[160159] in North American Network Operators' Group
Re: Muni network ownership and the Fourth
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Dave Sparro)
Fri Feb 1 09:26:20 2013
Date: Fri, 01 Feb 2013 09:26:05 -0500
From: Dave Sparro <dsparro@gmail.com>
To: John Levine <johnl@iecc.com>
In-Reply-To: <20130130220300.40036.qmail@joyce.lan>
Cc: nanog@nanog.org
Errors-To: nanog-bounces+nanog.discuss=bloom-picayune.mit.edu@nanog.org
On 1/30/2013 5:03 PM, John Levine wrote:
> The muni power companies around here provide service every bit as good
> as NYSEG, the private power company, at literally half the price.
The muni providers have a bunch of cost advantages that help them keep
the price lower.
municipal utilities:
- sell bonds cheaper (holders get tax-advantaged rates in interest
income, and are ultimately backed by the muni taxpayers)
- don't pay property tax on real-estate or sales tax on equipment used.
- can force sale of property to collect unpaid bills
- leverage municipal employees for customer support (can pay my water
bill at the city clerk's office)
