For close to four years, there has been considerable research, study and analysis on whether our regional utility services should remain with the same energy provider or if we should make a calculated change to a more open-market approach. There have been a wealth of opinions, many conversations, a seated task force, consultant reports, community conversations, discussions and debate on this topic.

Certainly, the prospect of leaving an 80-plus-year relationship with the Tennessee Valley Authority for an open-market provider is perhaps the most daunting decision facing this region in recent memory. This decision alone will impact the residents of this region for at least a generation and possibly much longer.

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However, while regional residents and Memphis Light, Gas and Water ratepayers grapple with questions about rate stability, service reliability, systems resiliency, infrastructure reinvestment, additional transmission networks, projected cost savings and open-market versus a quasi-governmental energy provider, there also begs the question of how this decision will be made and who will make this decision for the region.

One critical factor remains throughout this process: The MLGW Board of Commissioners lacks a comprehensive, equitable and balanced representation of all ratepayers within MLGW’s geographic boundaries. By some estimates, 30-35% of MLGW’s commercial and residential customers reside outside the City of Memphis. While MLGW was formed in 1939 to primarily be a provider for City of Memphis ratepayers, today the footprint is much broader and reflects a regional composition.

There needs to be a voice and vote on the board that reflects everyone impacted by its services.

As a region, we are on the brink of making a critically important decision, impacting generations to come. Isn’t the time ripe for MLGW’s leadership and board of commissioners to make the necessary changes to expand their board representations to include the entire service area instead of restricting voting membership to only City of Memphis residents?

The question we face is more than merely pondering a potential energy supplier change. We also need to have an important conversation about expanding ratepayer rights, their representation and their voice throughout the MLGW service area and footprint. The current MLGW Board of Commissioners is currently nominated, vetted, ratified and appointed; however, this process should be expanded to represent the entire region with equity.

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The municipal mayors have been regularly meeting as a group, conducting our own independent due diligence and meeting with stakeholders in our communities to review the regional energy provider question. We all wait in eager anticipation for the forthcoming recommendations to be made at the Sept. 1 MLGW Board of Commissioners public meeting.

In closing, public utilities, by their nature, are generally free from competition, which leaves little ability for customers — in this case, ratepayers — to exercise their capacity to change providers over rate, lack of service, reliability or lack of capital investment.

But in this situation, a significant portion of MLGW ratepayers also lack real representation and a voting voice.