Click: Help the poor through affordable internet

Re: “Poor electric customers hurt by Click subsidies” (TNT, 4/2).

You know what hurts poor people? Monopolies. That’s exactly what Tacoma’s cable market was before Click, and it’s what will happen if the telecom interests seeking to privatize Click have their way. As a St. Leo’s parishioner myself, I am saddened to see its social justice leadership swallow Bill Gaines’ and the telecom companies’ pro-privatization propaganda.

Click is not “going broke.” Tacoma Public Utilities upper management changed the cost allocations to make it look that way, so they could justify leasing it out. Click is debt-free; we build it with cash. And it actually makes your power bill cheaper because, it’s also integral to running Tacoma Power’s smart grid. According to TPU staff, Tacoma Power would have to pay $6 million more per year to run the power grid if Click didn’t exist.

Internet is a public utility. And being connected to the community is a fundamental human right. Or as Pope Francis himself said, “The internet offers immense possibilities for encounter and solidarity. This is something truly good, a gift from God.”

This story was originally published April 14, 2017 at 6:43 PM with the headline "Click: Help the poor through affordable internet."