Posted by rufous, a resident of the Alamo neighborhood, on Apr 20, 2012 at 11:39 am

How is it that the ratepayers haven't organized and demanded the break up and dissolution of PGE yet? The assets and distribution system should be partitioned into numerous smaller locally controlled utility districts. Imagine much lower electric rates. PGE is the second largest political contributor in the state. And it is a great place for politicians to repay political favors through appointments.

Posted by D Cam, a member of the Vista Grande Elementary School community, on Apr 23, 2012 at 10:27 am

PG&E seems to major in incompetence - Look at their rates 35cents a kwh and they keep sending notes on how good the green energy is when the Solar and Wind is inefficient and costly energy.

Yet, we seems stuck with PG&E - We can't go into competition with them - We can't use their pipes and wires - that we paid for - They continue to give bonuses etc that we are obligated to pay for.

And then, to top it all off we have an even more incompetent legislature legislating what we have to use for power sources.

It all sounds good and smells bad

Posted by Jake, a resident of the Alamo neighborhood, on Apr 30, 2012 at 2:06 pm

This is not to defend PG&E. The level of knowledge about how the regulated system works and how the rates are set up is very low amongst rate payers. PG&E gets an approved rate of return on their investment, the rest are pass through costs. In California, they are mandated to purchase power from renewables (more expensive) and it will get even more expensive as more mandates for renewables are scheduled to take effect. Everything in California is more expensive because we, through our legislative have decided we want to pay for being green (our gasoline is also customized and more expensive than most States). Even if PG&E disappeared the costs to the rate payers would essentially be the same. My brother pays 5c/KWH in Texas and my cousin 7c/KWH in Tenn. Ours can go to 35c or higher depending on the cost of the energy. You can blame PG&E for a lot of things but they don't impact the cost as much as it is believed.

Posted by David, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on May 2, 2012 at 8:03 am

PG&E is a criminally negligent enterprise.

Eight Dead in San Bruno

(apologies to Crosby, Stills, Nash)

Six-chromers of Hinkley f**kin’

Up—the line was bound to blow.

This company’s truly suckin’—

Eight dead in San Bruno.

With fire the town was lit,

Whole neighborhood burnin’ down. . .

Slipshod work done long ago.

When the line blew, there

Were no shutoff valves around.

Nowhere to run. . .inferno.

[sounds of explosion and inferno]

With fire the town was lit,

Whole neighborhood burnin’ down. . .

Incompetence long ago.

Failure ain’t new there;

This time they shut eight lives down.

Yet these scum still come and go.

Six-chromers of Hinkley f**kin’

The townsfolk ex post facto.

Lives-takers jivin’ and shuckin’. . .

Eight dead in San Bruno. . . .