r/bayarea • u/Prestigious-Hour6707 • 5d ago

YOOO PG&E WTF Work & Housing

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800sq foot apartment. 2 people. Are. You. Kidding. Me.

Called PG&E to tell them they made a mistake. They said “hmm no it looks like the meter is working fine. Nothing we can do, that’s the price.”

No appliance change. No lifestyle changes. And even if we had, how the F*CKK could a 1bd apartment create a $630 bill?? Also yes, the previous bill. On me for not checking our auto payments. Just assumed they wouldn’t be more than $120….!? Dumb assumption on my part

I hate PG&E.

I know it’s a hostile statement. But I think we can all agree an exception can be made for PG&E…

1.0k Upvotes

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u/Haunting-Garbage-976 5d ago

They are incredibly full of it. They are so corrupt for this and many other reasons

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u/ricLP 5d ago

Dude changed to electric heating since last year (check their other comments). What a mystery!

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u/fossuser 5d ago

People are so dumb, OP starts using huge amounts of energy for resistive electric heating and complains the price is high - no shit? Then the rest of the comments are calling for execution.

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u/ricLP 5d ago

It’s super interesting to see these kinds of mobs forming. Fortunately this is “only” online, but it goes to show how dumb and easy to manipulate people are, with their knee jerk reactions

Also very little education regarding energy, and almost no one ever comments on improving the house

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u/fossuser 5d ago

It’s the same with dumb comments about insurance too - people don’t understand how it works. I wish it was only online, but this stupidity leads to public executions and destructive policy.

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u/Doub1eVision 5d ago

Please explain how insurance companies are not grossly exploitative.

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u/ReasonableLeafBlower 3d ago

Not many people understand energy let alone their own economics. It still deserves conversation though.

I use my heater a LOT but also don’t use anything else electric. And my bill is like $70 per bill period. Idk if that’s too high or too low. But it makes sense usage wise and I’m in the city.

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u/mrwaxy 5d ago

Except electric appliances are being pushed so hard, what amount of blame does the state government have for their corruption? 

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u/ricLP 5d ago

Huh? They recommend heat pumps, not basic electric heating. And they are correct btw 

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u/Confirmation_Email 4d ago

OP never paid for his own heat until recently. People with free heat don't bother to control their thermostat. Feeling chilly? Crank it up! Too hot? Open a window. This is a personal blunder, it has nothing to do with the government or PGE, OP is just clueless or more likely, a rage-baiting troll.

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u/relevantelephant00 5d ago

This sub is highly politically charged when it comes to Newsom posts and it bleeds over into PG&E posts (rightly so). But people who post rage-bait are also very disingenuous. I wonder if OP thinks we need a regime change to a Republican governor...I've heard this from people who resent Newsom. Hey idiots, take a wild guess what would happen if a Republican was in charge of this state.

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u/oneblank 5d ago

Is it tho? I’m a democrat. Newsoms administration authored the bill that allowed pge to recover wildfire losses from taxpayers. He’s been publicly saying he will stop rate hikes since 2019 but has yet to stop one. AB 1054 was a disgusting bailout for PGE. Newsom literally picked a law firm (without competitive bidding) that had represented PGE to draft the bail out and the tax payers paid $9mil for them to write the law that BAILED OUT PGE. PGE was the second highest contributor to Newsoms campaign and Newsom has received close to a million in “advertising services” from PGE. Newsom approved the appointment of a PGE lawyer to the CPUC that is supposed to regulate PGE. Democrats and Republicans alike can see the corruption.

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u/relevantelephant00 5d ago

Who's more likely to reign in PGE, a GOP stooge running on de-regulation or a progressive who has the balls to reign in a corporate monopoly? I'd love to hear some choices, instead of the same Newsom rants we've heard thousands of times.

And Republicans support corruption so let's not pretend both sides are the same, ok?

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u/oneblank 5d ago

I agree. I’m not saying both sides are the same. I’m saying it doesn’t take someone with political bias to call out corruption when it is so blatantly obvious. Newsom IS corrupt when it comes to PGE. Literally anyone else would have a better chance at reigning in the corporate monopoly that is PGE because Newsom will not do it. Period. That said yea. Republican candidates are much more likely to do the same.

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u/DarkMenstrualWizard 5d ago

$9mil... damn. 0.2%, not 2%, zero point two percent, of that would pay my rent and PG&E for a year. The whole thing would support 500 people with similar rent situations.

