Guest editorial: Why are our PG&E bills so outrageous?

Two words explain your bill: Greed and graft. And is the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) letting PG&E, SCE and SDG&E disguise their rate increases so they look good on paper, but hide the cost of all these crimes, fires and death by incineration they have caused for decades? Are we paying for all these crimes? Sure looks like it. I am a retired CAL FIRE battalion chief who has been investigating power companies in this state for 30 years. Most of my investigations involved PG&E, but some involved SCE and SDG&E for massive fires each of them sparked from violations of our laws. All these violations are criminal offenses. Power company fires follow general patterns. In every fire I investigated or analyzed in the last 30 years, causes repeat themselves. These multi-billion-dollar corporations, PG&E in particular, moved hundreds of millions of dollars from maintenance and magically turned those dollars into profit and executive bonuses. PG&E uses dangerous uninsulated powerlines instead of insulated powerlines because it is much cheaper. The insulated lines do not spark fires at the first touch of a branch or limb. With alarming frequency, the uninsulated lines do cause fires at first touch. But PG&E's motto is profit over anything else, including the safety of its customers. This is called greed. All the power companies listed above have provided our state legislators with millions of dollars. Some of them take lots of PG&E (et al.) money. Two major bills letting PG&E off the hook for devastating fires passed our state legislature since 2018 with overwhelming support. At least five bills that would have forced PG&E, et al., to lower rates, not charge us for lobbying or from charging us for advertising died in committee. Why on earth should we pay for PG&E advertising? They are a monopoly. We have no choice. These bills never made it to the floor of the Senate nor the Assembly. Corruption by any other name is still corruption. By definition, this is graft. Since 2015, PG&E has ignited 2,410 fires, burned 1,720,000 acres of California wildland, burned 30,817 houses to the ground and incinerated at least 135 people, including children. Are we paying for all these crimes and destruction so PG&E makes up all their losses? Does the CPUC understand what their job is, according to California law? Public Utilities Code sec 451 states "all charges demanded or received by any public utility … shall be just and reasonable." In 2023, PG&E received 2.26 billion dollars in NET profit. That money was allowed by CPUC and came out of our collective hides. Were these charges "just and reasonable"? No! PG&E, et al. purchased them at our expense. On April 24, we will bluntly tell the CPUC our side of the story. The CPUC is supposed to work for us, not PG&E. Unfortunately, the reverse is true. We will sign up for public comments at 10:30 a.m. at 770 L Street in Sacramento, and we will be heard. Come with your story. There is a protest march scheduled from the West Capitol steps immediately thereafter.