Power to the people: blackouts due to privatization and deregulation lead to discussions about taking back control of our electrical production and delivery: workers stranded in the dark start organizing for power

On Thursday, August 14th I found myself stranded on a virtually immobilized Toronto transit system in the middle of the largest blackout in North American history. The power outage affected almost 50 million people across the northeastern United States from New York to Detroit and into the Canadian province of Ontario.

The historic blackout was only the most recent in a series of energy fiascoes that have stricken parts of North America as neo-liberal governments deregulate the industry and privatize power-generating facilities. Blackouts and brownouts have become a regular feature of profit-seeking energy provision in California since the industry was de-regulated there.

Vern Fawcett, an eminent retired electrical engineer who worked on some of Ontario's largest electrical ventures, pointed out in an interview with the Toronto Star: "It's clear to me that privatization doesn't work. The only way to ensure reliability is with a public system. For-profit power providers don't spend the money needed to build the necessary surplus capacity and reliability into the system. As a result, systems get overloaded and technical glitches occur." Fawcett went on to note: "These problems happen because of reduction of personnel and insufficient technical expertise. Outages such as the one we experienced this week will undoubtedly continue to occur."

An investigation into the blackout found that it likely started in lines and substations run by First Energy, a massive company that supplies power to parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Notably, First Energy is the fourth largest investor-owned, for-profit electric utility in the USA and is run by a major campaign supporter of George W. Bush. Only a week before the blackout, a judge ruled that First Energy failed to install anti-pollution equipment when it repaired one of its coal-burning power plants in Ohio. A year ago one of the company's nuclear plants came dangerously close to a core meltdown. These are not exceptions limited to one company but regular features of capitalist energy provision.

Tellingly the only part of the region not to lose power was Quebec, which maintains a self-sufficient operation that was nationalized by the nationalist Parti Quebecois government in the 1980s. Ironically neo-liberal advocates of privatization, like the government in Ontario and New York which both began de-regulation in 1996, were forced to go crawling to the public generators in Quebec pleading to buy power. Hydro Quebec supplied power and, as well, sent 50 generators to Ontario.

Despite awareness that the privatized system has long needed upgrading, the pursuit of profit has shifted investment money away from the transmission end, which offers only low returns. On the other hand, over the past decade Hydro Quebec has spent $2.2 billion (Canadian) on transmission network upgrades.

In addition, measures for overhauling the grid have been held up in the USA Congress as the President holds out for a deal on oil drilling in the ecologically sensitive Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, "a Bush obsession that would satisfy USA oil demand for 20 months at best," according to the Toronto Star.

Estimates of the economic costs of the blackout reach upwards of $5 billion. This figure does not include the lost incomes of workers whose workplaces were closed or operating in reduced capacities. Despite the fact that the provincial government declared a state of emergency and told only essential workers to report for work, the provincial Employment Standards Act does not oblige employers to pay workers who obey the request to stay home.

The blackout also made many people aware of the massive waste of resources related to capitalism. Many were angered by the fact that the first day after the power came back on, empty Bay Street (Canada's Wall Street) office towers were fully lit up. Numerous letters to the editor and calls to television and radio stations expressed disapproval over the use of energy to light up advertising signs and storefront displays. Energy directed to such socially useless ends is strictly a product of capitalist pressures of competition, and for the first time in a long time a very critical public discussion was taking place regarding such wasteful practices.

Some long overdue recognition was given to environmentalists' calls for alternative energy sources and small-scale neighbourhood generators to replace energy megaprojects. A move to take the control of power away from bosses and corporations and develop community control is clearly necessary and will hopefully become a larger part of public discussions.

Other significant public engagements took place as a direct result of the blackout, such as the emergence of community and solidarity in working class neighbourhoods across the city. Neighbours who had never so much as spoken to each other joined together to hold apartment and street parties. People improvised large-scale meals out of food that might otherwise have spoiled and fed entire streets. This was a glimpse of socialism from below and even mainstream commentators remarked on how well people got by without businesses and the state.

Jeff Shantz is a member of CUPE Local 3903 and is active in the Toronto General Defence Committee.

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