written 2 April 2023
published 9 April 2023
Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), the largest investor-owned California electric utility, serves from Santa Barbara to Humboldt, inland to the Nevada border. PG&E generates only 1/7 of the power consumed in Mendocino county (Ukiah and Sonoma Clean Power generate the rest). But no matter who generates the power, PG&E owns the high voltage transmission grid which imports the power, and the wires and poles of the local distribution systems, outside of Ukiah.
As a regulated public utility, PG&E has a guaranteed income, controlled by the California Public Utility Commission (PUC). By regulation, PG&E must approve the transfer of electrical power across property lines or public roads, and the connection of new renewable power or large-scale storage systems, hindering timely system growth. But the situation is changing.
In 2001, a devastating energy crisis hit California. Republican deregulation was then gamed by fraudulent, greedy corporations in the energy market. PG&E was caught unprepared, and their first bankruptcy was a consequence. Since their system was "too big to fail", the State bailed out the company, allowing rates to rise while doing little to change the company management.
In 2017, the climate crisis exploded in northern California as wildfires burned parts of Santa Rosa and Redwood Valley, and every summer since has seen massive wildfires. In criminal cases where towns were destroyed and people died, PG&E was convicted of liability, causing the fires due to decades of deferred maintenance while boosting executive bonuses. In 2019, the company filed for bankruptcy a second time, shedding billions in fire liabilities. Again, the State bailed it out, without management changes.
Because the electrical system was not designed for our new hotter, drier, windier climate, PG&E's initial response was "Public Safety Power Shutdowns" (PSPS): planned power blackouts whenever weather conditions threatened. Despite being announced in advance, the public was dumped back to the 1800's, with few resources for survival. Ukiah went dark for 4 days in October 2019, at a cost of $8M is lost sales, lost food, and cleanup.
Customer dissatisfaction with PSPS events forced PG&E to begin making changes. Undergrounding of some distribution lines has begun, but it is expensive and time consuming. Undergrounding the high voltage transmission grid cost 10 times as much. PG&E is refining which parts of the system can be shut off, rather than whole circuits. Fast breakers have been installed which immediately de-energize sections when a short to ground has been detected, which means power goes off without any warning.
Fire is not the only issue PG&E faces. This winter over 12 atmospheric rivers have hit California, with high winds toppling trees in saturated soil. Recently, over 400,000 PG&E customers were without power. The company has stated they are unprepared for this magnitude of storms.
PG&E is increasingly unable to meet the demands of operating the grid. Electrical connection of new construction can take months, and entire communities are being told there will be no new service for years. The company is asking the PUC for permission to unilaterally refuse further service to some customers in remote areas.
Indications are that PG&E is heading toward another bankruptcy to shed debts. While there is little desire to bail out the company again, there is no "plan B". The existing grid is obsolete, and not designed to deal with the rapidly changing climate. What are the alternatives?
To my mind, if we are to avoid total economic collapse from a heating environment, we must eliminate combustion of fossil fuels as soon as possible, shifting to EV's and heat pumps. This will require expanding electrical production by a factor of three, all non-carbon, which cannot be handled by the grid as it is used today. The solution will require more efficient conservation (needing less), more local power production (importing less), and massive distributed storage (using the grid around the clock). The investor-owned financial system has shown they are unable, or unwilling, to mobilize this level of investment in a timely manner.
Therefore, this essential public facility should no longer be owned by corporations designed to maximize shareholder profit at the expense of customer service. The grid must become a publicly owned facility, as is appropriate to how essential the electrical services are to the entire economy.
If you agree it is time for a fundamental change in the electrical utility, email your concerns to Assemblyman Jim Wood, Assemblymember.Wood@assembly.ca.gov, or call (916) 319-2002.
