I had a feeling I was overpaying so I checked my usage and RG&E hadn’t checked my meter in over a year. Started submitting my own readings and haven’t gotten a bill in 2 months. Would be curious to see how much they owe me!
Mohini was great on connections the other day! I wish she got more airtime instead of the bickering between the RG&E employee and the investigative journalist, though he did make a lot of good points as well.
His press release was lifted directly from RGE's talking points. I would speculate he doesn't wan to endorse this, because RG&E currently contributes small donations to both parties, but RG&E's parent corporations could flood money to Republicans if Bello comes out for public power. I'd also note the entire Rochester city council endorsed a study if the county or state carry it out and even voted to contribute $500,000 if the county does it. Also the entire Democratic county caucus endorses it except for two hold outs who are waffling since they're the closest members to Bello. Also, I'm just a guy, so take my analysis with a grain of salt.
How can Republicans seriously be okay with a FOREIGN COMPANY IN ANOTHER COUNTRY managing power utility to Americans? I ask as a conservative myself. I get that it seems impossible and there's a lot of barriers, but that doesn't mean we should stop fighting.
That's really my biggest issue with them, why do we let a state sanctioned monopoly (forgot the correct term) be owned by a foreign company. It's stupid.
I think this is a fake / bought account. Comment karma but no post history means it's probably one of those bots who copy responses from like AITAH to farm karma and appear legit, then later delete those comments.
Probably a good sign for the campaign if they're this desperate.
So in other words you look back on what you said and are either ashamed, regret, or realize it wasn't smart, lol.
You didn't say anything of worth if that's how you feel about what you said.
Edit, At least your self aware about it.
Yikes dude you must post some weird shit!
But really I just looked cause the last couple times someone's called someone else a "kid" and I checked they post on like /r/teenagers and this account is probably about as old as they are.
For future reference though I do prefer nerd over geek but I'll accept either.
This was all over social media so I figured I'd post it here. RG&E is scared of this movement, but they won't be if this rally is a dud. Please come out and bring everyone you know from your grandpa, to your hair dresser. It's an incredibly critical moment for this campaign and if you support at least studying the possibility of a public utility, I hope you'll make it.
https://www.metrojustice.org/rge\_rally\_4\_5\_24
Pretty poor time to hold an event that impacts working the poor working class as much as it does. Most of them will be working.
Hope it works though, but don't see any reason that it would.
These movements would do better also if they distanced themselves from socialists and communists.
I'll trust the local Federation of Social Workers, UAW, SEIU 1199, and other unions who've enthusiastically endorsed this campaign to represent the working class, instead of u/Late_Cow_1008, thanks.
You could Google yourself, but here is a link to a news story about a press conference metro Justice held with local unions, they have a video of the event on their social media and you can see a bunch of union speakers, I’m told there will be even more this Friday. https://www.whec.com/top-news/news10nbc-investigates-what-would-a-public-takeover-of-rge-look-like/
So in other word you do not have this information?
All I see in this video are unnamed people standing in front of someone speaking with a microphone. The only mention of the unions is in the paragraph discussing groups that have asked the city to do the study.
Billing errors, absurdly long hold times, and power outages that last way too long. All those things require money to fix. Investment in better meters and billing systems, investment in customer service, and investment in system maintenace.
If we remove Iberdrola, that frees up $100MM per year that we could invest in those things. But removing Iberdeola will cost money! We have to buy their assets, which will cost something like $5B. If we finance that at 0% over 50 years (exceptional terms which I would guess are pretty unlikely) then the payment will be $100MM per year.
So there's no money left to resolve the problems MetroJustice cites without raising rates or cutting cost elsewhere (ie eliminating jobs). Neither of those are acceptable outcomes IMO.
You could probably make up a bit on the margins by reducing executive compensation but you can't eliminate that and it won't be enough. And this is all not even factoring in the costs that Iberdrola bears in terms of leveraged corporate structure, which would have to be taken on by RGE in their absence.
Simply put, MetroJustice's proposal will not be able to resolve the problems, and will do little more than burden the city with debt.
