I want to replace RG&E with a local, community controlled public utility!

I want to replace RG&E with a local, community controlled public utility!

Did you know that we can vote out the foreign-owned corporation that owns and controls RG&E? RG&E is owned by a foreign multinational corporation called Iberdrola that extracts over $120 million in profits from our region every year. Rochester for Energy Democracy (RED) is Metro Justice’s campaign to replace foreign-owned RG&E in Rochester or Monroe County into a not for profit, locally controlled public utility.

RG&E's track record speaks volumes—surprise billing, exorbitant rates and shut offs, terrible customer service, and rising rates have plagued our community for far too long. In addition to being unresponsive to the needs of city residents, RG&E has all but ignored the impending climate crisis, continued to invest in fossil fuels, and lobbied against green energy policies. It's time for change.

  

 

3,528 signatures

By signing this petition, I support the call to replace RG&E with a locally owned and community controlled public utility that meets the needs of our communities instead of serving the greed of distant investors and CEOs. I want a public utility based on the principles of energy democracy:

  • Affordable Rates,
  • Local investment of ratepayer dollars to prioritize customer service and a reliable grid, 
  • A fast and equitable transition to zero greenhouse gas emissions, 
  • More good paying union jobs and a just transition for fossil fuel energy workers, 
  • Public ownership of the utility, where it is run by value-aligned general management and its current employees, governed by an elected Board of Directors, and has a real say for ratepayers. 

In particular, I call on elected leaders to take the first step and study whether and how a public utility could meet these goals.

Will you sign?

  • Jessica Quarterman
    signed 2025-08-11 10:49:11 -0400
    I am sick of being charged almost what my mortgage is monthly. RGE is the absolute worst!! They don’t care if you actually have power or not. As long as they get all their money.
  • Charles Arnone
    signed 2025-08-10 20:18:21 -0400
  • Andrew Cook
    signed 2025-08-10 16:35:47 -0400
  • John Hoffman
    signed 2025-08-09 15:57:53 -0400
  • Melissa Ni
    signed 2025-08-09 09:12:44 -0400
    RG&E is horrible. I’ve been overcharged so many times. It needs to be fixed.
  • Sam Pata
    signed 2025-08-08 10:49:42 -0400
  • Haya M
    signed 2025-08-08 10:32:22 -0400
  • Nicholas Walls
    signed 2025-08-07 15:21:41 -0400
  • Margaret Dobner
    signed 2025-08-07 12:37:42 -0400
  • hanna Bergwall
    signed 2025-08-07 11:36:45 -0400
    How to i get yard signs?
  • Patrick Coniff
    signed 2025-08-06 12:28:23 -0400
  • Hailey B
    signed 2025-08-06 06:02:06 -0400
    RGE are thieves. They did not send me a bill for multiple months when I first moved into my home. I called customer service more times than I can count and was constantly told this issue would resolve yet it never was. I asked to speak to supervisors and was told they would contact me, they never did. I ended up having to contact the state. They still failed to respond. I had to again follow up with the state to notify them that RGE had not resolved the issue. Finally someone called me and offered me a payment plan to pay back the bills that were never sent to me. I feel like I should not have been responsible for these bills because I tried multiple times to pay them and they failed on their end. They should have ate the cost, not me. Yet I had no other options as RGE is our only gas and electric source. They are overpriced. I pay 200, 300, almost 400$ a month in gas and electric for a 1400 sqft ranch home. It is ridiculous especially in this economy! This is a necessity to live and it is wildly overpriced. They price gouge us constantly. There has to be an end to this!!!
  • Bernadette Smith
    signed 2025-08-05 18:38:18 -0400
    RG&E needs to go. I didn’t get a bill for over a year but kept paying my budget…still owed them. Now they upped my budget by $200 per month without notice. All I got was “don’t know what happened. You should have been noticed”. The company is owned by thieves and the employees are either untrained or incompetent (maybe both)
  • Michelle Hood
    signed 2025-08-05 11:42:50 -0400
  • Sophia Fasoldt
    signed 2025-08-03 15:30:46 -0400
  • Rachel Buczko
    signed 2025-08-03 14:20:31 -0400
  • Christina Brodie
    signed 2025-08-03 13:09:05 -0400
  • Tammy Mitchell
    signed 2025-08-03 12:07:15 -0400
  • Karen Lattanzio
    signed 2025-08-03 10:13:31 -0400
  • Rachel Bianchi
    signed 2025-08-02 18:42:09 -0400
  • Anthony Madalena-Soto
    signed 2025-08-01 19:57:07 -0400
    Rge suck and they overcharge
  • Jason Sellars
    signed 2025-08-01 18:57:21 -0400
  • Thomas Bain
    signed 2025-07-31 16:41:30 -0400
  • Madison Kosuda
    signed 2025-07-30 16:16:03 -0400
  • Paige Smith
    signed 2025-07-30 16:07:15 -0400
  • William Trabold
    signed 2025-07-30 15:35:00 -0400
  • Zak Battaglia
    signed 2025-07-30 13:48:04 -0400
  • Alex Nicolini
    signed 2025-07-30 06:45:21 -0400
  • Colleen Conheady
    signed 2025-07-29 23:55:45 -0400
  • Megan Allmannsberger
    signed 2025-07-29 20:54:04 -0400

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