The suggestion was partly in jest, though I think it's a valid option.  If you're talking corporate efficiency vs governmental, I see little to differentiate them. (Halliburton, anyone?)
I get my electricity from a customer-owned co-op, a left-ever REA utility. This winter they raised rates 2.5 percent.

Arizona Public Service, which was "privitized," raised theirs something like 35 percent.

We have a good co-op with lots of citizen participation. It really pushes conservation programs.

It's a great thing, in my opinion.