San Diego’s electric system powers homes, hospitals, schools and businesses every hour of every day. It works because it has been expertly built and reliably operated for decades. It is not something to experiment with.
The debate over public ownership of this system comes down to three things: reliability, cost and accountability. On all three, municipalization fails the test.
As a representative of the frontline workers who operate this system, I know what it takes. Operating an electric utility is among the most technically demanding, safety-critical undertakings in any community.
Every day, highly trained workers prevent outages and protect public safety. What cannot be purchased or transferred is what makes that possible: established processes, real-time coordination and a deeply rooted safety culture built over generations.
Running a utility is not about acquiring poles and wires. It is about disciplined, high-stakes operations every single day. Asking the public to believe a brand-new municipal utility can do this seamlessly is an extraordinary claim that demands extraordinary evidence. That evidence does not exist.
The city’s Phase II Newgen study has falsely presented municipalization as financially feasible. The real cost to acquire and separate the system into two distinct grids is closer to $9 billion. San Diego would carry that debt for decades, and those obligations would compete directly with schools, public safety and every other essential service.
This report was released at the same time that the city is laying off employees, closing public bathrooms, cutting $7 million from its climate action fund and is facing a $7.8 billion infrastructure funding deficit. Workers keeping the lights on would find themselves trapped inside an organization under severe financial pressure and still finding its footing.
The municipalization idea is divorced from reality whether it is led by the city or signature gathering activists hell bent on bankrupting San Diego.
An electric utility is not something you rebuild from scratch. The risks here are not ideological— they are operational, financial and immediate. The workers who operate this system every day understand what’s at stake better than anyone. They are telling you: the risks outweigh the benefits.
Municipalization is a gamble our communities and our union utility workers cannot afford.
Nate Fairman is a journeyman lineman and business manager of IBEW Local 465.
