We’re strongly in agreement with the editorial pages of the Journal Sentinel in their position that legislators should protect the Citizens Utility Board (CUB), a consumer watchdog group fighting to keep our utility rates in check.
The CUB receives $1.3 million in taxpayer funding in the biennial state budget. [Correction: It's actually a little less than $1 million per biennium, and the funding comes from programming, not tax revenue.] That’s literally pennies to individual taxpayers, but it’s a huge sum of money for a small, enterprising group that stands up to powerful monopoly utilities like We Energies. Despite having a small budget and staff, CUB successfully advocates on behalf of consumers at the state Public Service Commission (PSC), resulting in a $161 million in savings for utility ratepayers last year alone.
Apparently CUB is too successful, since the Republicans on the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee and the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) want to cut off CUB’s state funding, putting its operations at risk.
The public sorely needs CUB’s advocacy. Gov. Scott Walker has appointed utility-favoring members of the PSC, which is why our electricity rates are rising and alternative energy sources are being attacked. CUB, as the voice of consumers, argues against these harmful policies and stands up to powerful monopoly utilities that think they can do whatever they want now that Walker’s cronies are in charge, even if high electricity rates are harming our economy, including the state’s manufacturing sector.
Legislative Republicans and the MMAC should be ashamed of themselves for going to bat for monopolies that are hurting our economy. It appears that the Republican legislators, MMAC and monopoly utilities like We Energies won’t be satisfied until consumers—and voters—have no voice at all.
