milwaukee

[2:21:05] deserves guaranteed access to a

[2:21:05] democratically controlled,

[2:21:08] affordable, reliable and clean

[2:21:10] energy system. But as a

[2:21:10] for-profit investor owned

[2:21:11] utility, we energies is

[2:21:14] incompatible with that vision.

[2:21:16] We energies has failed to

[2:21:18] deliver on its promises of

[2:21:19] clean, affordable energy and it

[2:21:20] will continue to fail to get

[2:21:22] his son. It is simply not built

[2:21:24] to meet. Those needs. It is

[2:21:26] instead an undemocratic

[2:21:28] monopoly, a for-profit model

[2:21:29] that still incentivizes mass

[2:21:30] scale, fossil fuel, energy

[2:21:33] generation and distribution, as

[2:21:33] others have noted it currently

[2:21:36] provides only 6% of its energy

[2:21:38] from renewables while charging

[2:21:40] rates that are 30 to 40% more

[2:21:41] than you to utilities already

[2:21:42] working for Wisconsin. Public

[2:21:46] utilities already working for

[2:21:48] Wisconsin. So while we energies

[2:21:49] gets in almost 10% profit

[2:21:51] guarantee and most of its new

[2:21:53] infrastructure, as others have

[2:21:55] noted to its shareholders, sole

[2:21:55] benefit. The residents of

[2:21:57] Milwaukee are left paying the

[2:21:59] financial health and

[2:22:00] environmental costs and we'll

[2:22:00] be paying for outdated dirty

[2:22:02] new of new fossil fuel

[2:22:03] infrastructure for decades with

[2:22:07] that cost felt for centuries.

[2:22:10] Energy system does not have

[2:22:11] to work this way. 81

[2:22:12] municipalities all across

[2:22:12] Wisconsin already have public

[2:22:13] power and that already leads to

[2:22:16] cheaper energy rates and more

[2:22:18] reliable service.

[2:22:20] The I hope these public power

[2:22:21] utilities right now provide

[2:22:21] 11% of Wisconsin energy

[2:22:25] powering over 300,000 homes

[2:22:27] and businesses. Milwaukee can

[2:22:28] prioritize our workers,

[2:22:28] community and environment over

[2:22:31] corporate profits by embracing

[2:22:31] public power. And I look

[2:22:32] forward to working with the

[2:22:33] city of Milwaukee to make this

[2:22:36] idea a reality. Thank you all.

[2:22:43] And the next group of

[2:22:46] Cleopatra, White and Olivia

[2:22:48] McDowell.

[2:22:49] Thank you so much. Members of

[2:22:51] the review board as well as

[2:22:54] everyone else for being here

[2:22:55] today. My name is Bree Second.

[2:22:56] Rice. I media say member and

[2:22:59] the secretary of the power to

[2:23:02] the people campaign.

[2:23:03] I'm a teacher and most

[2:23:04] importantly, I am also

[2:23:06] concerned resident of this

[2:23:07] community.

[2:23:08] One thing that's been rolling

[2:23:11] around in my head as we've been

[2:23:12] hearing a lot of really

[2:23:14] wonderful, both professional

[2:23:17] and public testimony about why

[2:23:18] chapter one 97 needs to be used

[2:23:20] to replace we energies with a

[2:23:24] public utility. It's been a

[2:23:25] quote from one of our most

[2:23:25] prominent public figures in the

[2:23:28] city's history, which is Mayor

[2:23:32] Daniel Home. When faced with

[2:23:33] the Great Depression, the stock

[2:23:36] market failing people losing

[2:23:37] jobs, businesses going simply

[2:23:38] under. Daniel Haun issued one

[2:23:39] main quote That's been sticking

[2:23:42] with me and I think is more

[2:23:44] pertinent today than ever has

[2:23:45] been. It's that businesses MAY

[2:23:48] quit your government can't.

[2:23:54] With that. I'm here to tell

[2:23:56] you that business has already

[2:23:58] quit. And that is we energies

[2:23:59] and the people who make

[2:24:00] decisions for we energies

[2:24:01] because they have quit caring

[2:24:04] about the people of Milwaukee.

[2:24:09] I don't need to go to further

[2:24:11] into the profit motive of the

[2:24:14] 9.8% minimum guaranteed profit

[2:24:15] for this company. But I do want

[2:24:19] to incentivize that 9.8% of

[2:24:21] your bill. My bill help our

[2:24:24] bills is guaranteed to not go

[2:24:25] to infrastructure improvements.

[2:24:29] It's guaranteed to not go to

[2:24:31] renewable energy programs and

[2:24:33] it is guaranteed not to go to

[2:24:34] the workers that are actually

[2:24:35] out there and doing all of

[2:24:38] these line improvements or

[2:24:41] keeping the lights on because

[2:24:43] that 9.8% is guaranteed.

[2:24:45] And this is a minimum guarantee

[2:24:48] is guaranteed to line the

[2:24:48] pockets of some board room that

[2:24:51] is not even caring about us in

[2:24:53] this room.

[2:24:57] They don't see you me or any of

[2:24:58] us as anything other than a

[2:25:01] simply account number, kept it

[2:25:03] up right there for I am simply

[2:25:03] asking that we use Chapter one.

[2:25:05] 97 once again. Thank you for

[2:25:08] your time. And it is time for

[2:25:11] we energies to go.

[2:25:21] Hello. My name is Cleopatra.

[2:25:21] Light. I'm just a regular

[2:25:22] middle-class home owner of the

[2:25:26] Milwaukee resident representing

[2:25:27] the Southgate site. I am here

[2:25:29] to just show my full support to

[2:25:32] a new energy infrastructure.

[2:25:33] Its power community support

[2:25:36] accountability and profits to

[2:25:38] be approved and manage by the

[2:25:40] people. I believe this is not a

[2:25:43] political party request for

[2:25:44] movement. It's simply humanity.

[2:25:46] Every family and taxpayer

[2:25:47] deserves the right to have

[2:25:48] options. The control of the

[2:25:52] utilities and to be and to put

[2:25:54] the best interests savings

[2:25:56] programs, all infrastructure to

[2:25:57] the people over and said of the

[2:25:58] annual increase guarantee

[2:26:01] profits of we energies,

[2:26:03] investors. I live on a block

[2:26:06] where street lights are almost

[2:26:10] out on a daily. I have been in

[2:26:12] my neighborhood now for 6 years

[2:26:14] and I've seen and felt the

[2:26:15] financial squeeze and pressure

[2:26:16] burden as well as I'm sure

[2:26:20] everyone else he has. I am just

[2:26:22] a working class. Single mother

[2:26:24] and with trying to juggle all

[2:26:24] my monthly expenses, I

[2:26:25] shouldn't have to choose

[2:26:28] between putting putting food on

[2:26:31] the table for my family are

[2:26:32] keeping the lights on. It's

[2:26:34] becoming more and more of a

[2:26:37] financial burden. So at this

[2:26:39] point, this is needed in the

[2:26:39] city of Milwaukee. And this is

[2:26:43] needed to be ran by the public.