My living expenses are much lower than average. $9mil would only pay about 10-12 people's average yearly salary where I live now. But where I used to live not too long ago? $9mil could completely transform the lives of hundreds of people. When I got pandemic UI, the first time in my life I knew, 100% the rent would get paid for a while, I up and went to college, and now next year I'll be going to university.

That's the kinda shit I think about when I hear seven figure bullshit being tossed around. Damn.

1

u/oneblank 5d ago

Agreed, a small fraction of that would change my life too. It’s just a slap in the face to use tax payer money to pay $9mil to a law firm so that they can iron clad a document that puts PGE corner cutting for profit on the taxpayer. Not to mention the LOSS OF LIFE. Seriously. Someone at PGE should have been charged with murder. Infuriating.

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u/DarkMenstrualWizard 5d ago

Oy! Fuckin exactly. Zero felony charges for any individual responsible for those murders. Shit man, wish I could get paid like that for doin felonious shit without goin to prison.

Actually not really, I'm done with outlaw shit, but you know what I mean.

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u/zslayer89 5d ago

Yes, but also pge is shit. The energy should cost half as much as it currently does.

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u/throwaway923535 5d ago

Yea cause $600 to heat a small apartment makes it better?

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u/ricLP 5d ago

Hopefully a lesson learned that you got to do your work to keep the bills under control. That includes some research before going ahead and changing the place to basic electric heating.

And instead of blaming others, perhaps learning to do some self reflection

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u/ihatemovingparts 4d ago

check their other comments

About that…

wall heaters are considered appliances. My bad. We are renters, we don’t control these big changes

Speaking of…

perhaps learning to do some self reflection

what kind of control do you think a renter has over the heat source?

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

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u/Golden_Hour1 5d ago

Didn't the CEO make 50 million dollars last year

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u/Bagafeet 5d ago

Not enough yachts bro why y'all so stingy towards the poor oligarchs? 🙃

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u/ABirdCalledSeagull 5d ago

That episode of South Park where they talk about massively popular artists having to downgrade their private jets and not being able to afford a gold plated fish tank comes to mind.

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u/Flufflebuns 5d ago

Looks like someone needs to meet with Mario's brother.

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u/KeyClear560 5d ago

that is not going to lower the bill, we need more consumer advocates in cpuc.

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u/No_Sweet4190 5d ago

The governor appoints the CPUC. We can do an initiative so more than half the appointees cannot be former employees of a utility company. No stockholders either due to conflict of interest.

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u/thetwelveofsix 5d ago

Won’t make a significant difference so long as they’re all appointed by the governor. Need to make half elected positions.

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u/No_Sweet4190 5d ago

That would be ok with me.

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u/AccomplishedAlarm279 5d ago

You have no idea how unpopular your statement is

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u/DoubleT_inTheMorning 5d ago

You have no idea how wrong you are

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u/AccomplishedAlarm279 5d ago

The cpac are already active. What difference has it made? The governmental systems put in place to protect the public has failed us. So tell me, how am I wrong? It is an unpopular opinion amongst every single person, rich or poor, that I know.

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u/Miacali 5d ago

No they person they’re replying to is wrong because “we” can’t do anything to advocate for the CPUC. That’s the Governor and CA voters vote Dem no matter what so there won’t be any accountability to be had. You will pay higher bills and you’ll take it and you’ll vote Dem like you are expected to.

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u/starkeybakes 5d ago

Republicans do this too. The issue is corruption, and both of the US’ right wing parties are rampant with it

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u/multifacetedfaucet 5d ago

Luigi shit is outta control. Y’all really think murder is the answer here? It’s a fucking slippery slope. If you’re endorsing assassination and using justification that says PG&E, United Healthcare (or whatever company) is bad so they deserved what they had coming.. then where do u draw the line? Is it just C-suite board room people that deserve to be murdered this way. What about the people that work in different parts of the company, claims? Billing? If the leg to stand on is that the company has done bad things so their CEO should die is a weak emotional response. I get the public outcry calling for healthcare reform, and that big pharma is bad. But when you take on the duty of judge,jury and executioner it’s easy to miss the big picture you can’t just murder people you deem aren’t worthy of life. Things need to change logically.

