POSTED BY ORHAN
On the topic of Wisconsin’s Budget Repair Bill – this came from ginandtacos by way of Democratic Underground, HuffPo, and Rortybomb. Ginandtacos, whose analysis is excellent, read the entire 144-page bill and found this:
“16.896 Sale or contractual operation of state-owned heating, cooling, and power plants….the department may sell any state-owned heating, cooling, and power plant or may contract with a private entity for the operation of any such plant, with or without solicitation of bids, for any amount that the department determines to be in the best interest of the state… no approval or certification of the public service commission is necessary for a public utility to purchase, or contract for the operation of, such a plant, and any such purchase is considered to be in the public interest and to comply with the criteria for certification of a project…”
Sounds like the state will be able to sell off or contract out the operation of its energy plants with zero accountability and zero public debate. As to who’ll end up benefiting the most from this, right now the bets are on Koch Industries.
You can have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, or democracy. But you cannot have both.
Whatever Works 