[2:26:46] Thank you.

[2:26:53] Hello. My name is Lydia

[2:26:54] McDowell and I am a resident

[2:26:58] of Milwaukee's East side.

[2:26:59] I have lived here now for 6

[2:27:00] years and I adore the city of

[2:27:03] Milwaukee. And that is exactly

[2:27:04] why I'm here today.

[2:27:07] So it was referenced earlier.

[2:27:09] But when we faced serious cold

[2:27:11] fronts this past JANUARY, my

[2:27:11] home, which I do not own I

[2:27:15] rent, I don't have control over

[2:27:15] the insulation got so cold that

[2:27:18] my damp laundry froze to the

[2:27:22] floor.

[2:27:23] I had to pry it off of my

[2:27:24] floor. And when a call we

[2:27:25] energies about the astronomical

[2:27:28] bill. I got shortly after

[2:27:28] losing my job.

[2:27:29] Their solution is well put some

[2:27:32] cling wrap over your windows

[2:27:36] I need a system that protects

[2:27:40] me my own. And that cares for

[2:27:42] my community. I

[2:27:42] am calling for transparency

[2:27:46] and prices because I am tired

[2:27:48] of paying over what led what

[2:27:50] money my husband and I can

[2:27:51] scrounge together every month

[2:27:52] towards a corporation that does

[2:27:52] not care for me and has

[2:27:56] multiple times in my life

[2:27:57] turned off my lights.

[2:27:58] I am just ready for better

[2:28:00] representation from the

[2:28:03] government. And I call on you

[2:28:06] to do your job and to be

[2:28:09] pulled.

[2:28:21] A kbo Leon.

[2:28:24] And after that is Katie.

[2:28:27] Kate Ward. And then after that

[2:28:30] is.

[2:28:33] Lou Pelican. We've got that

[2:28:35] correct. Okay.

[2:28:37] High winds are coming on and

[2:28:40] the student, the un and also

[2:28:41] the co-chair of the Young

[2:28:44] Democrats of America at you.

[2:28:49] Do you know?

[2:28:50] I mean, I've lived in college

[2:28:53] housing and apartments et have.

[2:28:56] Not a good insulation and of

[2:28:57] all set to be the one there

[2:28:59] who has their name down for the

[2:29:01] We energies account and

[2:29:06] monthly. It was not fun to get

[2:29:11] that in I think that's it for

[2:29:11] so many of

[2:29:14] my peers who are struggling who

[2:29:15] have to worry about being able

[2:29:20] to pay loans after they get

[2:29:21] out school. I think it's

[2:29:22] disgusting for we energies to

[2:29:27] profit off of us as we're just

[2:29:27] trying to further our lives

[2:29:30] and improve ourselves and our

[2:29:33] future prospects. I also think

[2:29:35] that coming from the young

[2:29:36] generation who is going to have

[2:29:40] to face the effects of the

[2:29:43] climate crisis in full that we

[2:29:43] need to move to renewable

[2:29:47] energy and we energies is not

[2:29:48] going to do that for us.

[2:29:49] They have their goal set for

[2:29:53] 2050, which is much too late.

[2:29:55] We need to move now. So that's

[2:29:58] a people of my generation have.

[2:30:00] Holmes comfortable home

[2:30:04] Sullivan in the future. Thank

[2:30:07] you very much. Thank you.

[2:30:15] I excuse me. My name is Kate

[2:30:15] Allard. I used to live in

[2:30:18] Madison and I moved here about

[2:30:20] 3 years ago.

[2:30:22] After moving here, I found the

[2:30:23] wages were much lower. Yet the

[2:30:23] rent is higher. Prices are

[2:30:26] higher and my energy bill is

[2:30:28] going up every year. My energy

[2:30:30] bill is already uncomfortably

[2:30:31] high. And I think most

[2:30:33] Milwaukee residents agree that

[2:30:34] we don't need higher utility

[2:30:35] bills. 12 shareholder strip,

[2:30:37] our natural resources and line

[2:30:39] their pockets. We energies is

[2:30:40] known for making the wrong

[2:30:41] decisions in our community and

[2:30:43] then has us pay for their

[2:30:44] failures. It should be our

[2:30:46] right to choose what our

[2:30:48] utility spend our money on.

[2:30:49] I strongly urge you to fight

[2:30:50] for a public utility in

[2:30:52] Milwaukee. Don't that we

[2:30:55] energies leave us in the dark.

[2:30:58] Find the courage to do it.

[2:31:07] Hi, my name is blue public and

[2:31:08] I am a dsa member and volunteer

[2:31:09] with Alex Powers Office as well

[2:31:12] currently laid off electrician.

[2:31:15] I want to talk to you about.

[2:31:17] What our money is actually

[2:31:19] going towards because right now

[2:31:20] we energies ceo on his own is

[2:31:24] making over 11 million dollars.

[2:31:25] Meanwhile. There are multiple

[2:31:27] neighborhoods within this city

[2:31:28] that experience regular

[2:31:30] blackouts, especially during

[2:31:31] storms. We have no

[2:31:32] infrastructure that can

[2:31:35] withstand a basic need Western

[2:31:36] storm in very many different

[2:31:37] neighborhoods. The fact that

[2:31:38] their ceo is making that much

[2:31:40] money, but they can't invest

[2:31:42] the money to make sure that

[2:31:44] our people have stable strong,

[2:31:47] reliable service. It's a

[2:31:50] travesty. And we all know at

[2:31:53] least. Me and my comrades, I

[2:31:54] know that the reason for that,

[2:31:57] it's because it is based on a

[2:31:58] profit. Motive is a for-profit

[2:32:00] organization managing our

[2:32:05] utilities.

[2:32:06] You can you can't have. Sorry.

[2:32:07] I got tripped up there a little

[2:32:10] bit. You can't have a profit

[2:32:12] motive.

[2:32:15] Company that also working for

[2:32:15] the actual interest of the

[2:32:18] people because that's they're

[2:32:20] just not compatible. We need to

[2:32:22] take control of our public

[2:32:23] utilities and not just power,

[2:32:25] water, Internet sewer systems,

[2:32:28] trash, all of that. This is

[2:32:31] just the first step. It's white

[2:32:32] or g today that.

[2:32:34] Was bill, the organization that

[2:32:35] actually works on our

[2:32:36] infrastructure and actually

[2:32:39] built a system that works.

[2:32:42] Next up is.

[2:32:49] Was that an ok after that would

[2:32:51] be Jason?

[2:32:55] And after that would be Sarah.

[2:33:08] Darling. That possible k.

[2:33:11] Of Sarah rolling.

[2:33:16] Is Ophelia Lehman.

[2:33:19] 25. 0, 5 North Frederick.

