Editing Municipalization (section)

{{Short description|Process of transferring private assets to municipal ownership}}
[[File:Costs to Municipalization.png|thumb|upright=1.35|Primary barriers to municipalization]]
'''Municipalization''' is the transfer of private entities, [[asset]]s, service providers, or [[corporation]]s to public ownership by a [[municipality]], including (but not limited to) a city, county, or public utility district ownership.{{sfnp|Vitolo et al.|2017|p=6}} The transfer may be from private ownership (usually by purchase) or from other levels of government. It is the opposite of [[privatization]] and is different from [[nationalization]]. The term municipalization largely refers to the transfer of ownership of utilities from Investor Owned Utilities (IOUs) to public ownership, and operation, by local government whether that be at the city, county or state level. While this is most often applied to electricity it can also refer to solar energy, water, sewer, trash, natural gas or other services.<ref name=":0">{{cite report|title=An Analysis of Municipalization and Related Utility Practices |date=30 September 2017|last=Vitolo|first=Thomas|display-authors=etal |ref={{sfnref|Vitolo et al.|2017}} |url=https://doee.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/ddoe/publication/attachments/An%20Analysis%20of%20Municipalization%20and%20Related%20Utility%20Practices.pdf}}</ref>

Between 2006 and 2016, there have been 13 different communities in the United States that have successfully switched from an IOU to a municipal utility. Most of these communities consisted of 10,000 people or less. Although proponents of municipalization have attempted to municipalize via [[Popular initiative|ballot initiatives]], many have failed.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.denverpost.com/2011/09/09/boulder-xcel-energy-square-off-over-citys-energy-future/|title=Boulder, Xcel Energy square off over city's energy future|date=2011-09-10|work=The Denver Post|access-date=2018-04-23|language=en-US}}</ref>