The Great Turning – Negotiations for Public Power

[Oscar]

The Great Turning – Negotiations for Public Power

[ http://newgenerationtrade.com/2015/06/0 ... lic-power/ ]

June 2, 2015 by newgenerationtrade Leave a comment

#changetheCETA-TTIP #reclaimHydroOne #bringbacktheFQD

Who will control our power in this crucial decade? With the race for climate security on, energy is risky (and expensive) business to be run by corporations. We know there has been irreversible damage to the atmosphere, land and waters. We feel shame and we want change. More serious than the carbon impact of one company, the risks of regional management by a fossil fuel cartel are many. A sustainable energy future requires public control. What will it take for the government of Canada to follow the people’s lead?

#PremierWynne #p3ingofpublicpower #theclimateforchangeisgrowing #Noenergyeast

The Great Turning

We live in a time of contrast that raises hope and fear. We put our heads in the sand or open our minds to the question – how can I serve? For me the pressure brings both responses: hope inspired by creative localization, and fear and grief from private encroachment on the Commons. David Korten, and other progressive economists, call this time of tumultuous change: the Great Turning. Trade and investment pacts are mechanisms of the power crisis because they are the long-term platform and pathways for the extraction-privatization of nations. With the new generation deals, city assets and municipal energy bodies, are being traded on the free market. In Ontario where I live, provincial and municipal energy service is being opened to private interests. Putting energy into private hands is a deal breaker for me. I want the next generation to inherit a public energy system. This knowing is resultant from more than my Tar Sands shame. Privatizing regional energy risks essential stuff like affordable rates and quality of service. In this blog I explore why energy sectors should never privatize through trade and ask questions about plans to deregulate Ontario energy.

#notonmywatch #nopublicmandate #tarsandsshame #keephydropublic

Extreme Risks

What does it mean to have corporations be in charge of energy? Very few of us can survive off the grid – the majority rely on public energy. All day long we employ energy sources in service of our eating, bathing, working, learning. Nearly all our activities are beholden to shared power sources. Just like water, energy is essential and the quality of our lives depends on its availability. Many problems can arise when energy becomes managed by for-profit interests. With privatization or p3ing, we frequently see: decreased access, limitations to service, job cuts, rate increases, and environmental risks. California saw rolling blackouts when their energy system privatized. Ontario has its own privatization stories that have increased stress and expense like the 407 highway and Hamilton city water. Because of repeated common problems, many municipalities are bringing energy (and other life-dependent sectors) back to public hands. Hamburg Germany residents won an energy referendum in 2013 and are in the process of bringing their energy service fully public again. The purpose behind the “Our Hamburg, Our Grid” campaign is to take back public authority on energy in order to shape a more renewable system. Under a North American style trade treaty, like CETA-TTIP, this change could be difficult.

Ontario announces privatization Ontario’s premier, Kathleen Wynne, recently announced her intention to sell 60% of the public’s energy shares. Last week, at the London ON town hall for a public Hydro One, Andrea Horwath, MPP for Hamilton and head of the Ontario NDP party, announced that this number could reach 90% or higher. The transfer of power remains regardless of the percentage, however, Horwath shared this — if Ontario ownership reaches below 10%, the legislation implies that the public will be barred from bringing energy back to public control. Why privatize a successful crown corporation that has been generating funds and providing stability since 1906? The government says they will privatize Hydro One to build other public infrastructure – transit lines, roads and bridges with an anticipated 4 billion of the sales, and pay off debt with the other anticipated 5 billion. This asset makes 300 million a year in dividend income for Ontario people. Why sell it off for small short-term gain in exchange for long-term losses forever?

Plausible Future Outcomes

Big business investors cannot focus on equitable rates and environmental impacts at the expense of their bottom-line. Company survival depends on increasing profit. This does not an-evil-corporation-make; but a serious mismatch of public need with private system. How do energy corporations meet their quarterly profit goals? Increases in rates, decreases in service, or cutting of jobs. In a future Hydro One, we would have no shareholder voice to create system change for renewables. The premier knows that we must take care of the climate. She announced so publicly last month. However, permitting various corporations to run Ontario’s energy is incongruent with sustainability. Previously, Ontario was funding renewables until local procurement was severed by WTO trade rulings.

More of the story can be found here: [ http://newgenerationtrade.com/2015/04/2 ... ff-lights/ ]

Trade law gets in the way of democratic process. Public servants including the auditor general and provincial ombudsperson have warned that they will not be able to demand accountability under a private Hydro One. The resulting legacy: public oversight lost.

Ontario Energy & Trade Pacts

The government should not make key policy and structural changes without a public mandate. Further they should not do it behind closed doors within trade and investment treaties. For the first time Canadian energy entities of provincial jurisdiction, like Hydro One, and municipal jurisdiction, like Toronto Hydro, will be ruled through international treaty law. Under the CETA, or Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement, Ontario’s energy, including Hydro One, the Ontario Energy Board, and major municipal entities are not protected by Annex reservations. On the European side of CETA-TTIP, sustainable energy choices are also not protected. Europeans will not be able to favour cleaner energy sources without threats of ISDS lawsuits for trade discrimination.

Taking Back Power from the CETA-TTIP

There are many things that work in a profit model, and many that don’t! Corporate energy systems, that put us at risk of going even higher in parts per million, is not on my list of what the generation after us should inherit. What I love about this time is the sweet significance it holds. The Great Turning is abundant with ways to make purpose of our quiet lives. It’s a time of opportunity to think about what we stand for and what we will do to make things better for those coming next. How we power this planet should not be decided by a management team of large corporations or designed in a trade deal. What you will you do with your one small eye-blink in the Great Turning? What part of story do you wish to voice? Canadian economist Marjorie Griffin Cohen in her Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) study, back in the early days of new trade deals, says this of energy: “It is an industry that provides for human survival in a densely populated and complex world. Electricity is the basic infrastructure for every industry. The significance of who controls its generation and supply cannot be overstated.”

#findyourpower #whatsyourlegacy

From Public Good to Private Exploitation: Electricity Deregulation, Privatization and Continental Integration

By Marjorie Griffin Cohen July 2002

[ http://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/ ... ricity.pdf ]