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So PG&E get to make unlimited profits but the public has to eat the cost of their liabilities? They should just be a public utility in that case. Since someone

So PG&E get to make unlimited profits but the public has to eat the cost of their liabilities? They should just be a public utility in that case. Since someone is going to wind up eating the costs, and if not PG&E, then the public/taxpayer. Therefore may have well cut out the profit inefficiency and use that money to maintain their equipment correctly (or pay for damages). Private entities running natural monopolies never made sense to me anyway. PG&E don't even pretend to do it well.

hn_throwaway_99 7y ago
> So PG&E get to make unlimited profits but the public has to eat the cost of their liabilities? "Unlimited profits"?? PG&E filed for bankruptcy this year, and filed in 2001. All electricity rates need to be approved California Public Utilities Commission. I agree, this weird mix of private ownership where everything needs to be approved by govt is basically the worst of all possible worlds (see also Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac), but it's not PG&E's fault alone that the system is so fucked. California has basically set up a regulatory regime where stable electricity generation is not viable.