I think you miss my point. PG&E may be publicly traded, but it's not subject to market forces. It's a government-granted monopoly in the strictest literal term

I think you miss my point. PG&E may be publicly traded, but it's not subject to market forces. It's a government-granted monopoly in the strictest literal terms. Penalizing the company or their shareholders doesn't change the market landscape; it doesn't improve the position of competitors or risk bankrupting the company. PG&E's profit (dividend) is effectively decided on by a public committee. They pick how much profit the company gets on a cost-plus basis. They could pick any number at any time; they could certainly pick zero. Let's say these bad events keep happening and we just keep the number at zero indefinitely. What changes?