Yeah so much power in California, so why does the price of electricity go up every few months? My bill went from $50 in May 2017 to $200 last month. Newsom's cronies at the CPUC rubber stamp every rate hike for a shit company like PG&E.
Different subject, but yeah I agree with you. PG&E is one of those "too big to fail" northern CA company with 12000 union workers making well above average pay in high paying California. In effect, you're subsidizing union labor so they can live middle class lives in expensive greater Bay Area.
But the problem is much worse than that and crosses into all union dominated industries.
Insurance companies are pulling out of Northern California because fires have become too common in suburbs expending into grass land. One of the major guilty party is PG&E with its power lines dangling in the wind during dry seasons.
Everyone there pretends there's nothing that can done about it, even though it's bull. But the solution is expensive and the consequence would lead to loss of union jobs and loss of revenue stream.
The solution comes from Europe where nearly all local power lines are underground. Trenching is the solution! But that's not PG&E's forte; they like poles. And anyone's who has ever tried to stir union labor to do something that's not negotiated knows how difficult the way forward is (Ford, GM?). Of course, unions won't allow private businesses to bid for trenching at half the price. They'll want retraining from pole climber to trench digger and add new workers and increase pay while we're at it, to make up for the trauma caused by this transition.
Once cables are underground, there's far less maintenance involved, meaning less labor required. Good for the employer, bad for the union. Also, poles are a source of income for the company. Anyone wishing to tie up to the poles (like cable companies) have to pay a leasing fee. No poles, no fees.
As a result, nothing changes. PG&E pays millions in fines to the government, or rather, consumers pay millions in fines to the government via increased rates. It cannot go out of business, providing a key service to the region, so they ask for and receive approval to raise rates again.
This is a triangular scam, where government is supported and elected by the large union groups. Union labor is paid middle class income in jobs that could be done for half the cost, and white collar employers are getting fat pay packages in an uncompetitive environment. Consumers are the only ones getting fkd paying increasingly exorbitant electricity bills.
