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.

  

 

4,548 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?

  • Alex Yount
    signed 2024-01-19 15:39:21 -0500
  • David Welch
    signed 2024-01-18 16:18:57 -0500
  • Lee Slack
    signed 2024-01-18 13:28:58 -0500
  • Claire Houston
    signed 2024-01-18 13:27:13 -0500
  • Carly Paris
    signed 2024-01-16 18:53:46 -0500
  • lucille McLaren
    signed 2024-01-16 18:37:24 -0500
  • Devlin Rosen-Carole
    signed 2024-01-16 18:37:19 -0500
  • Gino Demino
    signed 2024-01-16 10:50:12 -0500
  • Kristy Mooney Graves
    signed 2024-01-15 13:29:44 -0500
  • Alisha DiPaola
    signed 2024-01-15 09:38:33 -0500
    Everyone should be addressing their elected representatives for failing them. Allowing RG&E to continue because they have shares in the company and are getting paid kickbacks is stealing money from you and putting it into their pockets. ADAM BELLO refused to allow OUR TAXES to be spent on what we need. Stop allowing them to bully you while they rake it PROFITS.
  • Alex Bilodeau
    signed 2024-01-12 19:20:06 -0500
    Go Michelle go!!
  • Aaron Pijanowski
    signed 2024-01-12 13:20:09 -0500
  • Kevin Thompson
    signed 2024-01-10 10:44:06 -0500
  • ari(se) shapley foley
    signed 2024-01-10 10:08:11 -0500
    really im on turtle island
  • Jude Thompson
    signed 2024-01-10 05:52:30 -0500
  • Mark Shafer
    signed 2024-01-09 08:48:57 -0500
  • Kim Kurtz
    signed 2024-01-09 05:23:16 -0500
  • Robert Conklin
    signed 2024-01-08 22:02:52 -0500
  • Melinda Friday
    signed 2024-01-08 16:32:01 -0500
  • Bridget Strub
    signed 2024-01-08 14:18:49 -0500
  • peter peterson
    signed 2024-01-08 14:06:35 -0500
  • Melanie Streeter
    signed 2024-01-07 21:48:17 -0500
  • Chris Finestone
    signed 2024-01-05 21:31:58 -0500
    It is necessarily true that capital destroys all it touches. No clearer can this be seen in the world than in privatizing and profiting off of human needs. It’s incredibly easy for the owners of our society to sit comfortably while people are deprived for no other reason than birth lottery. That is a monstrosity I cannot abide. Power to the people!
  • Katelyn Soriano
    signed 2024-01-05 19:26:04 -0500
  • Aster Ambular
    signed 2024-01-05 19:14:49 -0500
    all the power to all the people
  • Aoife Reynolds
    signed 2024-01-05 16:00:37 -0500
  • Jason Carr
    signed 2024-01-05 13:18:01 -0500
  • Benvolio Pennica
    signed 2024-01-04 19:24:05 -0500
  • Brendan McManus
    signed 2024-01-02 14:00:24 -0500
    Have been receiving terrible service, overcharged, meters misread, large bills, unable to see energy usage. Long wait times when call customer service. RG&E should not be a private company, they are a monopoly and get away with incompetence because there is no alternative
  • Amal Abdi
    signed 2023-12-23 15:44:54 -0500

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