[2:33:21] We get no requirement that you

[2:33:22] use 2 minutes. We're trying to

[2:33:25] get everybody accommodated

[2:33:28] there.

[2:33:28] Hello. Hello. My name is

[2:33:30] Ophelia. I'm a student at the

[2:33:31] university, Wisconsin,

[2:33:32] Milwaukee and also a proud

[2:33:34] member of the youth wing of the

[2:33:35] Milwaukee Democratic Socialism.

[2:33:40] Erica, clapping out required

[2:33:42] I wanted to talk a little bit

[2:33:47] more about the student impacts

[2:33:48] of we energies, but not over

[2:33:51] over the power in the city.

[2:33:54] Waukee

[2:33:58] the enrollment rates at Uwm

[2:34:01] are continuously and currently

[2:34:02] and more importantly and more

[2:34:03] rapidly. The rates of black and

[2:34:05] brown enrollment are putting

[2:34:08] as well. Uwm is an important,

[2:34:11] very important pillar of the

[2:34:13] Milwaukee community.

[2:34:14] That's where we get, you know,

[2:34:20] a lot of our party just for

[2:34:22] MPs, for instance, or

[2:34:23] our doctors or many other jobs

[2:34:27] that you see in the city of

[2:34:29] Milwaukee walking needs uw

[2:34:31] Milwaukee and you have needs

[2:34:34] Milwaukee with the increasing.

[2:34:39] Greatly increasing. We energy

[2:34:40] power bills and increasing over

[2:34:41] the years. And as I experienced

[2:34:44] while working on the part of

[2:34:46] people campaign

[2:34:48] have a lot of students out of

[2:34:51] going to uw Milwaukee, which

[2:34:51] is supposed to be one of the

[2:34:55] more affordable schools in the

[2:34:56] in the system

[2:34:58] contributing to this, you know,

[2:35:01] greatly greatly decreasing

[2:35:04] enrollment rate and I think now

[2:35:05] more

[2:35:05] than ever, it's what has the

[2:35:08] time to Institute of Public

[2:35:08] Utility to lower those rates

[2:35:11] for not just to give students

[2:35:16] citizens all across the city

[2:35:17] of Milwaukee as

[2:35:20] no fight to live affordably

[2:35:23] that's not even to mention the

[2:35:24] climate crisis that we energies

[2:35:27] is not taking appropriate

[2:35:30] action to thank you out.

[2:35:38] Hello, I'm Sarah Darling.

[2:35:39] I am here we energies

[2:35:40] customers, single mother and

[2:35:42] community advocate and someone

[2:35:44] who aspires to live in

[2:35:45] Milwaukee. The reason why it

[2:35:46] can't just because a high rent,

[2:35:47] which is a whole other

[2:35:49] discussion. But I'd want to

[2:35:53] just say that I'm very thankful

[2:35:54] to you for having this

[2:35:54] discussion and considering this

[2:35:56] because it's really very

[2:36:00] important and long overdue.

[2:36:01] I'm also happy to see your

[2:36:02] continued commitment to safety

[2:36:03] and protection for your

[2:36:05] community. The first time I

[2:36:06] spoke here was in 2015 about

[2:36:10] the oil trains with you yet.

[2:36:13] So keeper move in. I just want

[2:36:13] to say a few things. I think

[2:36:15] it's 2 plus 2 equals 4. That

[2:36:17] the only reason why renewable

[2:36:18] energy isn't further advanced

[2:36:19] is because simply oil and gas

[2:36:21] and utility companies don't

[2:36:23] want it.

[2:36:24] I work with a woman from 3rd

[2:36:27] act. Wisconsin. Who does solar

[2:36:30] tours of her home in Madison.

[2:36:32] And she said that one summer

[2:36:35] and JULY her utility bill was

[2:36:38] -13 dollars. So your community

[2:36:39] solar programs, public power

[2:36:42] programs, they do rooftop

[2:36:43] solar. It does work. The

[2:36:44] utility companies just simply

[2:36:45] don't want that because it

[2:36:48] doesn't align with their profit

[2:36:50] driven incentives. So now that

[2:36:53] we have that out of the way,

[2:36:53] I've also spoken at recent psc

[2:36:57] hearings about we energies rate

[2:36:58] increase cases. It's very easy.

[2:36:59] If you just want to do the math

[2:37:00] over what you've been paying

[2:37:02] your bills over the last few

[2:37:04] years, they have done 3 rate

[2:37:06] increases in 3 years in a row.

[2:37:08] And then you look at the

[2:37:09] profits of we energies and

[2:37:13] their executives in tandem.

[2:37:17] And you can see. That. You

[2:37:18] know, do the math and it's just

[2:37:20] obvious that they are looking

[2:37:21] out for us and that they really

[2:37:22] don't care about powering our

[2:37:25] world shutting off people's

[2:37:26] powers, inhumane.

[2:37:26] And I have yes, thank you.

[2:37:32] And I've I've helped to

[2:37:33] support. The energy burden

[2:37:34] movement here. I want to thank

[2:37:37] Brian with the Web. If you

[2:37:38] notice my fantastic with no

[2:37:39] look here, they're doing really

[2:37:40] wonderful work. I are. And I

[2:37:43] urge all of you to continue

[2:37:44] supporting them. And please,

[2:37:47] let's do the right thing.

[2:37:52] Keep this moving. Okay.

[2:37:56] Under a hail after that.

[2:37:56] Allison. Talk with police.

[2:37:59] And after that, Ian Huntley.

[2:38:09] All right, everybody. My name

[2:38:13] is Andre hail of I am or was

[2:38:13] one of the lead canvassers

[2:38:15] leads of the field organizers

[2:38:17] for the power to the people

[2:38:18] campaign. I've let a ton of the

[2:38:21] canvas is a lot of people in

[2:38:23] this room have come to a canvas

[2:38:24] that I have led. And I really

[2:38:24] appreciate all the work and

[2:38:27] support the development doing

[2:38:28] for this campaign. Now I am

[2:38:31] the communications officer for

[2:38:33] Milwaukee dsa.

[2:38:34] And of but I kind of want to

[2:38:35] talk about of before all of

[2:38:39] that. I moved here with my wife

[2:38:40] and my son like 3 years ago.

[2:38:40] And one of the things we first

[2:38:42] noticed was how high the bills

[2:38:48] where? And in Arkansas where

[2:38:49] I'm from, we had everything.

[2:38:49] Bundle together, sewer, water,

[2:38:52] electricity, internet, all of

[2:38:53] that together.

[2:38:56] And that cost me about $1000 a

[2:38:56] month for we energies alone.

[2:38:59] My bill that usually comes out

[2:39:00] to about 1000 or 1100 a month.

[2:39:01] So and that's just for my my

[2:39:07] tiny little house in

[2:39:07] Greenfield. So like this

[2:39:08] campaign is one of the first

[2:39:09] things that I latched on to

[2:39:12] immediately when moving here.

