PGE

SB 917 is a plausible PG&E public buyout plan, if the public wants to pay the price

6 February 2020 by Steve Blum
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A credible PG&E public takeover plan is on the table in the California legislature. Senator Scott Wiener (D – San Francisco) introduced senate bill 917 on Monday. It’s a detailed guide to acquiring PG&E’s electric and gas business, including financing and operating plans and responsibilities.

Wiener wants to create a massive utility district that encompasses all of PG&E’s vast northern California territory. It would own most or all PG&E’s infrastructure and business, after it’s been acquired via an eminent domain process – the state would use its sovereign authority to take over ownership, with the compensation paid to the company likely determined by a court.… More

Political dreams, not business sense drive plan for public takeover of PG&E

10 December 2019 by Steve Blum
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Glinda the good witch

It’s not a co-op, despite being “customer owned”. It’s not a utility district or a municipal utility, despite operating “as though it were a public agency”. And it’s certainly not a profit making company. Which leaves wide open the question of what kind of organisational beast San Jose mayor Sam Liccardo and 113 other northern California elected officials think will take over Pacific Gas and Electric’s operations and assets.

The group released a set of “operating principles” for a new, quasi-public entity that would replace PG&E.… More

Contrasts of competence as California assesses power cuts and utility pole route management

14 October 2019 by Steve Blum
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Pge outages 9oct2019

California’s privately-owned electric utilities and their regulators have a long and difficult job ahead as they try to figure out what was good and what was bad about last week’s massive wildfire prevention power cuts. Their eventual conclusions will have a significant impact on how utility pole routes are managed in California, including possible new, and more costly, design standards, and budgets for maintenance and wildfire prevention. Those costs will ultimately be shared with telecommunications companies that also use those poles.… More

Broadband deployment will be more rigorous and costly in California, following U.S. supreme court ruling

9 October 2019 by Steve Blum
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Southern California Gas and Electric can’t pass on wildfire costs to ratepayers. The federal supreme court declined to hear SDG&E’s appeal of a California Public Utilities Commission decision that put some of the burden of a 2007 series of wildfires on company shareholders. California’s strict “inverse condemnation” law requires utilities to bear the full cost of any damage when their pole routes, or other equipment in the right of way, is even partially to blame. Monday’s decision lets that principle stand.… More

PG&E pole attachment shot clock ready for another CPUC vote

4 October 2019 by Steve Blum
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Fiber attachments 625

The do-over of a settlement resolving a utility pole attachment dispute between Pacific Gas and Electric and Crown Castle is queued up at the California Public Utilities Commission. The original settlement was drafted by administrative law judge Patricia Miles and approved in March. But commissioners reversed the decision due to procedural mistakes, and told Miles to fix those errors try again. She did, and the new draft is the same as the old one.

If approved, the imposed settlement gives PG&E forty five days to “provide a response” to a pole attachment request from Crown Castle.… More

Fewer complaints, so far, as California utilities cut power to reduce wildfire risk

25 September 2019 by Steve Blum
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Update: PG&E shut off power this morning, as previously announced. As of this evening, it had restored power in north Bay Area counties, and some of the affected Sierra foothill communities. SCE turned power back on for the Riverside County homes affected by Tuesday’s cuts. Public reaction to PG&E de-energisation moves remained as relatively muted as it did on Tuesday. The San Francisco Chronicle spoke to one upset Sonoma County supervisor, but on the whole there was very little NIMBY outrage.… More

“Rate neutral framework”, whatever that is, promised as PG&E offers plan to pay wildfire costs and get out of bankruptcy

10 September 2019 by Steve Blum
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PG&E filed its plan for coming out of bankruptcy with the federal judge handling the case yesterday. The company proposes to give $8.4 billion to those harmed by wildfires over the past four years, both individual and public agencies, another $8.5 billion to insurance companies that have already paid out claims resulting from those fires, as well as a previously agreed $1 billion to a group of northern California public agencies.

In a press release, PG&E’s CEO, Bill Johnson, was quoted as saying the reorganisation plan is a “rate neutral framework”, but didn’t elaborate.… More

CPUC orders a do-over on PG&E–Crown Castle pole dispute decision

19 August 2019 by Steve Blum
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White road attachment

A California Public Utilities Commission decision giving Crown Castle the right to work on Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s utility poles without permission, including attaching cables if PG&E doesn’t respond to requests for permission within a set time limit, was reversed on Thursday. Commissioners voted unanimously to send it back to the administrative law judge (ALJ) that originally heard it.

That doesn’t mean the substance of the decision will change, though.

PG&E based its request for a do-over on procedural grounds, claiming the CPUC didn’t follow its own rules for posting a proposed decision and giving the public – including particularly PG&E – the right to offer comments before a vote.… More

Wildfires burn in northern California, but proactive power cuts might have limited the damage

10 June 2019 by Steve Blum
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Thomas fire 2018 utility lines 300

Pacific Gas and Electric did two rounds of proactive cuts over the weekend, in response to warnings of high fire danger due to weather conditions. It was no false alarm. Cal Fire’s online map shows more than a dozen wildfires in PG&E’s territory, including the Sand Fire in Yolo County that’s grown to at least 2,200 acres. There’s no basis to speculate why any of those fires began – that’s a question for later.

However, there is reason to suspect that it might have been worse if PG&E hadn’t cut off electricity to approximately 23,000 customers in Butte, Napa, Solano, Yolo (but not where the Sand Fire began) and Yuba counties.… More

Cal Fire pins Camp Fire blame on PG&E, but won’t release investigation details yet

17 May 2019 by Steve Blum
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Camp fire landsat

PG&E equipment started the deadly Camp Fire in Butte County last year, but the details of how and, perhaps, why are still under wraps. On Wednesday, Cal Fire announced that its investigation found that PG&E started two fires near the town of Paradise on 8 November 2018…

CAL FIRE has determined that the Camp Fire was caused by electrical transmission lines owned and operated by Pacific Gas and Electricity (PG&E) located in the Pulga area.

The fire started in the early morning hours near the community of Pulga in Butte County.

… More