One wonders how the definition of "liberal" in the 19th century is relevant to the utopian co-op municipal utility model?  Could it be that the co-op municipal model is itself a historical artifact from the 19th century?

That being said it has been decades since the term "fellow traveler" has been in vogue.  What next implying that those exposing sound business practices and economic reality belong to "certain circles"?

In closing I truly wish someone would explain how municipal and co-operative utilities will escape the electric utility death spiral.  An informed observer would know that many such entities are already levying surcharges on their customers as their business model collapses.

Twenty MREA utilities have levied monthly fixed charges on customer using solar arrays and are eliminating net metering. Co-ops say this is necessary because their cost of delivering service is higher, necessitating the higher due to their lack of economies of scale. 

"Facts" are stubborn things