California government-managed utility gives $250K to governor’s ballot measure

Why is your electric bill so high?  PG&E is buying off the Governor—and then having your money used to raise taxes.

• “Pacific Gas and Electric, a state-supervised and state-granted monopoly that provides energy to much of California, gave $250,000 to governor Gavin Newsom’s ballot measure to issue a $6.38 billion bond for his “Treatment not Tents” initiative to tackle substance abuse and mental health disorders. 

PG&E operates under a regulated monopoly under which it has an exclusive service territory in which other companies cannot compete — and is supervised by the California Public Utilities Commission, which sets rates and oversees clean energy targets.

With interest, that is a $13 billion bond.  So PG&E, trying to get higher rates, pays the Governors’ ballot measure—so you have higher electrical costs and higher taxes!

California government-managed utility gives $250K to governor’s ballot measure

By Kenneth Schrupp | The Center Square, 1/12/24   https://www.thecentersquare.com/california/article_834b4110-b0c1-11ee-87a7-235366c5af44.html?a?utm_source=thecentersquare.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletters%2Flists%2Ft2%2Fcalifornia%2F&utm_medium=email&utm_content=read%20more

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• (The Center Square) – Pacific Gas and Electric, a state-supervised and state-granted monopoly that provides energy to much of California, gave $250,000 to governor Gavin Newsom’s ballot measure to issue a $6.38 billion bond for his “Treatment not Tents” initiative to tackle substance abuse and mental health disorders. 

PG&E operates under a regulated monopoly under which it has an exclusive service territory in which other companies cannot compete — and is supervised by the California Public Utilities Commission, which sets rates and oversees clean energy targets.

According to The Utility Reform Network, PG&E’s newest rate hikes will increase typical energy bills by $50 per month in this year alone. PG&E rate increases are among the highest in the nation, with its rates rising 57% from January 2020 to September 2023, leading some to comment that consumers are being squeezed to fund the governor’s political pet projects. 

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“Shakedowns of state-regulated entities for political gain are totally legal in California as long as the forms are filled out correctly,” said Taxpayers Association Vice President of Communications Susan Shelley in a public statement. 

After PG&E declared bankruptcy in 2019, in the wake of deadly wildfires caused by its power grid, the firm entered a $13.5 billion settlement with victims. California created a utility bailout fund for future wildfires to shield it and other utilities from liability. While the state did not directly bail out PG&E, the creation of this fund made it easier for the utility to secure the funding it needed to emerge from bankruptcy in 2020.