July 26, 2023

The City of San Diego’s Environment Committee heard an update on their first report of a multi-phased study to evaluate the feasibility for the City to create its own public power entity. The City retained services from NewGen Strategies & Solutions LLC to conduct the study, with their Phase 1 report finding cost-benefit projections to be between $2-6 billion.

The Chamber spoke during the Council hearing and cited concerns over the costs, legal and regulatory hurdles, and capacity on the efforts. Others spoke against municipalization due to union agreements and the city’s staffing shortage.

Two years ago, the Chamber partnered with the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council to commission an independent, third-party economic analysis of the costs and benefits associated with municipalization, which found startup costs would likely be $8.9 billion.