California Governor Threatens State Takeover of PG&E

[BigmanPigman]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/california-governor-threatens-state-takeover-of-pg-e-11572641749


"Gavin Newsom says state may intervene if shareholders, bondholders cannot quickly reach a deal to exit bankruptcy"

"California Gov. Gavin Newsom is threatening a state takeover of PG&E Corp. unless the company exits bankruptcy and dramatically improves the safety of its electric grid before the next wildfire season."

"The governor on Friday said he has demanded that PG&E executives, investors and representatives for wildfire victims appear in Sacramento next week to discuss how to expedite the company’s emergence from chapter 11 by a state-imposed deadline of June 30. He said the state may intervene if the company’s shareholders and bondholders don’t quickly agree on a reorganization plan."

[California_Republic]

1. Please! Take over!

[alwaysinasnit]

2. Well, that might be better than having to bail them out constantly. We, the taxpayers, end up

having to pay regardless, but at least with California owning it, there will be no profit motive.

[TexasTowelie]

3. My guess is that you have never been a state employee.

I spent thirteen years as a state employee and I can reassure you that there is plenty of pressure to increase revenue and cut costs. That was true whether Republicans or Democrats were in charge.

[stopdiggin]

7. yeah. one of the dangers of State ownership

is that the state might become (as we've seen all too often) even MORE of a pinch-penny than the "for profit" boys.

[diane in sf]

12. Or you can look at Medicare with a 3% overhead, versus 'health' insurance companies with a

20% overhead and bloated executive salaries earned by denying people health care. This is essentially money for murder, much like PG&’s ‘accidental arson’ caused by siphoning money to executives and shareholders instead of performing basic maintenance.

The publicly-owned power companies have lower rates and better safety records than PG&E. Sacramento and L.A. for example.

[stopdiggin]

15. will agree with the examples that you give

and (problems or no) I think utilities probably belong in a basket of "basic services" that government ought to provide (or oversee). Health and education as other examples. But if you think that states are always responsible stewards of infrastructure .. and provide what is necessary to "operate safely" .. I give you a thousand bridges and schools across the country that are literally falling down.

I guess there's that old saying that, "You get the government that you deserve." And, in many cases, this IS the government that we've asked for.

But almost certainly .. privatizing things like prisons and public utilities has been a disaster (and clearly forecast in advance). We should reverse the trend as quickly as possible. And a cautionary tale for the next genius (or populist pol) that comes along with a scheme for "saving us money." Right?

[alwaysinasnit]

8. No, never been a state employee. But I have to say, ever since the FERC allowed Enron to

financially rape our state, the situation has not improved. PG&E's parent company siphons off profits and leaves the liability resting with PG&E, so we taxpayers, one way or another, are left holding the bag.

[diane in sf]

11. Exactly, they piratized $5B out of the company and things proceeded to go to hell.

[RockRaven]

5. A minefield to be sure, lots of risk yadda yadda, but if rate payers/tax payers/insurance buyers

are collectively going to be on the hook for the cost of the damage their network causes AND the cost of upgrading the network anyway... well, those 3 categories are, in the end, all the same damned people. We might as well get rid of the profit cream being skimmed off of the top and get the now-company/then-agency's priorities in order.

[stopdiggin]

4. would have said that this was mostly a fairy tale, but ..

do you suppose that theory of the "imperial executive" works at the state level too?

(most of the time the courts and the lawyers .. and the legislature and whatnot have a part to play .. - But, you go, Gavin!)

[msongs]

6. city of riverside ca runs its own electric company, works well and low rates nt

[B Stieg]

9. True, but sometimes the wind blows hard...

occasionally blowing out the grid.
However, Riverside Public Utilities is pretty good at getting things up and running again, quickly.
Not sure how the rates stack up w/others...

[diane in sf]

10. Don't threaten. Just do it.

[IndyOp]

13. +1

[hatrack]

14. Good!

It's about time these negligent, greedy clowns experience the taste of consequences.