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

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u/multifacetedfaucet 5d ago

Why would anyone be happy about justifying outright murder. No i’m not happy. I’m saying we are better than this. We want actual change? Vote out shit governors like Newsome literally living in a mansion as a public servant while the streets of downtown San Francisco have crime, vacant mall buildings, a significant reduction of tourists and small businesses. The state is a fucking mess. We went from a 97.5 billion dollar surplus to a 44.9 billion dollar deficit in two years. Before people come at me saying “Newsome is the governor he shouldn’t he responsible for just San Francisco.” Yeah sure but a logical person can derive that San Francisco use to be a gem of a city and helped bring people to the state. Not to mention it’s always in the publics eye to not prioritize this is fucking asinine. We need terms in congress these fossils don’t speak for the public. Murder is not the way to make change happen it only emboldens the government to want to contain the population even more-so. Think they can’t do this? Open your eyes. Covid is a great example of how they tested how far they can push their power. Look through the mist of bullshit at the root causes not some fucking homicidal fool that wanted to make a statement and rile you up by appealing to your virtuous side. Anyways. This went off the rails but stay informed, fuck legacy media, find your own news use independent reporting and listen to both sides the truth is in the middle.

Good luck to you citizen, but please let us not advocate murder because we feel we’ve been wronged.

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

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u/lostfate2005 5d ago

So you’re a blowhard who espouses things you won’t actually do. Leave moms basement once in a while

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u/TheresANewPharoah 5d ago

I just haven’t hit that point yet… but I won’t denigrate those who have :)

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u/multifacetedfaucet 5d ago

Yeah see this is what i’m talking about. You wont even read my side/take but call me holier than thou.. lol like i’m just showing you what you’re saying and giving you a different viewpoint. School shooters are not as common as you think btw, go find stats on mass shootings / gun violence they’re typically gang related. School shootings are terrible and a heinous act of crime. The solution is to protect our vulnerable population of kids by adding armed security. Before you go on about how we need more gun-laws remember that laws restrict citizen (or those who follow laws) not criminals. Criminals are going to break the law regardless..hence the name.

They murder us wholesale is also a wild statement. Mistreated yes, does it lead to death yes. Big fucking surprise the healthcare industry deals with death. No shit sherlock people die everyday on bad decision making. I’m not disagreeing the healthcare system is fucked but to fucking say they’re murdering us wholesale and not understanding that there consequences to all actions.

If you’re upset about people dying you probably should protest apple, or whatever phone company you use. If you have an Iphone you realize the cobalt mined to power your Iphone is by starving African children and assembled by essentially slave labor in China. Should that CEO die too? Lives are being lost for profit there as well no?

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u/HumanityHasFailedUs 5d ago

China actually executes executives found guilt of corruption and other crimes. In America we celebrate them. See the difference?

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u/multifacetedfaucet 5d ago

China also has a bunch of other fucked up things. Lol user name checks out for this comment tho. China has terrible air, a giant wealth disparity(virtually no middle class) and contemporary slavery. You’re gonna take that piece from their fucked up country and be like yeah let’s implement this?

The US is not perfect. But let’s not fucking sit here and pretend we don’t do our best with what we got( from a citizen’s perspective) there is room for growth here just like everywhere else. There’s a reason immigrants want to come here for a better life. I don’t see mass migration from Americans going anywhere else. Do you?

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u/HumanityHasFailedUs 5d ago

Your first paragraph describes the US perfectly, except maybe the dirty air part, but that’s only because we exported all of our dirty manufacturing there so that the parasite class can extract more profit. Of course after January and the dictator/grifters take over, dirty air (and water, and land) is likely to make a nice comeback.

Your second paragraph is nothing more that parroting right wing news sources. Good for you.

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u/Pandonia42 5d ago

You cannot change a corrupt system from within... the corruption ensures that

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u/KingB408 5d ago

Sounds just like something a CEO would say....

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u/HumanityHasFailedUs 5d ago

Or a bootlicker.

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u/multifacetedfaucet 5d ago

What? Whose boot am I licking? I literally am telling you to find alternative solutions to legacy media while remaining skeptical, don’t let the government control you and to regulate your emotions with logic..

Wasting my breath here I suppose.

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u/HumanityHasFailedUs 5d ago

Legacy media are the ones telling us all how we should feel so sad for the CEO. You seem confused. And I agree with the other poster, you come across as a CEO or a bootlicker of the parasite class.

