Inside the Fight to Kick Out Rochester’s Power Company
![Rochester, NY residents dressed in red with the group Metro Justice wait at the city council in June.](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/68N2pcfdhsecCPTVO-sqn_szGk-4lIcWhg-uPv9EGiU/w:820/h:546/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9yb2NoZXN0ZXItbWVldGluZy1tYXJjaC5qcGc.jpg)
In New York’s third-largest city, locals are sick of skyrocketing bills and dirty fuel sources. They’re fighting against long odds for the public to own the grid.
This is the second part of a two-part series on local public power in New York. Read the first installment, on the history of public power in Massena, here.
This is the second part of a two-part series on local public power in New York. Read the first installment, on the history of public power in Massena, here.
![Mohini Sharma sits at a computer wearing a red Metro Justice t-shirt.](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/IsXbT5OY1dkk5sYa0NDwiQAKhRp4HVqSHYaHjLtM3JY/w:820/h:547/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9tb2hpbmktcm9jaGVzdGVyLmpwZw.jpg)
![Darryl Ballard stands in the sun leaning against a tree.](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/bWwFj3j3ATP7EHFonNj5YbVREYWjiZJMal0fLHbhr0g/w:820/h:547/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9EYXJyeWwtQmFsbGFyZC1yb2NoZXN0ZXIuanBn.jpg)
“I got tired of screaming at them.”
“I think that they’re listening more to RG&E than they are to the citizens of Monroe County.”
![Activists dressed in red sit at the Rochester City Council meeting. A woman at the front holds a sign reading "power to the people."](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/mS1zyH90DJPYh1cqqDJrwQEHYtDxgx5bO9dcsshZcVs/w:820/h:1093/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9wb3dlci1wZW9wbGUtcm9jaGVzdGVyLmpwZw.jpg)
Support for this story was provided by The Neal Peirce Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting journalism on ways to make cities and their larger regions work better for all people.
![](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/G5bs5OcQns7UWk3rEuzFny4wnf6qwKIUatWESycfMCI/w:135/h:190/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9Db2xpbi1LaW5uaWJ1cmdoXzIwMjMtMDQtMjEtMDU0OTI5X3hxbHcuanBn.jpg)
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