Outsourcing means a loss of democratic control

Electricity sales still constitute the main source of municipal income. Other towns that outsourced their functions to the rent-seeking regional electricity distributors (REDs) soon faced bankruptcy and in many cases pushed up land prices to make up for lost income, thereby worsening the housing problem.

There is also concern that outsourcing the power distribution function would remove the ability of residents to hold elected officials to account over tariffs, as price-setting would be done by a private firm based on “market-related considerations” and “business principles”, thereby depoliticising the price-setting process and thus disarming the community politically.