Pacific Gas & Electric argued to California regulators Wednesday that it needed to hike rates by 22% to cover the cost of inflation and risk reduction projects.
During the first quarter of 2023, PG&E earned $623 million, an 18.2% jump in profits from the $527 million the company tallied during the same quarter in 2022, PG&E said Thursday in a quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
I am so sick and tired of paying these bastards for burning down California and killing people in explosions. Maintaining your damn equipment to safety standards is a bare minimum for doing business, not an excuse to raise rates. It's become absurd.
How is this not an anti-trust investigation? It's a clear cut monopoly.
How about we approve a measure where the state of CA takes over PG&E in entirety because their exec suite clearly can’t run a utility company for shit?
TL;DR: PG&E has asked the CPUC to approve a 22% rate hike that factors in inflation and costs to move powerlines underground in high wildfire risk areas. The CPUC countered with "only" (my emphasis) a 12% rate hike and a proposal to insulate above-ground powerlines instead. The CPUC is set to decide on Nov 2.
My opinion: PG&E can go fuck themselves, and the CPUC can go help them, as per usual. If either of these organizations actually gave a flying fuck about people instead of dollars, they would cut executives' million-dollar salaries before asking for yet another rate hike. Fuck PG&E and the CPUC.
how is insulating them any less expensive. they have machines for pushing through underground cable and it seems like a lot less work than putting insulation on the equivalent stretch of above ground given the ladder/cherry picker type stuff they would have to use.
Anything that goes underground has another layer of diligence and bureaucracy involved. You have to check that no other underground services are in the same location as your power lines, and with underground fiber, gas, and water, that's not always a given. If other services are in the same locations, then everything slows down to reduce the chances of causing damage.
Then, there's the actual costs involved with underground work. Moving a cherry picker or four along basic power lines is likely cheaper and quicker than dredging, laying, and replacing soil. That's assuming there are no driveways, permits required for roadway closures, environmental studies, and more.