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PGE our friendly Bay Area Utility

PG&E is profitable off the backs of its customers, who's homes and towns they burn down due to lack of maintenance on their equipment. The company is a 84 count Convicted Felon and should have been broken up years ago. The executives should have gone to prison after the Camp Fire. But they paid off the PUC and the state government. We're being controlled by a corrupt cartel.

Mad
 
Maddevill said:
PG&E is profitable off the backs of its customers, who's homes and towns they burn down due to lack of maintenance on their equipment. The company is a 84 count Convicted Felon and should have been broken up years ago. The executives should have gone to prison after the Camp Fire. But they paid off the PUC and the state government. We're being controlled by a corrupt cartel.

Mad
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This is how I see the situation as well. We get the worst of whatever public/private quagmire of a company PG&E is.
 
No, unfortunately Newsome keeps approving rate hikes

Mad
 
Happy Holidays.

In the wake of these heightened external geopolitical risks, U.S. natural gas prices surged.

Futures tied to the Henry Hub benchmark – as tracked by the United States Natural Gas Fund LP (NYSE:UNG) – jumped more than 6% on Thursday, reaching $3.40 per million British thermal units — the highest level since early November 2023.

The commodity is now up 50% for November...
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Thank you PGE, I'm sure you'll get your wish.

www.kcra.com

PG&E asks to raise rates for California customers so it can pay investors more

The new request comes after the California Public Utilities Commission approved six rate increases for PG&E in 2024.
www.kcra.com www.kcra.com

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said Thursday it has asked California regulators to raise rates, citing a need to “adequately compensate investors” amid risks in the business environment.
PG&E’s proposal calls for increasing residential customer bills by about $5.50 per month, starting as soon as Jan. 1, 2026.

The new request comes after the California Public Utilities Commission, which Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration oversees, approved six rate increases for PG&E in 2024.

PG&E also reported a record $2.47 billion in profits in 2024, which was an increase from an earlier record that was set in 2023.
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CPUC should be stripped down and every employee should sign a legal document that prevents them from ever working for or getting paid by PG&E in their lifetime. If they don't like it, fuck it, there are plenty of decent people who would be willing to take the job and not be beholden (in advance) to PG&E.

It's a thoroughly corrupt organization that has been that way for the 30+ years I've lived in California. They will continue to do PG&E's bidding as long as the top people get their orders from PG&E.
 
I feel bad for the investors

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It's probably a good buy at this price, but it seems impossible for the company to change their reputation in our lifetimes.
 
"They are literally rolling in dough if you check their shareholder quarterlies and compensation"

This is laughable. Where do you get this info from? Because from I can see pg&e just reinstated dividends (for the sole reason of getting their loan index increased so they can borrow cheaper).

The dividends were one penny in 2024 and 2.5 cents this year. Hardly what I would call rolling in dough.
 
PG&E in it's entirety is a misguided affair. We need to follow the Santa Clara model (half the cost per kw/hr as PGE) and devolve grid control down to a municipality level, so costs actually reflect the true cost to serve the area. I would be fine losing my 1:1 NEM credits and only getting commercial power generation rates for excess power (basically move from NEM1 to NEM3), if my cost per kw/hr was only $0.17.

It's the same general problem as home insurance, and internet. State gov is politically stuck to the status quo (spread rural costs onto city dwellers.) Rural users are supposed to have cheap land and high utility/services costs, in keeping with the spirit that if you live in BFE, you need to be much more self sufficient.
 
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PG&E should not be run as a business to make a profit beyond what is necessay to maintain service and handle upgrades, etc. Electricity and gas are necessities in life, not niceties. They shouldn’t even be on the stock market.
 
GAJ said:
Thank you PGE, I'm sure you'll get your wish.

www.kcra.com

PG&E asks to raise rates for California customers so it can pay investors more

The new request comes after the California Public Utilities Commission approved six rate increases for PG&E in 2024.
www.kcra.com www.kcra.com
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Note: The information below about the Net Energy Metering (NEM) program and rate hikes that are publicly available.
My personal opinion statement about Newsom, PG&E, CPUC has been removed from this space.

California regulators, analysts and even Gov. Gavin Newsom have recently blamed popular solar incentive programs for saddling other ratepayers with higher energy bills. (Statement in the SFGate article, see below. Question: Are the"California regulators" the CPUC?).
He (Newsom) wrote that spending to reduce wildfire risk from electrical grid equipment is a key cause of rate increases, high rates have been “driven largely” by programs like NEM.
https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/california-blames-solar-panel-programs-20202781.php

Newsom's Executive Order N-5-24 and CPUC's response located here: https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/-/media/cpu...s/cpuc-response-to-executive-order-n-5-24.pdf

In the past year (2024) PG&E requested and received approval for six rate increases from the CPUC, with the most recent ones being approved in December 2024, and these hikes are primarily to cover wildfire mitigation costs and other safety and reliability investments.
  • Multiple Rate Hikes:
    PG&E has seen six rate increases approved by the CPUC in the past year, with the most recent approvals occurring in December 2024.
  • Reasons for Increases:
    The rate hikes are primarily intended to cover costs associated with wildfire mitigation, including vegetation management and undergrounding power lines, as well as other safety and reliability investments.
  • Specifics of the December 2024 Approvals:
    The two rate increases approved in December 2024 are to cover costs related to the extended use of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant and for vegetation maintenance.
  • Cost to Customers:
    One of the rate increases, approved in December, will go into effect next year, and the other in 2026.
  • PG&E's Perspective:
    PG&E stated that it is working to stabilize bills and limit average annual combined gas and electric bill increases to no more than 2-4% through 2026.
  • Criticism:
    The Utility Reform Network (TURN) has criticized the rate hikes, arguing that they are excessive and that PG&E is profiting while ratepayers struggle.
  • Profitability:
    PG&E reported record profits in 2024, which has led to criticism from some quarters that the rate hikes are unnecessary.
  • Cost of Capital:
    PG&E is also seeking to increase its Cost of Capital, which is how it recovers the costs associated with financing investments, in order to attract and retain investors.
  • Proposed Increase:
    PG&E proposed a rate increase that would increase customer bills by $5.50 per month, starting as soon as January 1, 2026.
 
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While I appreciate the posted info, which I have not diligently copied for future reference, I think this is moving into the taboo poly ticks.
 
What is wrong with discussing politics? So much that is wrong with California comes from politics. And the only way to make positive change is to discuss it.
 
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