The Division of Light and Power

Private, investor-owned utilities in Texas, Ohio, California, Illinois and elsewhere are crushing consumers with sky-high rates, price gouging and criminal behavior.
 
The Division of Light and Power is the thoroughly documented, true story of one courageous American mayor who fought, and beat, a utility monopoly in an epic battle which involved corporate espionage and sabotage, bank co-conspirators, extortion, political corruption, organized crime, mob-directed assassination attempts, congressional investigations, and media cover-ups.
 
The "powers that be" tried to buy him, and when he couldn't be bought, they tried to kill him. When that failed, the utility's bank gave him a choice: Privatize the city's electric system or the city would be thrown into default. The mayor said "no" to extortion, never gave in and saved over a billion dollars in assets for his city and its people.
 
Meet Mayor Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland, who fought to give power to the people. Battling his way up from the streets of the city, he and his family lived in twenty-one different places by the time he was seventeen, including a couple of cars. By the age of thirty-one, as America's youngest big-city mayor, his stand to protect Cleveland's Muny Light against a utility monopoly and its banking partner drew international attention and praise as "The outstanding public official in America," an award presented by Bob Hope.
 
This is Mayor Dennis Kucinich's story, but if you want to know why your utility rates are so high, it may be your city's story, too.

"The Division of Light and Power, like Robert Caro's The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, is a gripping, moving and lucidly written account of the hidden mechanisms of corporate power in the United States and what happens when these corporate interests are challenged. It is essential reading, especially as we face an intensified corporate assault, done in the name of fiscal necessity, to seize total control of all public assets. As Dennis Kucinich warns, this assault is more than the seizure of public assets for private gain. These corporate forces, which function as a shadow government in Washington and cities across the country, now threaten to extinguish our anemic democracy. The Division of Light and Power is destined to become a classic text for those who seek to understand what took place to the United States in the late 20th and early 21st centuries." Chris Hedges

"This is a Rocky story about a kid from the wrong side of the tracks who, as a young mayor, took on the power structure of one of America's most corrupt cities and won the battle." Seymour M. Hersch

"The epic struggle of a youthful mayor against a predatory utility company is a real-life municipal thriller. Dennis Kucinich's tale of political violence and intrigue is a cross between The Godfather and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. He took on the fat cats on behalf of the City of Cleveland. He stared them down and won one for the good guys." Geraldo Rivera

Dennis Kucinich is an author and statesman, serving 16 years in the US Congress and was twice a candidate for President. During his term as Cleveland Mayor (1977-1979) the Fraternal Order of Eagles recognized him as The Outstanding Public Official in America. In recent years the Washington Post Magazine called Kucinich the future of American politics. Ahead of his time, declared Rolling Stone Magazine. Gore Vidal called Kucinich's writing as good as Theodore Dreiser's. Ralph Nader favorably compares Kucinich's writing with the legendary muckraking journalist, Lincoln Steffens. The Division of Light and Power melds Kucinich's writing excellence with undisputable documentary power and the moral code of a leader who cannot be corrupted.