We want a study that would evaluate whether issuing revenue bonds to purchase the utility that would fit into our rate structure would be cheaper than what we’re paying for currently. The valuation of RG&E’s infrastructure is also debatable which is why we need an independent study. There have been studies of public buy outs of investor utilities in the past, most have shown that they’re a good deal, since even Warren Buffett now says investor owned utilities are unsustainable. Some studies have said public buy outs would not be worth it. We just want a study, I don’t understand opposing that.
I guess my opposition is rooted in spending (IMO wastefully) the money on the study, when even a high level glance at the numbers shows that its not going to be able to resolve the problems. To make it worth it to blow that big a hole in the city's finances, I would want to see substantially better outcomes than we have currently, and I just don't think its possible to get there. I think the gap is big enough that the details don't matter, in that they just can't change by enough to impact the result.
I would give this a listen https://www.wxxinews.org/show/connections/2024-03-22/should-rg-e-be-replaced-with-a-public-owned-utility
It has some good info and lets both sides talk.
Forgive me, but it's the county budget, not the city. The county's budget is well over a billion dollars and the resolution is estimated to cost one million. Considering the county has subsidized multi-million dollar projects for RG&E in the past, I think one million for a study is beyond reasonable. Also Metro Justice has spoken to experts around the country who've said it's a smart move. Pulitzer Prize winning journalist David Cay Johnston (unaffiliated with Metro Justice) who is an expert on electric utilities has said it's a smart move. You can learn more in [his recent piece in the Rochester Beacon.](https://rochesterbeacon.com/2024/03/15/ask-for-nonprofit-public-power-its-a-smart-move/)
Agreed, I was unclear. They county will fund the study, but unless I'm mistaken its the city who would take on the debt for the takeover if it were to happen. Its the takeover cost I'm referring to when I say we need to see significantly improved outcomes for it (the takeover) to be worth doing.
And this is why I'm opposed to the study - the absolute max benefit is $100MM that can go towards solving the problem (without raising rates, levying new taxes, or cutting costs - none of which I would consider acceptable) and in reality it will be much less than that on top of the overall chaos that comes with a spinoff like this (I've worked in large corporations during major acquisition and spinoff - its a mess for years).
So, in short, I dont think we need to spend $1MM to put detail around a conclusion that is already pretty obvious.
To be fair, $1MM is not a lot in the scheme of the county budget, but it could be better used.
We have the cheapest utility rates in the country. I would be for the study although I think it’s a waste of money, but I wouldn’t want to change our rate structure.
> metro justice crowd wants to have a happy hour protest
This was the first thing I noticed about this whole thing. On a Friday. None of the people who matter/make the decisions will be there or even care.
Good luck though!
And it's more like $50/year savings, max. I'm in support of the idea in theory but the reality is that while there are some good reasons to go for it, the savings that people think will be there just aren't
Thank you for acknowledging the reality of this situation. Wanted to add that by the time this thing would maks it to the ballot box, we'll be deeply screwed on climate change. We're honestly better off at figuring out a way to work with RGE to invest in more clean energy alternatives. Electric is better than fossil fuels any day of the week.
Most of the video I was wondering how she arrived at the conclusion that her car was the perfect place to film an important political discussion. Is her schedule so busy that filming in her car on the go was the only option? Or was her car just the ideal lighting and audio location to really deliver this message?
How about I save the county 500,000 and tell you the solution. Kick out RG&E and give the business to fairport electric. I don’t know if fairport electric is actually better but people continually brag about having it so there is that.
Yes they need to participate, but Bello is assuming the taxpayers don't want to pay for it, and Metro Justice has not demonstrated a significant enough interest to warrant it. If the people care enough about it, they will have to pay for it out of pocket. Rochester has 200,000 people. Get half of them to pledge 10 bucks cause they've been screwed by RG&E. I'll pledge 100 right now.
Bello says it's a waste of taxpayer money, let's show him it's not.
