Detroit mayor Dave Bing plans to focus on providing core services in the government, and on privatizing other services. The Detroit Free Press story quotes Leonard Gillroy from the Reason Foundation (who mentions Charlotte’s privatization efforts) and provides this telling anecdote.”

The city spends $4 million to $4.5 million annually on the 68 workers who oversee the Mistersky Power Station on West Jefferson in Detroit. The plant produces power for the city at a cost of $212 per megawatt hour. Yet when the plant goes down, the city pays DTE Energy $15 to $20 per megawatt hour for that same power.