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u/multifacetedfaucet 5d ago

I’m pretty sure someone being assassinated because they believe that society is mistreated by the healthcare system is a sad thing.

That’s cool bro I kinda told u my stances, whats your definition of a bootlicker? My definition is someone who follows orders no matter what even though its immoral but has blind loyalty. Is that the definition you’re using?

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u/HumanityHasFailedUs 5d ago

I’m pretty sure it’s a parasite controlled corporate media system that wants to control the narrative so the “poors” don’t get outta hand

I use the definition of someone who is a class traitor, that supports and defends the billionaire class regardless of how utterly and completely despicable they are, even when knowing they’ll not ever be part of the club

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u/multifacetedfaucet 5d ago

Oh I see. Is that like the standard definition because typically I believe it was used as like a you’re defending the government or controlling party derogatory term.

I’m not defending no CEO. I’m defending the sanctity of life. Killing is bad i’m sure we can agree on that.

Where we disagree is the justification of his demise. That doesn’t mean I support the billionaire class. It just means I don’t think death should be handed out in this manner.

Also I don’t believe the corporate media. I try to look at all the facts and find my opinion after looking at multiple perspectives.

Still unsure why you’re amounting to calling names. Ask me questions bro so we can have a civil discussion

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u/multifacetedfaucet 5d ago edited 5d ago

It’s just me trying to tell people to understand how there’s some flawed logic that is being applied here.

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u/Semper-Veritas 5d ago

Thank you, people are acting like ghouls instead of resolving grievances maturely in our democratic system. The solutions to this are reform and more public/citizen oversight, not extrajudicial murder…

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u/HumanityHasFailedUs 5d ago

This is not a democratic system and hasn’t been for many decades. The fact that so many of you can’t see that, and simply choose a color is what is truly sad

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u/Semper-Veritas 5d ago

I don’t choose any political party in particular, and every democracia system that has ever existed and likely ever to exist is subject to institutional capture from insiders and elites. Your comment also doesn’t really make any sense temporally either; within my parents and grandparents lifetimes 18 year old men could be drafted but didn’t have the right to vote, and African Americans were routinely deprived of their ability to participate democratically. During this same time period the same sort of party elites and business tycoons existed, albeit more subtly than today given how available to ubiquitous information spreading technology is available.

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u/HumanityHasFailedUs 5d ago

The choosing a color wasn’t necessarily directed at you. You’ve cherry-picked one or two social issues that we’ve “won” on in the last…..75 years? There are a few more, sure, but you’re fooling yourself if you think “we, the people” have any power.

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u/multifacetedfaucet 5d ago

No problem man, fucking people are brainwashed by legacy media telling them how to feel. Then get fed emotional bait to jump on and lose all their humanity.

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u/KingB408 5d ago

Oh FFS stop thinking "legacy media" has mind control over everyone. Such a lazy argument. Could it be that people ACTUALLY feel that way?!? SHOCKING.

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u/multifacetedfaucet 5d ago

If people felt that way wouldn’t Kamala have won in a landslide like they were saying? I did’t make the claim that legacy media has mind control. Look at narratives across them they perpetuate the story they want you to believe but when you start looking outside of their narrowed reporting you can uncover multiple perspectives and derive a more rational picture of what is going on.

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u/KingB408 5d ago

That's the thing... They literally NEVER said Kamala wins in a landslide. Never. Every single report for months was "it's a 50/50 race."

But people like you paint a picture of legacy media, using the oldest straw man argument in the book. Make up a fake argument, then argue against that fake argument. Right Wing media has perfected that. They get people to believe it's legacy media that's doing the mind control, when it's actually the opposite... It's the right wing media ecosystem, which is FAR bigger than legacy media, that has all their followers convinced.

I'm just so bored of people using these arguments that aren't based in reality. It's so amazingly ironic when someone who is brainwashed by right wing media complains that people are brainwashed by legacy media.

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u/multifacetedfaucet 5d ago edited 5d ago

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-landslide-forecast-betting-odds-2024-election-1977183.

Ok so you didn’t see overwhelming support or obnoxious claims that she was headed to the white-house? Sure i’ll let ya have that one. Newsweek article up top talks about how a data scientist was calling for a data backed win in sept, but changed his tune. I’m sure you can find similar articles if you dug deeper.

Again not making claims of mind control. I’m saying people don’t look hard enough for multiple sources and should derive opinions from all the reporting they dig into.

