WHAT IS A CITIZEN ASSOCIATION?
"Citizen association" is the name Democracy Watch uses to describe groups organized using the Citizen Utility Board (CUB) model. A CUB is an independent, non-profit, organization of residential utility ratepayers. CUBs exist in four states in the U.S., and the first CUB was organized in Wisconsin in 1979. CUBs advocate for fair telephone, electric, gas and water rates and sensible energy policies before regulators, the government and the courts. Individual CUBs can be set up for each utility or one CUB can be set up to advocate for some or all utility ratepayers together. The CUB model can be used in a wide variety of industry and government sectors to set up citizen associations.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CUBs AND OTHER GROUPS?
CUBs are usually created by an act of the legislature or by order of the utility regulatory commission. The key to CUBs is the right, by law, to enclose a flyer in utility companies' billing envelopes. Some action by the government is usually needed to allow the CUB access to the utilities' billing envelopes, and to provide funding (a grant or loan) to print the first flyer. The flyer informs consumers about the CUB and invites them to join for a nominal annual membership fee ($10-15). "Piggybacking" the CUB flyer with the utility bills is an effective way to reach ratepayers at little or no cost to government or the utilities. About four percent of consumers usually join a CUB. For example, the first flyer for Illinois CUB was sent out in 1983 and within six months it had 170,000 members and an annual budget of $1.7 million.

WHAT DO CUBs DO?
Every year, the utility companies spend millions to advocate for higher utility rates. Ironically, the cost of the utilities' advocacy is passed on to consumers through their utility bills. CUBs give ratepayers a way to fight back. By pooling their resources, CUB members hire their own professional staff of lawyers, lobbyists, and organizers to launch effective challenges to unfair rate hikes. For example, Illinois CUB has saved ratepayers $4 billion over ten years.

HOW ARE CUBs FUNDED? and WHO CONTROLS CUBs?
Ratepayers who join a CUB control the group through the election of regional delegates and its board of directors. The board hires the CUB's professional staff and determines the group's policies. CUBs are democratic organizations. CUBs are funded by voluntary contributions from ratepayers. CUBs do not receive any ongoing funding from government or utilities.

WHERE CAN THE CUB MODEL BE USED IN CANADA?
The CUB model can be used to create citizen associations wherever industry or government is sending mailings to citizens. Democracy Watch is currently advocating that the federal government reuqire banks, trusts and insurance companies to enclose a one-page flyer in their mailings to customers. The flyer would invite consumers to join a Financial Consumer Organization. Democracy Watch is also working with other groups in the following areas: advocating that telephone and cable-TV companies be required to enclose a flyer in their customer mailings inviting ratepayers to join a Telecommunications Consumer Organization; advocating that auto insurance companies in Ontario be required to enclose a flyer inviting drivers to join an industry watchdog group; and advocating that Canada Post be required to deliver a flyer to every household inviting people to join a postal service watchdog group. In every province, CUB-like groups can be formed to watch over utilities. And governments could also include flyers in tax return mailings, and social assistance and pension cheque envelopes inviting citizens to join groups to watch over government spending and government ethics.