[2:39:16] And I just want to say that the

[2:39:22] the ability to get this done

[2:39:23] is there. We have

[2:39:26] legal work all outlined with

[2:39:29] Chapter one. 97.

[2:39:31] There's a huge amount of people

[2:39:35] here who support this campaign

[2:39:38] and of them. Honestly, we just

[2:39:39] need the will power to do it.

[2:39:45] Similarly to in New York City

[2:39:47] with Dani. He was able to pass

[2:39:48] of free childcare for 2

[2:39:49] year-olds as well as completely

[2:39:51] balance the budget without

[2:39:53] raising any property taxes or

[2:39:56] digging into any rainy day

[2:39:57] funds. The money is there.

[2:39:59] The model is there for how to

[2:40:01] do this. We just have to have

[2:40:02] the will power to do it.

[2:40:03] And I just want to say the

[2:40:06] people United will never be

[2:40:10] defeated. Let's do this.

[2:40:18] Well, listen, I was.

[2:40:21] Good morning or good afternoon.

[2:40:24] My name's housing. Hope that

[2:40:25] I'm an organizer.

[2:40:29] I was an organizer with the aft

[2:40:30] local 2 to 3 Madison.

[2:40:34] Coal unions. Now I'm I'm back

[2:40:37] to Milwaukee. I'm a educator

[2:40:39] in Milwaukee.

[2:40:39] Public schools and a member of

[2:40:44] mta. Now that I am eligible

[2:40:47] so gay unions, but I'm here

[2:40:48] as an educator, many years of

[2:40:50] experience in an advanced

[2:40:52] degree in leadership. Just to

[2:40:55] remind everybody about the

[2:40:59] importance of like buying and

[2:41:01] stakeholder relations and that

[2:41:02] to some this might seem like

[2:41:02] this is a harebrained idea.

[2:41:06] Like what are these like crazy

[2:41:09] kids and their socialism

[2:41:11] but this is a good idea that

[2:41:11] the future is now like the

[2:41:12] climate crisis is already

[2:41:13] happening right now. We have

[2:41:16] refugees from the West Coast in

[2:41:16] the East Coast coming to fresh

[2:41:21] water, Great Lakes regions for

[2:41:26] a reason. And we should protect

[2:41:26] that. So from my perspective as

[2:41:28] it from the perspective, like

[2:41:31] strategic thinking and like

[2:41:32] systems thinking.

[2:41:33] Think about it like it's it

[2:41:36] makes sense. It's not. It's

[2:41:37] not crazy. It's logical and

[2:41:43] it's needed. And it's the right

[2:41:44] thing to do. So follow

[2:41:44] your hearts. But think about

[2:41:45] like why this is a good idea

[2:41:49] because it really, truly is

[2:41:59] many is in doubt Resident of

[2:42:00] the River, West neighborhood

[2:42:02] and an officer with walking tsa

[2:42:03] labor working group. And today

[2:42:04] as PRESIDENT Of my Union

[2:42:05] speaking on behalf of the

[2:42:06] American Federation of State

[2:42:10] County and Municipal Employees,

[2:42:10] local 47. We represent the city

[2:42:11] of Milwaukee workers in the

[2:42:13] departments of Neighborhood

[2:42:14] Services, City Development,

[2:42:15] the assessor's office and the

[2:42:16] Milwaukee Water works or

[2:42:17] publicly owned water utility

[2:42:19] work. I work as an electrical

[2:42:21] engineer.

[2:42:22] Last month or union membership.

[2:42:22] After have d#

[2:42:22] #

[2:42:23] #

[2:42:23] consideration

[2:42:24] decided unanimously to endorse

[2:42:27] a part of the people campaign.

[2:42:29] Our members want a public

[2:42:29] energy utility because as

[2:42:30] public utility workers, we

[2:42:32] carry our love for the city

[2:42:33] every day and are more than

[2:42:34] capable of handling the task

[2:42:37] competently efficiently

[2:42:38] sustainably and reliably.

[2:42:40] I want to highlight that there

[2:42:40] was a time when the labor

[2:42:43] movement stood united for

[2:42:44] what's best in our city.

[2:42:45] They formed a political

[2:42:47] movement that we now know of a

[2:42:47] summer social us the sewer

[2:42:48] socialist turned our government

[2:42:49] into a leading powerful

[2:42:51] operation that deeply

[2:42:52] considered the wait of every

[2:42:54] single tax dollar to get the

[2:42:55] most for our residents, the

[2:42:56] transformational change that

[2:42:58] they made for city seen in our

[2:42:59] parks and infrastructure.

[2:43:01] That infrastructure MAY be in a

[2:43:03] rough state today due to the

[2:43:05] new liberal and Republican

[2:43:06] cutbacks. But the fact that it

[2:43:06] has lasted over 100 years as a

[2:43:08] testament to the ambition of

[2:43:10] their vision for Milwaukee.

[2:43:12] We can and I believe we will

[2:43:14] rise again to make that happen

[2:43:16] so that every person prospers,

[2:43:17] including Oliver ibew, Union

[2:43:19] siblings, we deserve addressed

[2:43:21] and trans equitable transition

[2:43:22] to keep all they fought for in

[2:43:24] their contracts and more

[2:43:26] including the status in the

[2:43:27] union. That is possible because

[2:43:28] as a democracy, we can make it

[2:43:31] happen. We want what's best for

[2:43:33] all workers and not one step

[2:43:34] back. And I reclaimed the word

[2:43:35] we from we energies because it

[2:43:39] will take all of us to stand up

[2:43:39] against this injustice. We need

[2:43:40] every person viewing this to

[2:43:43] talk to your coworkers about

[2:43:44] forming or joining a union user

[2:43:45] labor power to stand up for

[2:43:47] what's right and our politics

[2:43:48] and our economy. That is where

[2:43:50] our people's power truly fights

[2:43:53] and wins. Thank you, Soledad.

[2:44:05] Adam Otis.

[2:44:08] Excellent. And after that, Joel

[2:44:10] Cole, I believe.

[2:44:13] 24 East Chambers. And after

[2:44:14] and a slur.

[2:44:17] Hi, my name is Rita Manteo to

[2:44:17] some a Milwaukee resident and

[2:44:18] also I'm with the great

[2:44:20] Milwaukee Green Party, which is

[2:44:20] a coalition partner on the

[2:44:23] power to the people campaign.

[2:44:24] And we've helped gather the

[2:44:24] petitions, the thousands of

[2:44:25] petitions that have been

[2:44:27] delivered to the Common

[2:44:29] Council. And I'm so excited

[2:44:31] that this is happening today.

[2:44:35] I wanted to say that one of our

[2:44:36] late members, Bruce Hank, for

[2:44:36] us lived in a column a walk

[2:44:41] which has a public utility.

[2:44:45] And I they are members of wpp.