Soo.. did legacy media not all say Joe Biden was fine and was going to run against trump up until the debate and him deciding to drop out? Did they not cover up the fact that this dude is visible incapable and incoherent. Why haven’t they covered who exactly has been running the white-house? Also, why did they change their tune to back Kamala when she wasn’t even nominated as a candidate.

Believe what you want. It’s a free country. Open your mind a bit bro, if you really think we shouldn’t be fact checking everyone and be skeptical not cynical I have no other words for you.

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u/KingB408 5d ago

Again, you're using deceptive arguments. Classic whataboutism. Yes, basically the entire free world WANTED her to win. That's much different than saying she was definitely going to win. But sure, combine the two if it makes you feel better.

And once again, you're assuming I don't have an open mind. You're assuming that the ONLY media I consume is legacy media and that I cannot look elsewhere or think for myself. And that's EXACTLY what I mean when I say right wing media has YOU brainwashed. They have YOU convinced. They have YOU misled. And that's the most ironic part about any argument you make. You've been so convinced and so brainwashed that's "how things are," that you completely and utterly fail to even take a second to look in the mirror.

Believe what you want, it's a free country. But open your mind a bit.

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u/Prestigious-Hour6707 5d ago

Agreed. For years I’ve been saying my obituary will real read “hated PG&E and fastrak with a burning passion”

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u/GGAllinsMicroPenis 5d ago edited 3d ago

Free Luigi

(or nationalize PG&E, pick your poison CEOs)

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u/HumanityHasFailedUs 5d ago

Read “California Burning” unless you just want to continue making sound bite statements like most everyone else here.

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u/JeanLucTheCat 5d ago

I haven't heard of this book, but its on my read list now. Despite the improvement of PG&E grid, visible in the foothills and sierras, utility companies IMO should not be for profit or publicly traded.

"In the mid-2000s the company promised to increase earnings per share by at least 7.5% a year for the next five years, “far outpacing most other utilities.” In the five years to early 2019 the company paid out close to $4.5 billion in dividends. This, unfortunately, appears to have come at the expense of making sure that wildfires do not start."

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u/HumanityHasFailedUs 5d ago

I learned a ton from the book. I’m not by any means defending the situation, I just have a better understanding of how nearly impossible it’s become to fix. I agree that public utilities should be non-profit and never traded.

Nearly all companies did that stock buyback/dividends thing in the last ten years. Look at Boeing.

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u/HoldingTheFire 5d ago

OP is yes

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u/kmsilent 5d ago

Newsoms meeting with them- I don't know the full story- but I am extremely suspicious. And wtf is the PUC doing.

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u/HumanityHasFailedUs 5d ago

Read “California Burning” if you actually want to understand the problems, and not just hurl sound bites.

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u/SchrodingersWetFart 5d ago

That book was really interesting. Absolutely worth the read/listen. It seemed very... fair.

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u/HumanityHasFailedUs 5d ago

Indeed. Written by a WSJ journalist even, which was surprising how fair it was.

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u/SchrodingersWetFart 5d ago

I just appreciated that the book made it clear: Has PG&E done a ton of things wrong? Yes. Is everything that has gone wrong their fault? No.

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u/HumanityHasFailedUs 5d ago

That’s my whole point in posting it here. I hate PGE as much as the next person. I hate corruption as much or more than anyone. And corruption is absolutely a part of the problem. But so is greed, incompetence, Wall Street, CPUC.

But the problems started 120 years ago, and I despise the “newsom did it”, and “CPUC sucks” comments, when the problems are so incredibly complicated to even identify, matter less, fix.

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u/kmsilent 5d ago

Is that sound bite lol? I said I'm suspicious which is an honest statement.

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u/HumanityHasFailedUs 5d ago

But that’s the sound bite, blaming Newsom and the CPUC, without bothering to learn how complex the issues are and how long it’s been going on.

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u/CaptainBoday 5d ago

Put up a windmill and solar panels my man and stop complaining!

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u/Sensitive_Algae5723 5d ago

Right! That’s what someone told me earlier! How great it is out there and PG&E isnt their problem cause they all have batteries and solar. Cool story.

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u/EducationalOven8756 5d ago

We need a DOGE for utilities and local and state expenditure.

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u/Haunting_Lime308 5d ago

I think technically, we already have one in the Utilities Commission, and they're no help.