The High Cost of Utilities: Why the People Should Control Public Resources (ASPE)
As utility costs continue to rise across the District, a familiar pattern is emerging: Black working- class communities in Ward 7 and 8 are forced to shoulder the heaviest burden while corporations expand their energy use unchecked. High bills are not simply the result of “market forces,” but of political decisions that prioritize profit—seen clearly in the growing energy demands of AI data centers and corporate infrastructure.
This Assata Shakur Popular Education (ASPE) session will examine how utilities are managed under capitalism, breaking down the myth of neutral “budgeting” and exposing how resources are privatized and distributed to serve profit, not human need. We will expand our understanding of budgeting as the coordination of limited resources—energy, labor, and infrastructure—and challenge who gets to make those decisions. At the same time, we will build toward a shared political vision: that utilities are a human right and should be collectively controlled.