Putting the "Public" in Power: Voters Support Having a Publicly Owned Utility
By Catherine Fraser and Grace Adcox
With increased scrutiny on the role of private utility companies in entrenching fossil fuel interests, advocates nationwide have called for transitioning toward more public utilities, establishing utility providers that give the public a direct say in decisions around energy policies. In just over a week, Maine voters will head to the polls to decide whether to replace the state’s two private utilities — Central Maine Power and Versant Power — with a publicly owned utility, Pine Tree Power.
New polling from Data for Progress finds that a strong majority of likely voters nationwide (68%) support having a publicly owned utility as their local utility provider. Support holds across party lines, with majority support among Democrats (71%), Independents (66%), and Republicans (67%).
Maine ranks among the top three states in the nation for the frequency of power outages per customer. Supporters of Pine Tree Power argue that a publicly owned statewide utility would take direction from Mainers, enabling local control of utility rates, financing, and energy sources to better ensure reliability and advance climate justice.
When voters read support and opposition messages contrasting public and private utilities, support for public utilities remains high, with no change in overall voter support for having a publicly owned utility provider.
In recent years, extreme weather events, made worse by climate change, have exposed weaknesses in the reliability of electric grids and power supply in Maine and across the country. These disruptions have led to skyrocketing utility bills and increased scrutiny of the reliability of the grid, as well as an overreliance on fossil fuel energy sources to provide electricity.
A majority of voters (60%) report that their utility bills increased in the last year. When asked, a plurality of voters (39%) want their utility company’s top priority to be lowering prices for consumers. Voters also want their utility to prioritize ensuring reliable service (21%), upgrading aging grid infrastructure (17%), and transitioning to renewable energy (15%).
Advocates of not-for-profit utilities highlight a range of potential benefits that these publicly owned providers can offer. Of potential outcomes from having a publicly owned utility, voters report having a say over the rates they pay for electricity (45%) is most appealing, reflecting the high salience of cost concerns.
Beyond control over rates, voters are most excited about the potential for a publicly owned utility to serve the interests of their community, rather than private shareholders (34%), to address power outages or necessary grid upgrades quickly and efficiently (26%), to be made up of utility board members who represent their interests and concerns about energy (23%), and to have local representation to address concerns about home energy and utility services (22%).
With rising energy costs, increasing concerns over grid reliability, and the ongoing climate crisis, there is a clear appetite among voters for public power.
Catherine Fraser (@cathwfraser) is the Senior Climate and Energy Program Associate at Data for Progress.
Grace Adcox (@GraceAdcox) is a polling analyst at Data for Progress.
Survey Methodology
From October 20 to 21, 2023, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 1,222 likely voters nationally using web panel respondents. The sample was weighted to be representative of likely voters by age, gender, education, race, geography, and voting history. The survey was conducted in English. The margin of error is ±3 percentage points.