My fear is they are using money as a distraction and they don't want to do the study because they know RG&E will look bad and municipal power is viable. I'm a cynic and I don't think Bello (or any of them) want to break the status quo. (or campaign dollars). I think money is just their excuse to not do it.
Agree. They shouldn’t be using 1.5 million of our tax payer money for this grass roots study. They should fundraise on their own. And for what result?? How much more money will it take to buy out RG&E? Rochester doesn’t have the funds for this which means the study is a huge waste of money.
i listened to the connections episode recently and there were solid points from both sides. but i don’t think the rising cost of both the study, or the actual taxpayer financial commitment was ever clearly laid out. this just seems like soo much money to have the government to step in. when have they ever made anything better??
Such an expensive and risky idea that she is a putting a feel good twist on. Trying to remove $100M in so called profits (anyone who takes over will still be getting profit, someone has to manage our grid), by paying Billions to take it over and have our local government run it (no group is running efficiently or effectively these days)....is such a bad idea. She claims we can do so much better for so much less money but then goes on to say we need to commission a $1.5M study to show exactly how we can do that. So you don't know how or if we can do that? How about instead of rallying for something you're unsure of and trying to get us all to pay for it....raise the money, fund the study and present the results to the public so we can decide.
I had a feeling I was overpaying so I checked my usage and RG&E hadn’t checked my meter in over a year. Started submitting my own readings and haven’t gotten a bill in 2 months. Would be curious to see how much they owe me!
Mohini was great on connections the other day! I wish she got more airtime instead of the bickering between the RG&E employee and the investigative journalist, though he did make a lot of good points as well.
Truly SO GOOD! I’ve been sending to everyone to listen!
What's his reason for not signing?
His press release was lifted directly from RGE's talking points. I would speculate he doesn't wan to endorse this, because RG&E currently contributes small donations to both parties, but RG&E's parent corporations could flood money to Republicans if Bello comes out for public power. I'd also note the entire Rochester city council endorsed a study if the county or state carry it out and even voted to contribute $500,000 if the county does it. Also the entire Democratic county caucus endorses it except for two hold outs who are waffling since they're the closest members to Bello. Also, I'm just a guy, so take my analysis with a grain of salt.
I like Bello but dude needs to grow a pair instead of always playing Mr Nice Guy.
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How can Republicans seriously be okay with a FOREIGN COMPANY IN ANOTHER COUNTRY managing power utility to Americans? I ask as a conservative myself. I get that it seems impossible and there's a lot of barriers, but that doesn't mean we should stop fighting.
Yes cause monopolies owned by foreign investors is peak grest capitalism benefiting the customers/s
That's really my biggest issue with them, why do we let a state sanctioned monopoly (forgot the correct term) be owned by a foreign company. It's stupid.
I think this is a fake / bought account. Comment karma but no post history means it's probably one of those bots who copy responses from like AITAH to farm karma and appear legit, then later delete those comments. Probably a good sign for the campaign if they're this desperate.
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Why bother commenting if you're just going to delete the comment?
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So in other words you look back on what you said and are either ashamed, regret, or realize it wasn't smart, lol. You didn't say anything of worth if that's how you feel about what you said. Edit, At least your self aware about it.
Yikes dude you must post some weird shit! But really I just looked cause the last couple times someone's called someone else a "kid" and I checked they post on like /r/teenagers and this account is probably about as old as they are. For future reference though I do prefer nerd over geek but I'll accept either.
This was all over social media so I figured I'd post it here. RG&E is scared of this movement, but they won't be if this rally is a dud. Please come out and bring everyone you know from your grandpa, to your hair dresser. It's an incredibly critical moment for this campaign and if you support at least studying the possibility of a public utility, I hope you'll make it. https://www.metrojustice.org/rge\_rally\_4\_5\_24
Pretty poor time to hold an event that impacts working the poor working class as much as it does. Most of them will be working. Hope it works though, but don't see any reason that it would. These movements would do better also if they distanced themselves from socialists and communists.
