Bring Power Home 2020, a grassroots group advocating for creation of a publicly-owned electric power utility, is hosting a signature collection training session at 4 p.m. Thursday in the Thurston Room of the Rpbert Hoag Rawlings Public Library.

The purpose of the session is to prepare petition gatherers in the event Pueblo City Council does not move forward with a special election on the question of Pueblo forming its own municipal electric utility.



"The mayor’s office will be proposing to the city council a vote of the people on taking the off-ramp from Black Hills Energy," a Bring Power Home 2020 spokesperson said. "We expect the council to take up this proposal on Feb. 3, 2020. But this is too important for us to just take our chances that they will move forward with a May 5 special election. So we are gearing up right now to begin collecting petition signatures to put the issue on the ballot ourselves."

In advocating for a break from Black Hills Energy, Bring Power Home 2020 lists a litany of reasons, including:

Pueblo has the highest electric bills among the 20 largest cities in Colorado; high electric bills have made it hard to attract or start new business here, and to expand existing ones; Black Hills Energy put the interests of shareholders above bill paying customers; and the rate designs are unfair and discourage energy-saving investments by many commercial customers.

A locally owned utility, the group believes, will "keep more of our money in Pueblo, with more local jobs. Customers are more than just bill payers, and we believe in fairness to all customer classes through state-of-the-art rate design. Energy efficiency is the cheapest resource.

"Local control matters. Lower rates are entirely dependent on local control."

For more information, visit bph2020.org.

jpompia@chieftain.com

Twitter: @jpompia







