Inquiry into the differential between public municipal ownership of water and electric supply in Texas.
Public ownership is dominant at the municipal level of government in the United States. Municipal ownership of certain public utilities typifies public ownership at the municipal level of government. However, there has been a tendency for a few public utilities to be resistent to municipal ownership. Public water supply is the one utility that has been most susceptible to municipal ownership, and public electric supply is typical of those few utilities that have been resistent to this type of ownership. Municipal ownership of water supply in Texas began in the 1870's and has grown very rapidly, so that today the water system in 92.1 percent of all incorporated cities in Texas is municipally owned. On the other hand, municipal ownership of electric supply in Texas began in the 1880's and has grown very slowly, so that today the electric system in only 10.6 per cent of all incorporated cities in Texas is municipally owned. The primary reasons why public water supply in Texas has been particularly susceptible to municipal ownership are: (1) the inability of privately owned water companies to realize a reasonable profit from their investment; (2) the inability of privately owned water systems to expand sufficiently to meet the needs of increased urbanization; and (3) the need for other services, deemed best administered by the municipal government, to be provided in conjunction with the water system. The primary reasons why municipal ownership of electric supply in Texas has proceeded at a very slow pace are: (1) satisfaction with the service of private enterprise and the rates charged for electricity; (2) the ability of private enterprise to provide electricity to several cities from only one centrally located generating plant; and (3) the ability of privately owned electric companies to exert sufficient pressure to defeat any move toward establishing a municipally owned electric system. Unless there is a change in the attitude of the general public toward the accessibility of water, and unless some means is discovered for Increasing the gross revenues of public water systems and decreasing their operating costs, it can probably be assumed that this utility will continue to be the one most susceptible to municipal ownership. However, as the transfer of funds advantage of the municipally owned electric system becomes more widely recognized, and as public power, generated by state owned river authorities, becomes accessible to a greater number of Texas cities, it can probably be predicted that public electric supply will become more susceptible to municipal ownership in the future than it has been in the past.
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations