Milwaukee elected officials held a committee hearing on Wednesday to discuss the concept of a public power utility to replace We Energies. The working people of this city are suffering right now,” said socialist Alderman Alex Brower. “And I am so glad that this council and this body are taking heed of that and exploring this possibility today for us to utilize Chapter 197 of the Wisconsin State Statutes to replace WE Energies with a utility that’s democratically owned.”
LISTEN: Alderman Alex Brower
If Milwaukee moves to have a publicly owned utility, it will need support from the union representing We Energies workers. Brower addressed a representative of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. “We stand in solidarity with you, brother. And we want every dispatcher to have a better job. We just want the CEO to not have a job.”
Wednesday’s hearing convened by Brower and Alderman Bob Bauman was preceded by a public demonstration outside City Hall. We Energies was not invited to participate in the hearing, and a spokesman for the utility called the public power concept “a costly, radical and unrealistic idea.”