The billions in takeover costs would be 100% debt and 100% funded through our electric bills. If this initiative passes, voters will be left to foot the bill for taking over the energy grid – which could cost $9.3 billion or more in new government debt. This means higher costs for all of us. 

Yes. The City of San Diego is currently conducting a separate, $3 million, multi-year study to look at the cost and feasibility of establishing a city-owned utility, but it is nowhere close to complete. This initiative is jumping ahead of the City’s efforts to understand the facts and rushing to force a government takeover of the electric grid before San Diegans know all the facts and data, including the costs to take over.

There have been no successfully completed instances of a government takeover of an electric grid at this scale. EVER. The most recent comparable effort was the City of Chicago. After a detailed feasibility study, the City of Chicago determined to not move forward with the government takeover, citing high costs to separate utility assets needed to serve the city.

Absolutely! While the initiative claims to provide full protections for existing International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) utility employees, the IBEW Local 465 isn’t buying it. Other localities that have experienced government takeovers, at a smaller scale, have seen loss of jobs, lower pay, lesser quality jobs, and difficulty filling positions.

The backers of this initiative filed a notice of intent to collect signatures to qualify for the November 2024 ballot. Supporters began collecting signatures in December and have until May 2024 to collect the necessary number of signatures from SanDiego residents to qualify for the ballot.