[2:44:47] I which buys eu which buys

[2:44:48] power through competitive

[2:44:50] pricing and his wife, Karen,

[2:44:52] who was an engineer. She's a

[2:44:54] retired engineer from we

[2:44:57] energies. She said that

[2:44:58] Oconomowoc gets better rates.

[2:45:00] Then residents of the city of

[2:45:04] Milwaukee. Just being part of

[2:45:05] that public utility

[2:45:05] collaborative. Also, I wanted

[2:45:07] to say that when I woke up this

[2:45:09] morning and turn on the radio,

[2:45:11] wtmj was laughing about this

[2:45:15] very hearing making jokes about

[2:45:15] how silly this is and how is

[2:45:19] never work. It's just going to

[2:45:21] be too expensive. They didn't

[2:45:21] mention that. You know, when

[2:45:24] they're rolling blackouts in

[2:45:27] California. Guess what? City

[2:45:29] didn't have any problem.

[2:45:32] La because they had a public

[2:45:33] utility. So there are 2200

[2:45:35] public utilities in communities

[2:45:36] around this country. And I hope

[2:45:39] the Milwaukee be will be next.

[2:45:42] Thank you.

[2:45:47] Let everyone on this board.

[2:45:50] My name is Joe Cole and I live

[2:45:52] here in Milwaukee, climate

[2:45:56] activists and artists. The site

[2:45:57] is to be public. Utilities were

[2:45:58] invented in this country nearly

[2:45:59] 150 years ago to bring reliable

[2:46:02] affordable services to the

[2:46:03] people in their community.

[2:46:05] A key provision was to prevent

[2:46:06] price gouging.

[2:46:10] At its best public powers, not

[2:46:10] for profit at its best. It's

[2:46:13] local people working together

[2:46:14] to meet local needs. We are

[2:46:16] not at her best with we

[2:46:18] energies. They have shown that

[2:46:20] they're motivated by profit,

[2:46:21] not by their customers and

[2:46:23] certainly not their customers,

[2:46:23] financial health or physical

[2:46:26] health. And that is because

[2:46:27] they are for profit motivated

[2:46:30] by creating share value for

[2:46:30] the shareholders. They are no

[2:46:31] longer the public utility.

[2:46:35] They were founded as in 18 96.

[2:46:37] People across the city are

[2:46:38] struggling. Everything is more

[2:46:39] expensive. This is a big

[2:46:43] opportunity to bring some

[2:46:46] needed relief to everyone.

[2:46:53] Hello, my name is Amanda

[2:46:56] Eisler. I bought a duplex in

[2:46:57] Riverwest 8 years ago. And at

[2:46:58] that time I could afford all of

[2:47:01] my bills on my own without a

[2:47:03] tenant.

[2:47:05] I live in one unit and rent the

[2:47:06] other as a landlord, I'm now

[2:47:06] forced to raise the rent

[2:47:09] substantially to be able to

[2:47:10] cover all my bills. I cannot

[2:47:14] afford my bills anymore.

[2:47:17] Otherwise. Reason being is when

[2:47:17] I moved in 8 years ago, my we

[2:47:20] energies Bill was to 202 to

[2:47:24] 50 per month and water was $30

[2:47:25] a month. Now we energies is

[2:47:29] over $400 a month and water

[2:47:30] is $100 a month. I've concern

[2:47:32] I've confirmed multiple times

[2:47:33] with we energies that my usage

[2:47:36] is accurate with inspections.

[2:47:39] If I'm in the middle class

[2:47:40] struggling, I can't imagine how

[2:47:42] much lower classes are

[2:47:43] struggling, especially

[2:47:46] disenfranchised communities.

[2:47:49] Thank you so much.

[2:47:55] After David. It'll be Jim

[2:48:01] Harris. And after that time has

[2:48:12] David MAY have left.

[2:48:15] Good afternoon, I think is is

[2:48:17] about what time is it? Take

[2:48:20] this, which we energy back to

[2:48:24] Wisconsin electorate.

[2:48:26] We need to cheat kids in high

[2:48:28] school to take over energy

[2:48:31] efficiency of Wisconsin.

[2:48:35] Number one. This is a park

[2:48:38] crime. It like Alaska and can

[2:48:38] which we energy overlooked by

[2:48:45] Perry being Pirates put energy.

[2:48:46] They took away 2 bills that was

[2:48:49] separate and putting together

[2:48:52] to make more and with a look of

[2:48:52] suffering for your energy use

[2:48:53] to be able to peek, believe

[2:48:57] your lights on or he hate took

[2:49:00] that away. We have been

[2:49:01] practicing on climate areas

[2:49:05] that need substantial energy

[2:49:06] and prey on. There should be

[2:49:09] all that we issue should be

[2:49:11] owned by the public. Okay.

[2:49:14] We should have more. Then one

[2:49:19] in efficiency provider. For

[2:49:25] backup. And also. There should

[2:49:26] be a task to look into research

[2:49:30] by this been a cold climate.

[2:49:32] They each home

[2:49:34] should have a generator by this

[2:49:38] climate being as it is because

[2:49:38] if d#

[2:49:38] #

[2:49:39] we energies shes now,

[2:49:40] how many people are being

[2:49:43] counted? This becoming sick

[2:49:47] or die from these issues here

[2:49:49] in Wisconsin and Alaska.

[2:49:53] They pay all the residents of

[2:49:54] $1000 to 2000. I was just

[2:49:54] because they respect that they

[2:49:58] have economy is trying to grow

[2:50:01] in a cold climate. We have a

[2:50:04] let pirates come here

[2:50:04] and take elders home where

[2:50:06] their utilities are way higher

[2:50:09] due to a home know this should

[2:50:11] not be no way in the world.

[2:50:14] The utility said because suit

[2:50:15] thousands of dollars over the

[2:50:18] winter time and looking for it

[2:50:19] to happen. Air preseason.

[2:50:23] No. And this give out credit

[2:50:24] for the energy

[2:50:26] is hogwash bars with energy

[2:50:28] assistance now it's only want

[2:50:31] pay all for the winter. That's

[2:50:33] hogwash. We have to get our own

[2:50:36] energy facility to facility

[2:50:37] Ys back in control, where we

[2:50:39] teach kids about this crime.

[2:50:43] A Tory up north in life where

[2:50:44] we don't have

[2:50:44] predator people. Kami from down

[2:50:47] south to the West Classic.

[2:50:50] Thank you.

[2:50:57] Sheskey. I believe after that,

[2:51:00] Tyler.

[2:51:03] Koeppen Coachman. And after

[2:51:06] that, she was Sanchez.

[2:51:07] My name is Tom. Hans Berger, a

[2:51:10] proud resident of Milwaukee

[2:51:12] live down in Bay View and also

[2:51:14] a proud member of the Milwaukee

[2:51:15] Democratic Socialists of

[2:51:15] America. And I have the

[2:51:20] privilege to serve the essay.