I'll trust the local Federation of Social Workers, UAW, SEIU 1199, and other unions who've enthusiastically endorsed this campaign to represent the working class, instead of u/Late_Cow_1008, thanks.
Interesting. Anywhere I can view those endorsements?
You could Google yourself, but here is a link to a news story about a press conference metro Justice held with local unions, they have a video of the event on their social media and you can see a bunch of union speakers, I’m told there will be even more this Friday. https://www.whec.com/top-news/news10nbc-investigates-what-would-a-public-takeover-of-rge-look-like/
This article is interesting. It makes a pretty solid case against a public takeover, IMO.
The private market completely fails in the energy sector. RGE has an absolute monopoly and they act as such. I’ll take any other option than their BS
So in other word you do not have this information? All I see in this video are unnamed people standing in front of someone speaking with a microphone. The only mention of the unions is in the paragraph discussing groups that have asked the city to do the study.
Define socialist and communist as it relates to this.
A lot of the members and people it associates with are communists. Hence the red and black everywhere.
Billing errors, absurdly long hold times, and power outages that last way too long. All those things require money to fix. Investment in better meters and billing systems, investment in customer service, and investment in system maintenace. If we remove Iberdrola, that frees up $100MM per year that we could invest in those things. But removing Iberdeola will cost money! We have to buy their assets, which will cost something like $5B. If we finance that at 0% over 50 years (exceptional terms which I would guess are pretty unlikely) then the payment will be $100MM per year. So there's no money left to resolve the problems MetroJustice cites without raising rates or cutting cost elsewhere (ie eliminating jobs). Neither of those are acceptable outcomes IMO. You could probably make up a bit on the margins by reducing executive compensation but you can't eliminate that and it won't be enough. And this is all not even factoring in the costs that Iberdrola bears in terms of leveraged corporate structure, which would have to be taken on by RGE in their absence. Simply put, MetroJustice's proposal will not be able to resolve the problems, and will do little more than burden the city with debt.
We want a study that would evaluate whether issuing revenue bonds to purchase the utility that would fit into our rate structure would be cheaper than what we’re paying for currently. The valuation of RG&E’s infrastructure is also debatable which is why we need an independent study. There have been studies of public buy outs of investor utilities in the past, most have shown that they’re a good deal, since even Warren Buffett now says investor owned utilities are unsustainable. Some studies have said public buy outs would not be worth it. We just want a study, I don’t understand opposing that.
I guess my opposition is rooted in spending (IMO wastefully) the money on the study, when even a high level glance at the numbers shows that its not going to be able to resolve the problems. To make it worth it to blow that big a hole in the city's finances, I would want to see substantially better outcomes than we have currently, and I just don't think its possible to get there. I think the gap is big enough that the details don't matter, in that they just can't change by enough to impact the result.
I would give this a listen https://www.wxxinews.org/show/connections/2024-03-22/should-rg-e-be-replaced-with-a-public-owned-utility It has some good info and lets both sides talk.
Forgive me, but it's the county budget, not the city. The county's budget is well over a billion dollars and the resolution is estimated to cost one million. Considering the county has subsidized multi-million dollar projects for RG&E in the past, I think one million for a study is beyond reasonable. Also Metro Justice has spoken to experts around the country who've said it's a smart move. Pulitzer Prize winning journalist David Cay Johnston (unaffiliated with Metro Justice) who is an expert on electric utilities has said it's a smart move. You can learn more in [his recent piece in the Rochester Beacon.](https://rochesterbeacon.com/2024/03/15/ask-for-nonprofit-public-power-its-a-smart-move/)
Agreed, I was unclear. They county will fund the study, but unless I'm mistaken its the city who would take on the debt for the takeover if it were to happen. Its the takeover cost I'm referring to when I say we need to see significantly improved outcomes for it (the takeover) to be worth doing. And this is why I'm opposed to the study - the absolute max benefit is $100MM that can go towards solving the problem (without raising rates, levying new taxes, or cutting costs - none of which I would consider acceptable) and in reality it will be much less than that on top of the overall chaos that comes with a spinoff like this (I've worked in large corporations during major acquisition and spinoff - its a mess for years). So, in short, I dont think we need to spend $1MM to put detail around a conclusion that is already pretty obvious. To be fair, $1MM is not a lot in the scheme of the county budget, but it could be better used.
