Editing Municipalization (section)

==Motivations==

The key motivation for municipalization stems from a difference in priorities and goals of the community members and the incumbent utility. While incumbent IOUs have the objective of reliable and safe electricity that can provide a competitive profit for the investors, municipalized utilities are free from the need to provide for private profits and can focus on the pursuit of other policy goals, especially sustainability measures and experimentation with alternative energy policy.<ref name=":0" /> Efforts to municipalize often begin with the sentiment that the IOU is not managed primarily for the benefit of the citizens and that by undertaking municipalization of electricity services, a city government can exercise greater control over electricity generation and distribution (also often tying this process to sustainability measures).<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|date=2013-10-01|title=Industrial fields and countervailing power: The transformation of distributed solar energy in the United States|journal=Global Environmental Change|language=en|volume=23|issue=5|pages=847–855|doi=10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2013.01.002|issn=0959-3780 |last1=Hess|first1=David J.}}</ref> There is also a [[Neoliberalism|neoliberal]] argument stemming from the historical formation of utility [[conglomerate (company)|conglomerate]]s. The transition from [[direct current]] (DC) systems to [[alternating current]] (AC) systems in the early twentieth century allowed for greater access to electricity for Americans and enabled the electricity industry to shift to a larger scale. The economies of scale associated with providing a utility created [[Natural monopoly|natural monopolies]] and the associated consolidation of different types of electrical service in urban areas: street lighting, building lighting, industrial machinery, and streetcars.<ref name=":1" /> The recent efforts to municipalize electricity represent a return to municipalization as a mechanism to curb [[Monopoly|monopoly power]] and corruption. It is also important to acknowledge that the monopoly power of many incumbent utility providers means that they have strong financial and political resources to resist municipalization.<ref name=":1" /> Additionally there is always a legal factor with municipalization and state laws governing municipalization vary widely across the country sometimes making the process impossible.<ref name=":0" />