[2:51:22] As an organizer working with

[2:51:22] many chapters across the

[2:51:25] Midwest to expand on Zohran

[2:51:26] Mamdani is movement.

[2:51:30] And one thing I wanted to add

[2:51:31] here. In addition to everything

[2:51:32] else that's been said is the

[2:51:35] context in this moment across

[2:51:37] the country. We're seeing new

[2:51:40] technology developing around ai

[2:51:42] electric cars. We're seeing

[2:51:44] data storage flock cameras,

[2:51:46] all of these new technologies,

[2:51:48] the way that they're being

[2:51:50] implemented are currently being

[2:51:50] used to automate workers, jobs

[2:51:54] leading to mass layoffs.

[2:51:55] They're being used to collect

[2:51:57] surveillance data on poor

[2:51:58] communities and marginalized

[2:52:03] communities. They are being

[2:52:04] used to profit and against the

[2:52:05] interests of ordinary citizens

[2:52:09] of ordinary working people.

[2:52:11] What this proposal would do to

[2:52:13] invoke charter one 97 and to

[2:52:14] replace we energies with a

[2:52:18] public utility is to give you

[2:52:20] all the power to push back on

[2:52:22] those bad incentives. What it

[2:52:23] does is it gives us the ability

[2:52:26] as the people of Milwaukee to

[2:52:28] govern ourselves and to prevent

[2:52:29] a lot of those incentives,

[2:52:30] which are also contributing to

[2:52:31] democratic backsliding that

[2:52:34] we've seen with the current

[2:52:36] authoritarian movement in

[2:52:38] Washington, D.C. So it's very

[2:52:38] important for the people of

[2:52:41] Milwaukee and for our ability

[2:52:42] to govern ourselves that we

[2:52:43] make sure these new

[2:52:46] technologies are implemented

[2:52:47] for the people, not for profit

[2:52:50] and to protect our democracy.

[2:52:53] Thank you. Think.

[2:53:01] My name is more. My name is

[2:53:01] Tyler Coachman. I am a

[2:53:02] Wisconsin part and Wisconsin

[2:53:03] bar licensed for practice as an

[2:53:03] attorney and I'm a resident of

[2:53:06] the Kilbourn town neighborhood

[2:53:09] of Milwaukee. And a member of

[2:53:10] the Milwaukee County Young

[2:53:10] Democrats. The group which

[2:53:11] supports the power to the

[2:53:11] people campaign. And I'm

[2:53:14] speaking today in my personal

[2:53:17] capacity.

[2:53:18] As an individual as a pre few

[2:53:20] speaker noted while many here

[2:53:21] today are members. There are

[2:53:21] also individuals here to

[2:53:24] support this who are not

[2:53:26] socialists.

[2:53:27] I would like to lend myself as

[2:53:28] a face to that claim. I'm not a

[2:53:29] socialist and I stand shoulder

[2:53:32] to shoulder in support of this

[2:53:34] reform.

[2:53:36] Making our power a public

[2:53:36] utility. Me is a reform well in

[2:53:37] line with the greatest utility

[2:53:40] reforms that were championed by

[2:53:42] 20th century progressives, that

[2:53:43] is that progressive era, which

[2:53:46] Wisconsin most boldly lived up

[2:53:47] to its great state's motto

[2:53:48] forward. It's time for

[2:53:50] Milwaukee to reclaim our city's

[2:53:52] tradition as a national leader

[2:53:54] in resident first policy,

[2:53:55] public control over utility

[2:53:56] provides a vehicle for

[2:53:57] government and our citizens

[2:53:59] to address many of the local

[2:54:02] quality of life issues impacted

[2:54:03] by air power utility. I urge

[2:54:04] all there is one the finalized

[2:54:07] version of this appears for of

[2:54:09] up before you deferred to the

[2:54:09] people, allow us our vote in a

[2:54:11] referendum requisite to enable

[2:54:15] the U.S. Trust us. We the

[2:54:18] people of Milwaukee.

[2:54:21] If you have an individual on

[2:54:22] the big board met for Sheskey,

[2:54:24] we didn't forget you. You've

[2:54:25] been patiently waiting for the

[2:54:25] better part of the whole

[2:54:28] meeting. So at the floor is

[2:54:31] yours.

[2:54:40] It yourself.

[2:54:46] We'll get back to Matt. Let's

[2:54:48] go on to issue it. She was

[2:54:49] tensions. Yeah, I think you

[2:54:50] saw I'm sure the Sanchez I live

[2:54:52] in Walker's point and I am a

[2:54:54] member of Milwaukee dsa.

[2:54:56] I want to talk about energy

[2:54:57] sources. So we all know that

[2:55:00] fossil fuels poison the water

[2:55:02] in the air. A study from last

[2:55:04] year says that burning fossil

[2:55:05] fuels leads to 91,000

[2:55:08] additional premature deaths in

[2:55:09] the U.S. Every year over

[2:55:10] 200,000 additional cases of

[2:55:14] childhood asthma every year

[2:55:14] in the country. There's one

[2:55:15] study that says actually

[2:55:18] multiple studies that say that

[2:55:21] burning coal releases 100 times

[2:55:22] more radioactivity, then

[2:55:23] nuclear power plants because

[2:55:24] you're digging radioactive

[2:55:24] material out of the earth and

[2:55:25] then you just throw it into the

[2:55:28] air in the water. You don't,

[2:55:30] you know, contain it. And

[2:55:32] that's not to mention the that

[2:55:33] catastrophic impacts of climate

[2:55:35] change caused by greenhouse

[2:55:37] gases from burning fossil

[2:55:38] fuels. So thankfully, in the

[2:55:39] past few decades, there's been

[2:55:42] really enormous advances in

[2:55:44] clean energy technology.

[2:55:45] In 2011 for the first time new

[2:55:46] wind farms were cheaper to

[2:55:48] construct the new coal-fired

[2:55:50] power plants in 2013 new solar

[2:55:53] plants were cheaper than coal

[2:55:57] in 2016. Both became cheaper

[2:55:58] natural gas plants. So we have

[2:55:58] the technology. We've had it

[2:56:02] for more than a decade now to

[2:56:03] switch to clean energy. But

[2:56:04] private energy companies have

[2:56:06] not been pursuing this at the

[2:56:08] rate that they they should be.

[2:56:10] So if we look at we energies

[2:56:12] in 2011, we energies announced

[2:56:15] a 30 year extension to creek.

[2:56:17] Coal fired plants. It was

[2:56:18] already clear in 2011. That

[2:56:19] call was not going to be an

[2:56:22] economically viable energy

[2:56:24] source for 30 years. But they

[2:56:26] spent that money keeping cool

[2:56:26] running in Twenty-twenty.

[2:56:27] They announced they would start

[2:56:31] shutting down some of their

[2:56:32] coal-fired plants. But they

[2:56:33] have done several lifetime

[2:56:34] extensions on their plans.

[2:56:36] So, you know, they they've

[2:56:38] pushed back the shutdown date

[2:56:41] from 2024. To 2025. 2026.

