We have been wondering why all of this has been happening. We now have the answer... California's grand social experiment has reached its zenith and the powers that be must find a way to bring in more revenue with the influx of millions and millions of unemployed, unskilled, uneducated migrants who have destroyed the state economically, culturally, and politically as well the drug induced degradation of their naturalized populace. In a couple years there will be a proposition on the CA ballot asking to establish a new state run utility to replace PG&E. The people will vote for it and see their rates go up dramatically and quality diminish while the state uses all that new revenue to patch holes in their failed policies. Welcome to the Socialist Republic of California. _________________________________________________________________________ https://www.thenation.com/article/california-wildfire-power/ " PG&E has been the region’s main electricity provider since 1852, and its history has been marred by mismanagement and corporate greed for decades. It was bailed out by the state in 2000 and again in 2018. In recent years, its blatant political capture, leading to scant regulation and little regard for the devastating effects of a changing climate, has Californians questioning if PG&E can reliably provide a core public service like electric power. That skepticism is, in turn, fueling serious momentum for an alternative to the investor-owned model, in California and around the nation: a new, community-controlled, publicly owned energy system grounded in renewable energy, democratic governance, and decentralization."
I think it was in the 90's. I was out there then. But I'll google it. Here we go. 2001 bankruptcy[edit] Main article: California electricity crisis In 1998, a change in the regulation of California's public utilities, including PG&E, began. The California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) set the rates that PG&E could charge customers and required them to provide as much power as the customers wanted at rates set by the CPUC. In the summer of 2001 a drought in the northwest states and in California reduced the amount of hydroelectric power available. Usually PG&E could buy "cheap" hydroelectric power under long term contracts with the Bonneville Dam and other sources. Drought and delays in approval of new power plants and market manipulation decreased available electric power generation capacity that could be generated in state or bought under long term contracts out of state. Hot weather brought on higher usage, rolling blackouts, and other problems. With little excess generating capacity of its own PG&E was forced to buy electricity out of state from suppliers without long term contracts. Because PG&E had to buy additional electricity to meet demand, some suppliers took advantage of this requirement and manipulated the market by creating artificial shortages and charged very high electrical rates, as exemplified by the Enron scandal. The CPUC refused to adjust the allowable electric rates. Unable to change rates and sell electricity to consumers for what it cost them on the open market PG&E started hemorrhaging cash. PG&E Company (the utility, not the holding company) entered bankruptcy under Chapter 11 on April 6, 2001. The state of California tried to bail out the utility and provide power to PG&E's 5.1 million customers under the same rules that required the state to buy electricity at market rate high cost to meet demand and sell it at lower fixed price, and as a result, the state also lost significant amounts of money. The crisis cost PG&E and the state somewhere between $40 and $45 billion.[61] PG&E Company, the utility, emerged from bankruptcy in April 2004, after paying $10.2 billion to its hundreds of creditors. As part of the reorganization, PG&E's 5.1 million electricity customers will have to pay above-market prices for several years to cancel the debt.
What’s destroying California? Socialism, environmentalism, collectivism, and altruism. Simply put, the irrational. California—descending into a third world Calcutta, with the Progressives leading and cheering the descent. California—enshrining self-destruction as a moral ideal. California—the future of America. Is there a solution? Sure, return to reason, individual rights, capitalism. But that means not playing the victim, not placing insects above human existence, and not placing the common good over the rights of the individual. It means embracing reason, rejecting faith. It means embracing thought before action, rejecting “because I felt like it”. It means embracing one’s own life as one’s highest value and one’s own happiness as one’s highest moral purpose. It means rejecting self-sacrifice as a moral ideal to emulate. Ayn Rand: “Ecology as a social principle . . . condemns cities, culture, industry, technology, the intellect, and advocates men’s return to “nature,” to the state of grunting subanimals digging the soil with their bare hands.”—http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/ecology-environmental_movement.html
Texas had to fire up the old smog belching coal generators to make electricity for California back then. Texas marked up the cost and passed on the EPA fines as well.
Why would anyone in TX ship coal to the state, when they have all the oil and gas, as well as the power plants for those fuels. It would be much easier to generate the electricity in TX, then wire it to CA.
At the time, we were at capacity. To sell to California, we had to fire up the decommissioned belchers.
Fyi, if they actually had.a coal based plant, they would still have to ship the electricity the same distance.
iow, cali politicians and their liberal bs policies deliberately bankrupted a long standing corporation just so they could screw over their constituants...
I just got done with a job at the Oroville dam (near Sacramento CA). The chief inspector there (who seemed to know a lot about a lot) was of the notion that PG&E was essentially holding the region's power hostage until the residents convince their legislators to absolve PG&E from any liability for fires caused by power lines. Basically, its cheaper for PG&E to eat the outages than it is for them to pay the fire damages that the state wants to hold them liable for. So they're shutting it off when/where they think theres a risk. I kinda see both sides. Its not PG&Es fault that CA wont manage their wildlands by clearing brush, maintaining fire breaks, making water accessible... but its not the states fault that PG&Es lines arch in high winds. None of it, of course, is the average Californians fault, either, who get the shaft either way. I can see why folks are fleeing that place.
curious... is the gov &/or pg&e supplying power to all the homes with medical equipment? havent heard/read anything about that... here, in ny, they cant turn off customers with medical equipment, any rollin blackout or maintainence, they must hook those homes up with portable generators... edit: or make arrangements for them in a facility or some other place such as a hotel
As I predicted. Gavin Newsom has stated that CA may take over PG&E. The CalComms have to pay for these illegals by hook or by crook!
I gawr-onn-tee that it didn't take Neanderthal very long to find a skeletal rib bone from something larger than himself and use that to dig with. Hell we still do that in a pinch if we're lucky enough to find one. Everything else is true.