Margaret,
There are plenty of examples of public power out there. It was actually quite
common 100 years ago. The Village of Groton still has a municipal-owned
electric system. They do not produce their own power, but rather purchase it
from the NYS Power Authority which operates the hydroelectirc plants at
Niagara and at the St. Lawrence Seaway dams. (and unfortunately at one or two
nukes)
It would probably not be an insurmountable leap for them to develop an
environmentally responsible home-grown source.
Less than 100 miles away in the mountains of PA are two of the rural electric
cooperatives established under the Rossevelt New Deal. There are dozens of
such cooperatives scattered throughout the Cumberalnd Plateau in southeastern
Kentucky. Most RECs that I know of are organized to operate within a specific
county - Jackson County REC, Sullivan County REC.
Southeastern Kentucky is also home to the Peoples Rural Telephone Cooperative,
probably another child of the New Deal. PRTC not only supplies telephone
service into the remotest of Cumberland Plateau hollows and ridges, they supply
high-speed internet as well.
Best regards.
George
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