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PG&E will be seized for this.

by vaxman 7y ago

intortus 7y ago
We can only hope.
- jacquesc 7y ago
  What in CA state government history makes you think they will do a better job managing the electrical grid?
  - ikiris 7y ago
    TVA and hundreds of others seem to do just fine
    - AnimalMuppet 7y ago
      What in CA government history makes you think they will do a better job managing the electrical grid? California government seems to be more dysfunctional than government in many other places. TVA may not be a valid data point.
dehrmann 7y ago
And then what? Clear space around transmission lines? Bury transmissions lines? Costs money. Keep the power going when it's risky? Fires. Raise rates for all customers, you'll get pretty angry people. Realistically, all you can do is raise rates for people in risky areas to cover the cost of either maintenance or fires. This is just the consequence of suing PG&E for fires.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- brianpgordon 7y ago
  PG&E paid $798 million in dividends in 2017 and $925 million in 2016.
  - myrandomcomment 7y ago
    This. PG&E has neglected their first job as a regulated monopoly which is to provide safe power. They are years behind on repairs and clean up needed to lower the fire risk.
  - dehrmann 7y ago
    That lacks any sort of context. For one, its last dividend was paid in September 2017 before concerns about wildfires. Its dividend yield in 2017 was around 3.2%, and its profit was $1.6B. 3.2% isn't getting rich, and people don't buy utilities to get rich, but they expect dividends for their troubles, and the dividend kept up with inflation. In hindsight, would it have been better to try to prevent wildfires? Yes, but it wasn't clear this was an issue, so in the absence of that, utilities pay out their profits to shareholders. Its profit margin in 2017 was almost 10% (high than you'd expect for a utility), but if you look at earlier years, its all over the map, and its revenue isn't growing.
    - ltbarcly3 7y ago
      I think the point is that dividends are a distribution of profits, and they shouldn't be booking profits at all if they are violating regulations and endangering lives by avoiding maintenance expenses.
      - dehrmann 7y ago
        I looked through old news stories. I found this (April 2016): https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article74496267.html https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article74496267... > Cal Fire blames PG&E for Butte Fire, will seek $90 million > A Cal Fire investigation has found Pacific Gas and Electric Co. responsible for the 2015 Butte Fire, one of the most destructive wildfires in state history. Also found this (July 2016): > Pacific Gas & Electric Company has signed a multi-million dollar contract...to remove about 160,000 dead trees that were cut down to protect power lines on private property in 10 Central California counties. https://www.sierrastar.com/news/local/article90649657.html https://www.sierrastar.com/news/local/article90649657.html There wasn't tons of outrage--op-eds saying this is a disaster waiting to happen--and they probably saw "most destructive wildfires in state history" and $90M and decided it was manageable. They were also probably still focusing on preventing the next San Bruno pipeline explosion and less worried about wildfires. It's too easy to look back with a hindsight bias and say "of course they should have done more."

PG&E will be seized for this.

by vaxman 7y ago

PG&E will be seized for this.

intortus 7y ago

We can only hope.

jacquesc 7y ago
What in CA state government history makes you think they will do a better job managing the electrical grid?
- ikiris 7y ago
  TVA and hundreds of others seem to do just fine
  - AnimalMuppet 7y ago
    What in CA government history makes you think they will do a better job managing the electrical grid? California government seems to be more dysfunctional than government in many other places. TVA may not be a valid data point.

dehrmann 7y ago

And then what? Clear space around transmission lines? Bury transmissions lines? Costs money. Keep the power going when it's risky? Fires. Raise rates for all customers, you'll get pretty angry people. Realistically, all you can do is raise rates for people in risky areas to cover the cost of either maintenance or fires. This is just the consequence of suing PG&E for fires.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
brianpgordon 7y ago
PG&E paid $798 million in dividends in 2017 and $925 million in 2016.
- myrandomcomment 7y ago
  This. PG&E has neglected their first job as a regulated monopoly which is to provide safe power. They are years behind on repairs and clean up needed to lower the fire risk.
- dehrmann 7y ago
  That lacks any sort of context. For one, its last dividend was paid in September 2017 before concerns about wildfires. Its dividend yield in 2017 was around 3.2%, and its profit was $1.6B. 3.2% isn't getting rich, and people don't buy utilities to get rich, but they expect dividends for their troubles, and the dividend kept up with inflation. In hindsight, would it have been better to try to prevent wildfires? Yes, but it wasn't clear this was an issue, so in the absence of that, utilities pay out their profits to shareholders. Its profit margin in 2017 was almost 10% (high than you'd expect for a utility), but if you look at earlier years, its all over the map, and its revenue isn't growing.
  - ltbarcly3 7y ago
    I think the point is that dividends are a distribution of profits, and they shouldn't be booking profits at all if they are violating regulations and endangering lives by avoiding maintenance expenses.
    - dehrmann 7y ago
      I looked through old news stories. I found this (April 2016): https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article74496267.html https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article74496267... > Cal Fire blames PG&E for Butte Fire, will seek $90 million > A Cal Fire investigation has found Pacific Gas and Electric Co. responsible for the 2015 Butte Fire, one of the most destructive wildfires in state history. Also found this (July 2016): > Pacific Gas & Electric Company has signed a multi-million dollar contract...to remove about 160,000 dead trees that were cut down to protect power lines on private property in 10 Central California counties. https://www.sierrastar.com/news/local/article90649657.html https://www.sierrastar.com/news/local/article90649657.html There wasn't tons of outrage--op-eds saying this is a disaster waiting to happen--and they probably saw "most destructive wildfires in state history" and $90M and decided it was manageable. They were also probably still focusing on preventing the next San Bruno pipeline explosion and less worried about wildfires. It's too easy to look back with a hindsight bias and say "of course they should have done more."