What Is Public Power and How Does It Benefit You?

Public Power Companies are consumer owned utilities that have played a vital role in the lives of Tennessee Valley residents since the mid-1930s. The Valley�s public power companies have only one purpose - to provide all their ratepayers with the best energy services at the lowest possible cost.

The benefits and strengths of public power include: not-for-profit rates, local control, and responsiveness to community needs.

Because public power companies provide not-for-profit-rates, your energy price includes only the costs of producing and delivering electricity to you. Investor-owned utility rates are established to include profits paid to individuals who hold stock in the company. Since public power companies’ profits are not paid to investors, they can offer lower rates.

Because a local public power company is locally controlled, decisions about policies such as rates are made by people who play a vital role in the community. The city council sets policies for many utilities, while other utilities have a separately appointed or elected electric utility board that governs utility policies. Decisions of large, investor-owned utilities are often made by people hundreds of miles away. Local control helps ensure that the utility responds to community needs.

Public power utilities help to keep the local economy strong, because the utility revenues stay in the community. And utility policies promote business participation and investment in the community.