I've lived in cities with municipally owned utilities and privately owned ones. The services has always been better and the rates lower with the municipal utilities.

With a commodity as critical as energy consumers need protection against the free market. Consumers don't have a lot of choice in how much energy they use in the short run: you can't just stop heating your home or running your refidgerator.

Energy stopped being a luxury long ago, it is now a necesity. To let private, societally unaccountable corporations with a primary mission of generating profits for the shareholders or owners, take over such a critical function is not a wise thing to do.

Personally, I believe there are good and bad industries for free markets. Necesities like energy, water and sewage management should not be left to the free market  because they are such critical services that they must be fairly and securely provided to have any sort of an equitable society.

etrans.blogspot.com