On Fri, 3 May 2002, Michael Hohmann wrote:

> The city of Minneapolis could investigate purchasing gas or
> electricity directly from competing producers on behalf of all
> residential customers located within the city.

I like this idea. I doubt that, as a residential customer who uses a small
amount of energy per month, I would ever be able to negotiate a deal as
favorable as would a large consumer of electricity, such as a
manufacturing plant. It is my fear that residential customers will be
ignored by the energy suppliers as they compete with each other for large
energy consumers. The City of Minneapolis, with its thousands of
residential households, would have more influence in negotiations with
energy suppliers than any residential customer could ever expect and could
negotiate a better deal for its citizens than we could individually.

Are there any legal obstacles to the City of Minneapolis entering into an
agreement to purchase energy on behalf of all residential customers? Have
any other municipalities undertaken such an endeavor?

Scott McGerik
Hawthorne/Ward 3/Minneapolis
http://www.mcgerik.com/scott/
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

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