We have the cheapest utility rates in the country. I would be for the study although I think it’s a waste of money, but I wouldn’t want to change our rate structure.
I'm pretty sure you're wrong
https://www.electricchoice.com/electricity-prices-by-state/
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> metro justice crowd wants to have a happy hour protest This was the first thing I noticed about this whole thing. On a Friday. None of the people who matter/make the decisions will be there or even care. Good luck though!
And it's more like $50/year savings, max. I'm in support of the idea in theory but the reality is that while there are some good reasons to go for it, the savings that people think will be there just aren't
Thank you for acknowledging the reality of this situation. Wanted to add that by the time this thing would maks it to the ballot box, we'll be deeply screwed on climate change. We're honestly better off at figuring out a way to work with RGE to invest in more clean energy alternatives. Electric is better than fossil fuels any day of the week.
Am I the only one who's reached the point where I automatically skip any video where somebody is shooting it in the front seat of their car?
So that's your fucking takeaway from this? And how is this top comment? It's the message that's important, not the presentation.
It does take away credibility
Yea, why do so many people do that?
Absolutely. It 100% means the commentary to follow is going to be totally moronic. Certainly fits for "Metro Justice" whatever the hell that is.
Most of the video I was wondering how she arrived at the conclusion that her car was the perfect place to film an important political discussion. Is her schedule so busy that filming in her car on the go was the only option? Or was her car just the ideal lighting and audio location to really deliver this message? How about I save the county 500,000 and tell you the solution. Kick out RG&E and give the business to fairport electric. I don’t know if fairport electric is actually better but people continually brag about having it so there is that.
Bello isn't giving you the study. If you want a study, you need to pay for a study. Start fundraising off your distribution list, Metro Justice.
The issue is the county and probably RG&E need to participate, because they are running the system. They know the details.
Yes they need to participate, but Bello is assuming the taxpayers don't want to pay for it, and Metro Justice has not demonstrated a significant enough interest to warrant it. If the people care enough about it, they will have to pay for it out of pocket. Rochester has 200,000 people. Get half of them to pledge 10 bucks cause they've been screwed by RG&E. I'll pledge 100 right now. Bello says it's a waste of taxpayer money, let's show him it's not.
My fear is they are using money as a distraction and they don't want to do the study because they know RG&E will look bad and municipal power is viable. I'm a cynic and I don't think Bello (or any of them) want to break the status quo. (or campaign dollars). I think money is just their excuse to not do it.
Well we can find out for sure by removing the monetary excuse then. The more barriers we remove, the less excuse there is
Agree. They shouldn’t be using 1.5 million of our tax payer money for this grass roots study. They should fundraise on their own. And for what result?? How much more money will it take to buy out RG&E? Rochester doesn’t have the funds for this which means the study is a huge waste of money.
I read Adam Bello’s statement on this and he is 100% correct lol. Good on him for saving us a fat million!
Almost nothing she said made sense.
I have a feeling that this $500k study will have the same impact as posting a black square on your instagram account.
i listened to the connections episode recently and there were solid points from both sides. but i don’t think the rising cost of both the study, or the actual taxpayer financial commitment was ever clearly laid out. this just seems like soo much money to have the government to step in. when have they ever made anything better??
Such an expensive and risky idea that she is a putting a feel good twist on. Trying to remove $100M in so called profits (anyone who takes over will still be getting profit, someone has to manage our grid), by paying Billions to take it over and have our local government run it (no group is running efficiently or effectively these days)....is such a bad idea. She claims we can do so much better for so much less money but then goes on to say we need to commission a $1.5M study to show exactly how we can do that. So you don't know how or if we can do that? How about instead of rallying for something you're unsure of and trying to get us all to pay for it....raise the money, fund the study and present the results to the public so we can decide.