Legislators will have to decide whether they (the people’s representatives) lead on economic development—or utilities become the gatekeepers of how prosperous a state can become. In the last two weeks, I’ve heard one utility executive say, “We have an obligation to serve, but no obligation to serve today or tomorrow,” and another utility say it may not even consider serving a major economic development project for five years or more, which will result in the project being lost. The stakes are billions in investment, existing industry expansions, hundreds of millions in local tax revenue, and quality of life improvement for your citizens.