Widespread power outages earlier this morning across upper Manhattan came as nearly 50,000 Con Ed customers still don't have power following tropical storm Isaias. This is again raising issues about Con Ed's ability to power the city effectively.

A new report that will be introduced today by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams suggests the power companies should be put in the hands of the city.

"We have an entity that’s a monopoly, an entity that lacks transparency and accountability,” Williams said during an interview with Mornings on 1. 

He added the current structure provides a massive salary to Con Ed's CEO and rewards shareholders over customers.

Complaints have mounted about the city’s aging energy infrastructure for years, and calls have grown for Con Ed to lose its license to operate as a monopoly.

“These blackouts keep happening, and people’s rates keep going up and the communication about it is very poor,” Williams said.

While the blackouts generate buzz and anger in the immediate aftermath, there hasn’t been much political muscle to make a change. Still, Williams said he hopes his proposal could work to bring rates down and provide better service to New Yorkers.

In the report, Williams referenced San Francisco and San Jose among other cities that have taken the grid into their own hands.

“I don’t know what else we have to see to say that we have to do something else,” he added.