Power to the People - Muny Light

Municipal Light, better known as Muny Light, was founded 1907. A small utility, it eventually became a supplemental supplier of electricity for the city of Cleveland. In the late '70s, it became the center of a legal battle when then mayor??Mayor??Dennis Kucinich??refused to sell the company to a number of??local??which who were heavily invested in Muny Light's largest privately owned competitor, the??Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company??(CEI).?? Kucinich insisted the move would squelch competition and drive up rates for Cleveland residents. CEI, in apparent effort to pressure the city to sell, had refused to roll over the city's debt, as had been customary. This was seen as a bad move at the time; unable to pay its debts, the city became the first since the??Great Depression??to enter??default, which cost Kucinich his job in the following??year's mayoral election. However, Kucinich's decision was later vindicated by both city officials and the??U.S. Senate, which found that CEI and the banks had acted improperly.