The Plan:
We will build on the momentum of the recent Power San Diego public power ballot initiative campaign, where hundreds of volunteers collectively gathered over 30,000 signatures to force a city council vote on the initiative in June 2024, for a broader follow-on campaign to achieve public electric power in San Diego.
PPSD will educate the community and strengthen alliances. The focus will be on the benefits of local control of the grid, in the form of a public electric distribution utility, to drive down rates and accelerate decarbonization. This effort will be supplemented by a separate and distinct signature gathering campaign.
PPSD’s purpose is to line-up the resources in advance that will be needed to gather the target number of signatures to place public power on the ballot. Signature gathering must be initiated several months before going to ballot. We are currently building alliances with community groups, businesses, labor, and elected officials. Momentum is also gathering statewide in the wake of repeated IOU-caused catastrophic wildfires and ever rising rates, to convert the IOUs into public electric utilities. A strong, grassroots public power campaign in San Diego would energize such a statewide effort and could be readily absorbed into that effort if it gels.
It’s doable with our experienced energy experts, organizers, and dedicated community leaders pointing the way. SDGE will spread fear, of course. Many other municipalities have pulled this off and San Diego can too.
A Better Future For All San Diegans:
Our vision is a San Diego that has achieved lower-cost, locally governed electric power. To get there, we will first educate and motivate the public, businesses, unions, and interest groups on the benefits of public electric power – lower rates, faster climate action, and increased social justice. Then we’ll bring together the resources to get a public electric utility amendment on the ballot and win the vote.
This campaign is about educating the San Diego community on the need to take back a public good – electric power – for the benefit of the people of San Diego. Mayor Johnson of Cleveland was right years ago when he said of private utility monopolies “they will rule your politics, corrupt your institutions and finally destroy your liberties.” With local control of the electric grid, we will have the independence to lead the way in lower-cost electricity and faster clean power action for the benefit of all San Diegans.
With your help this is not only possible, it’s inevitable.