[2:56:42] Now they're saying 2027.

[2:56:43] We'll see. They're now is

[2:56:44] they've announced that 2032,

[2:56:45] they're going to completely end

[2:56:50] using coal. We'll see if they

[2:56:51] commit to that 2025, they

[2:56:51] announced that they're building

[2:56:54] a 1.5 billion dollar new

[2:56:55] natural gas plants.

[2:56:56] When they could have been

[2:56:59] spending that money on solar

[2:57:00] and on wind. And, you know, the

[2:57:02] biggest motivator for these

[2:57:03] fossil fuel plants is that they

[2:57:04] get to charge us the rate

[2:57:05] payers for the construction

[2:57:07] costs and they get guaranteed

[2:57:08] profits from that. So the more

[2:57:09] money they spend on fossil fuel

[2:57:13] plants, the more money they

[2:57:16] make right. So the alternative

[2:57:17] is solar and we energies,

[2:57:18] regrettably, they've been

[2:57:18] fighting solar. Every chance

[2:57:20] that they get, it's more than a

[2:57:24] decade now that they've been

[2:57:25] fighting residential solar

[2:57:27] rooftop, solar where the panels

[2:57:30] are paid for by people who live

[2:57:31] on the panel's regular people.

[2:57:32] But they are, you know, we

[2:57:33] energies is trying to block

[2:57:34] that energy getting back on

[2:57:34] the grid. I think we had a

[2:57:37] previous speaker mentioned

[2:57:38] that.

[2:57:41] Right? I was it. They're

[2:57:45] they're paying you $0.03

[2:57:47] I have my house for 7 months

[2:57:50] that I'm not yeah to use that

[2:57:50] right. So its 3 sense that the

[2:57:51] individual customer would be

[2:57:53] paid for that solar energy and

[2:57:57] then they charge $0.17 to give

[2:57:59] it to someone else. Right?

[2:58:00] The 2019 we energies fought the

[2:58:02] city and trying to put a few

[2:58:04] solar panels up on libraries.

[2:58:07] Right? So they've been fighting

[2:58:10] solar for over a decade.

[2:58:12] If we had a publicly owned

[2:58:13] power utility with 0 profit

[2:58:14] motive, then you know, we

[2:58:16] wouldn't be worried about how

[2:58:16] much money we can make on

[2:58:17] building new fossil fuel

[2:58:19] plants. We be building as much

[2:58:20] solar and wind as we could.

[2:58:23] And, you know, we would be able

[2:58:24] to do what cities all over the

[2:58:25] world are doing right now,

[2:58:27] which is putting solar panels

[2:58:27] on top of homes on top of

[2:58:31] warehouses on top of factories,

[2:58:32] on city buildings and over

[2:58:33] parking. Lots. And we would

[2:58:35] finally be able to generate

[2:58:36] clean energy for the people of

[2:58:37] Milwaukee. So I encourage you

[2:58:40] to support this this report.

[2:58:43] Thank you.

[2:58:46] One more call out the map.

[2:58:49] The Mets available. This is

[2:58:52] your shot. O Co, right, Matt,

[2:58:55] you're on.

[2:59:00] But man, if you're speaking,

[2:59:03] we're not able to hear you

[2:59:07] right now.

[2:59:09] Michael looks on.

[2:59:11] And you and your audio and Mike

[2:59:16] shedding light. That the

[2:59:20] properly. Assessed.

[2:59:20] On the right hand corner.

[2:59:23] Well, in a select the right.

[2:59:31] Okay. We're sorry, Matt, we've

[2:59:36] got to move on to the next and

[2:59:39] last speaker. Sam Michael.

[2:59:43] Hi, thank you very much.

[2:59:46] I am a teacher and a member of

[2:59:50] the dsa.

[2:59:51] Now given that we've had

[2:59:53] unanimous agreements, pretty

[2:59:54] much unanimous agreement on

[2:59:58] the We energies. If there's

[2:59:59] any semblance of democracy

[3:00:00] left, then the Common Council

[3:00:03] will do the right thing.

[3:00:04] I hope they do. But one thing I

[3:00:07] want to talk about is I want to

[3:00:08] make sure that I would like to

[3:00:12] ask the Common Council to add

[3:00:13] a provision to ensure that

[3:00:16] private corporations like we

[3:00:19] energies cannot

[3:00:20] crawl back after this. We

[3:00:23] energies is public. So, for

[3:00:25] example, if by the Common

[3:00:28] Council buys out, we energies,

[3:00:29] I want to make sure that

[3:00:30] another corporation isn't

[3:00:30] sprawl long and screw over

[3:00:31] workers and destroy the

[3:00:33] environment and everything like

[3:00:33] that. So that's one thing that

[3:00:36] I want. That's just one concern

[3:00:38] that I have. I think that this

[3:00:40] measure should definitely pass

[3:00:41] and we should look at other

[3:00:44] ways that we can actually make

[3:00:44] the stronger and make sure that

[3:00:46] these corporations don't find a

[3:00:48] way to score over everyone.

[3:00:49] So I'll just end with that

[3:00:53] little piece of advice. Thank

[3:00:56] you, Sam.

[3:01:01] Morning. Any closing comments

[3:01:03] by any members of the panel up

[3:01:05] here all the way to Ridge.

[3:01:06] Thank you. I'm not on the

[3:01:07] panel, Alderwoman Marina

[3:01:08] Demetria that I see a lot of

[3:01:09] friendly faces and neighbors

[3:01:11] from a district just want to

[3:01:12] make sure. I said hello and let

[3:01:15] you know that we're listening.

[3:01:16] We hear you again. I'm on the

[3:01:19] panel, but wanted to listen to

[3:01:21] your testimony and it was quite

[3:01:22] powerful. So thank you. We love

[3:01:23] having you at City Hall.

[3:01:24] This is the People's House.

[3:01:25] So thank you for being here

[3:01:28] and your testimony noted.

[3:01:31] Thank you.

[3:01:34] Include by saying this has been

[3:01:35] very informative, public

[3:01:39] hearing your witness testimony

[3:01:40] was very concise, a very

[3:01:41] moving, very persuasive.

[3:01:43] I appreciate you all being very

[3:01:45] organizes sticking more to the

[3:01:48] time. And I just want the

[3:01:48] record to reflect that. The

[3:01:51] Allman Brower head of suggest a

[3:01:55] schedule that we would end at

[3:01:55] 12:00:08pm, and it is now

[3:01:57] 12:00:09pm, when MR. At me as

[3:01:58] if you are one of the worst

[3:01:58] of all. Thank you so much.

[3:01:59] And I want to thank the other

[3:02:01] owners are being hurt.

