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Capacity, sustainability, and the community benefits of municipal utility ownership in the United States

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  • George C. Homsy

Abstract

Most literature on utility sustainability focuses on internal operations; this misses the role that utilities could play within a community. This study measures the impact of municipal ownership of water and electric utilities on the sustainability policymaking of local governments. I find that municipalities with government-owned water utilities adopt more sustainability measures than those with investor-owned service. Similarly, municipally-owned electric utilities have higher levels of energy sustainability in the community, but not in government operations. The utilities provide fiscal and technical capacity to municipalities. Interdepartmental coordination also strongly predicts sustainability policymaking. This study brings potential community benefits to the discussion of private investment in public service delivery.

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  • George C. Homsy, 2020. "Capacity, sustainability, and the community benefits of municipal utility ownership in the United States," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 120-137, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jpolrf:v:23:y:2020:i:2:p:120-137
    DOI: 10.1080/17487870.2018.1515014
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    Cited by:

    1. Hess, David J. & Jordan, Megan L., 2023. "Demunicipalization as political process: Strategic action and the sale of municipal electric utilities in the United States," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    2. Jacob D. Tafrate & Kelsey E. Nyland & Robert W. Orttung, 2024. "Constituents over Correlation: Indicators and Arctic Urban Decision-Making," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-21, October.
    3. Soyoung Kim, 2021. "Integration of Policy Decision Making for Sustainable Land Use within Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-10, September.
    4. Ligorio, Lorenzo & Caputo, Fabio & Venturelli, Andrea, 2022. "Sustainability disclosure and reporting by municipally owned water utilities," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    5. Marc Kalina & Ncebakazi Makwetu & Elizabeth Tilley, 2024. "“The rich will always be able to dispose of their waste”: a view from the frontlines of municipal failure in Makhanda, South Africa," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(7), pages 17759-17782, July.
    6. Paul Nix & Adam Goldstein & Michael Oppenheimer, 2024. "Models of sub-national U.S. quasi-governmental organizations: implications for climate adaptation governance," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 177(6), pages 1-21, June.
    7. Joshua A. Basseches & Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo & Maxwell T. Boykoff & Trevor Culhane & Galen Hall & Noel Healy & David J. Hess & David Hsu & Rachel M. Krause & Harland Prechel & J. Timmons Roberts & J, 2022. "Climate policy conflict in the U.S. states: a critical review and way forward," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 170(3), pages 1-24, February.
    8. Lonergan, Katherine Emma & Sansavini, Giovanni, 2022. "Business structure of electricity distribution system operator and effect on solar photovoltaic uptake: An empirical case study for Switzerland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).

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