View Larger Map

Public power systems serve about 15 percent of the nation's electric consumers. (About 270 private, profit making electric companies serve about 75 percent of all consumers, and about 1,000 nonprofit rural electric cooperatives serve the other 10 percent.) Every state except Hawaii has public power systems. In Nebraska, all electric utilities are consumer-owned.

Most public power systems are in communities with populations of 10,000 or less. However, many large cities also have public power -- for example, Los Angeles, San Antonio, Seattle, Memphis, Jacksonville, and Omaha.

Public power systems are accountable to the communities they serve. In many cases, these systems are controlled by the city's elected governing board, such as a town council. Alternatively, they may be governed by a utility board whose members are appointed or elected by the council or mayor.

At the heart of public power is a commitment to consumer-owners. These individuals set the pace for policy-making and have a direct voice in expressing their goals and priorities for the community and its electric utility. Policy board meetings of elected or appointed officials are open to the public, and consumers have a say in the decision-making process both through public meetings and at the ballot box.

At Massena Electric, we're proud to be a public power system, and we're committed to providing our customers with affordable, reliable electricity. On a national average, public power rates are significantly lower than rates charged by private power companies. Based on U.S. Department of Energy statistics, the average residential customer of a private electric company pays about 30 percent more for electricity than the average public power customer. Similarly, the average commercial/industrial customer pays about 10 percent more than the average public power customer.

One of the key reasons public power rates are lower is because public power systems are not-for-profit and do not pay dividends to outside stockholders. In addition, public power systems are more efficiently managed than private power companies, according to calculations based on U.S. Department of Energy statistics. Like other local government operations, not-for-profit public power systems also pay no federal income tax and can issue tax-exempt bonds for capital expansion. At Massena Electric, we're committed to passing these cost savings on to our customers and providing affordable, reliable electricity to the community we serve.

More than 35 million Americans receive electricity from almost 2,000 not-for-profit, community-owned electric utilities. They are operated by municipalities, states, counties, or other public bodies such as public utility districts.