[3:02:02] Alderwoman Taylor's on the on

[3:02:02] the board and Alderman

[3:02:03] Speicher. Thank you so much for

[3:02:04] hearing everything as and the

[3:02:06] tree of its. Thank you all and

[3:02:09] thanks to everybody who came

[3:02:12] out here today. You know, we

[3:02:14] are on we're in such trying

[3:02:16] times. And so with everything

[3:02:16] going on and all and everybody

[3:02:17] that helped you guys all have

[3:02:18] either different roles in the

[3:02:19] city are extremely demanding or

[3:02:20] time or another units of

[3:02:21] government. And so really

[3:02:23] appreciate all of you taking

[3:02:24] the time. You know, the more

[3:02:26] than 3 hours now to hear from

[3:02:27] the public. And here I'm here.

[3:02:29] These experts that we brought

[3:02:31] here today, this is the start

[3:02:32] of what I believe will be a

[3:02:35] serious conversation about how

[3:02:35] we can transform the city,

[3:02:39] right. And and we can use this

[3:02:40] campaign and this effort as a

[3:02:40] way to transform are part of

[3:02:41] city government. I do want to

[3:02:44] just note really quickly that

[3:02:45] no, there's going to be out

[3:02:48] there this this piece of well,

[3:02:49] the city, I can't even insert

[3:02:52] problem here. Why can we expect

[3:02:52] them to, you know, operate the

[3:02:53] power company, right? The city

[3:02:54] can't rake might leaves.

[3:02:55] How can we expect them to

[3:02:58] operate the power company?

[3:02:59] I really think that that it's a

[3:03:01] very reductionist view of what

[3:03:02] is possible here, but to

[3:03:02] directly address that and I

[3:03:04] think the PRESIDENT Should be

[3:03:07] addressed is that is that the

[3:03:08] city right now? We're under a

[3:03:10] lot of constraints with funding

[3:03:10] from the state are roads.

[3:03:14] We don't charge user fees for

[3:03:16] the roads. So that's not a self

[3:03:18] funding apparatus. Liquor

[3:03:19] waterworks is or like this

[3:03:20] utility would be. We would

[3:03:21] charge rates that would

[3:03:22] maintain the infrastructure.

[3:03:24] So there is a possibility both

[3:03:27] to have this conundrum that

[3:03:28] we're in with state funding

[3:03:29] and a well operated a utility

[3:03:31] as well. But I really

[3:03:33] appreciate the moment here to

[3:03:34] have us have the vision of

[3:03:36] expanding the democracy and

[3:03:37] the well-being of every single

[3:03:39] person. I'm here in Milwaukee

[3:03:41] by doing this. And frankly,

[3:03:42] to challenge the power and

[3:03:44] authority which we haven't done

[3:03:47] in the in in this building

[3:03:48] census or socialist. We're

[3:03:50] here. You have challenged the

[3:03:51] power and authority of one of

[3:03:55] the worst corporate actors in

[3:03:56] this city. One of things that

[3:03:57] was criticized about this event

[3:03:57] today was that we didn't have

[3:03:59] we energies here, but this is

[3:04:02] the start of the conversation.

[3:04:03] I would invite we energies to

[3:04:03] come to this committee or

[3:04:04] public works were set up a

[3:04:07] meeting with any of us to make

[3:04:07] their case about why they think

[3:04:08] they should be here and make

[3:04:10] your case to the public.

[3:04:11] Please. I challenge we

[3:04:11] energies. I'm with him. But of

[3:04:12] course, you know, they're a

[3:04:14] company that is exercising so

[3:04:16] much. Huber, U.S. Right now.

[3:04:17] But I don't even think they can

[3:04:17] step down to our level to

[3:04:19] explain why they should still

[3:04:20] even be our utility provider.

[3:04:21] But I just really want to

[3:04:23] sincerely thank everyone and

[3:04:24] MISTER Chair. Thank you so much

[3:04:27] for holding this hearing today.

[3:04:36] I know it is very interesting

[3:04:39] discussion and the question I

[3:04:39] have now is what are the next

[3:04:43] steps? Where does this proposal

[3:04:43] go from here? Well, as I

[3:04:44] mentioned at the outset, I

[3:04:46] think the next steps would be

[3:04:49] the formation of a a more

[3:04:50] formalized task force involving

[3:04:51] members of the council and

[3:04:54] members of the administration.

[3:04:54] Certainly Department of Public

[3:04:59] Works comptroller's office,

[3:05:01] perhaps. And where have you

[3:05:02] toward putting together a

[3:05:04] perhaps request for

[3:05:05] qualifications for a

[3:05:06] feasibility study, get the

[3:05:10] proposals from qualified firms

[3:05:11] as was indicated by first alert

[3:05:14] earlier and then the council

[3:05:17] would have to make the hard

[3:05:18] choice as to how to fund that

[3:05:19] feasibility study, which could

[3:05:20] be in the several hundreds of

[3:05:20] thousands of dollars. So I

[3:05:23] think that would be the next

[3:05:26] step.

[3:05:27] Also MARCH air you know, the

[3:05:28] next step, Stewart, a

[3:05:29] continuum, people mobilize and

[3:05:30] have conversations and agenda

[3:05:31] be a part of the public

[3:05:34] conversation that's going on.

[3:05:35] I think one of these that are

[3:05:35] still a mentor to me, but I

[3:05:37] don't believe she got a chance

[3:05:38] to mention today was that that

[3:05:40] this these fights are there's

[3:05:41] that there is a technical piece

[3:05:41] with the revenue bonds and the

[3:05:44] infrastructure. There's very

[3:05:44] much a technical concern.

[3:05:46] But the bigger concern, 90% of

[3:05:48] the concern is the political

[3:05:49] will. So it is also offer

[3:05:50] thought your question we have

[3:05:51] to build the political will to

[3:05:52] make this happen. You're

[3:05:53] walking. And that is that is a

[3:05:54] there is some tech companies.

[3:05:55] There's a I want to get on

[3:05:56] board with the idea of a task

[3:05:59] force or a feasibility study

[3:06:00] be conducted. We have to the

[3:06:01] build, the political will no

[3:06:02] matter what the feasibility

[3:06:05] study says we energies will

[3:06:05] has the legal right.

[3:06:07] Unfortunately under our

[3:06:10] campaign finance laws when the

[3:06:10] referendum hits the voters to

[3:06:11] spend almost an unlimited

[3:06:13] amount from the Treasury on the

[3:06:13] vote. No campaign. So we have

[3:06:15] to be well informed and

[3:06:19] fortified as a as a public to

[3:06:21] be able to withstand them Blatt

[3:06:22] with every other commercial

[3:06:22] being about why are Jews?

[3:06:25] We energies is the greatest

[3:06:25] thing in the history of the

[3:06:26] when that when that when that

[3:06:27] does happen. So I think that's

[3:06:29] another piece of it as well as

[3:06:30] chair. Thank you. Thank you.

[3:06:31] All right. With that big, no

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, UTILITIES, AND WATERWAYS REVIEW BOARD on 2026-06-24 9:00 AM

Agenda

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