ORLAND, Calif. - The Orland City Council voted 5-0 on Monday to authorize its mayor to sign a letter requesting the governor and CPUC to transform PG&E from an investor-owned utility to a customer-owned utility.

Several mayors in the state of California are joining San Jose in a campaign to buy out the investor-owned PG&E Corp. and change it into a giant customer-owned cooperative.

The idea, first came across in October, by San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo. He's winning support from mayors and county officials who represent nearly one-third of the population served by PG&E's utility subsidiary, PG&E, the Wall Street Journal stated.

Orland now joins scores of cities in a statewide initiative spearheaded by the office of the Mayor of San Jose.

In a customer-owned utility, a board of directors is elected by citizens in a geographical area. Those customers will then own the assets of the utility.

READ: CPUC opens proceeding to consider PG&E reorganization

"Our ratepayers, including businesses and residents, critically need a utility company focused on placing the provision of reliable, safe, and affordable power above the interest of its shareholders. In the North State, we have SMUD as a remarkable model of how well this format can work for the utility and the ratepayers. All PG&E customers would be best served by the CPUC directing this change to customer-ownership to occur," Orland Mayor James Paschall said in a press release.