6 ms·

cali has added 10 million people since 1990 but 30% of PG&E's infrastructure is over a century old. also in the 1990s, deregulation allowed the valuable parts

cali has added 10 million people since 1990 but 30% of PG&E's infrastructure is over a century old. also in the 1990s, deregulation allowed the valuable parts of various electricity companies to be sold off in a classic private equity vulture move, leaving the utilities basically holding the bag on largely crufty shells. the governor said it all: > Wilson admitted publicly that defects in the deregulation system would need fixing by "the next governor". it's hard to imagine this ending well. i would advocate for regulatory enforcement via state attorney general election as the most direct /potential/ route for changing things. obviously jailing executives would be more effective, but despite way more deaths than boeing, that seems unlikely.

danans 7y ago
> the governor said it all: > Wilson admitted publicly that defects in the deregulation... For anyone who may be less familiar with 90s CA politics, this refers to then governor Pete Wilson (R) who was responsible for the utility deregulation which then became an albatross around his successors' necks.
- ars 7y ago
  Lots of states have deregulated. but other states have not had the experience of California. What makes California different that deregulation failed so badly?
  - SamReidHughes 7y ago
    Well, the current situation couldn’t happen in states with low risk of wildfires...
  - m463 7y ago
    "According to a 2007 study of Department of Energy data by Power in the Public Interest, retail electricity prices rose much more from 1999 to 2007 in states that adopted deregulation than in those that did not.[23]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis
  - roenxi 7y ago
    "Deregulation" is a term that doesn't convey much information. In Australia we 'deregulated' the power industry. That means that we swapped shareholders in for government collecting the profit and removed some of the regulations. The problem is that the remaining regulations created a hugely complicated market and still involved a lot of price controls for arbitrary things. Eg, "network charges component of retail electricity prices is set ... by the Australian Energy Regulator ... based on ...operational and maintenance expenditure" [0]. So we have an unregulated market where the cost of electricity goes crazy because wholesalers overspend on grid maintenance and get no-risk profit. I don't know how California tried to do it, but in Australia deregulation didn't mean 'try and set prices using a market'. That was too hard and they didn't manage to set up a system that worked. It meant 'try and redirect profit from government to private enterprise'. Not surprisingly, the whole system is a disaster and worse than if they hadn't ever tried. I still think an actual free-market system would have worked but the design might be too delicate to run the political gauntlet and get legislated. [0] https://www.rba.gov.au/information/foi/disclosure-log/pdf/101115.pdf https://www.rba.gov.au/information/foi/disclosure-log/pdf/10... - I think I'm characterising the situation fairly but rely heavily on general knowledge.
  - masonic 7y ago
    California's marketplace was set up to be easily gamed by the likes of BC Hydro and Enron. Follow the money. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis
- masonic 7y ago
  Pete Wilson (R) who was responsible for the utility deregulation In fact, Democrat Steve Peace was the self-proclaimed "Father of Deregulation". For 22 years now, every committee in both houses was chaired by a Democrat. Deregulation passed both houses with veto-proof majorities. Wilson had zero say in the matter -- CA doesn't have a "pocket veto" mechanism.
  - danans 7y ago
    Indeed, the establishment of the Democratic party was very in on the deregulation fever at the time, as were many rank and file voters. It was a trope of the time. This was a case of bipartisan unity on what was in retrospect terrible legislation.
njarboe 7y ago
PG&E is already a highly regulated company. So much so that one could say that it is really state controlled [1]. "Among its stated goals for energy regulation are to establish service standards and safety rules, authorize utility rate changes, oversee markets to inhibit anti-competitive activity, prosecute unlawful utility marketing and billing activities, govern business relationships between utilities and their affiliates, resolve complaints by customers against utilities, implement energy efficiency and conservation programs and programs for the low-income and disabled, oversee the merger and restructure of utility corporations, and enforce the California Environmental Quality Act for utility construction." [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Public_Utilities_Commission https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Public_Utilities_Co...

danans 7y ago

> the governor said it all: > Wilson admitted publicly that defects in the deregulation... For anyone who may be less familiar with 90s CA politics, this refers to then governor Pete Wilson (R) who was responsible for the utility deregulation which then became an albatross around his successors' necks.

ars 7y ago
Lots of states have deregulated. but other states have not had the experience of California. What makes California different that deregulation failed so badly?
- SamReidHughes 7y ago
  Well, the current situation couldn’t happen in states with low risk of wildfires...
- m463 7y ago
  "According to a 2007 study of Department of Energy data by Power in the Public Interest, retail electricity prices rose much more from 1999 to 2007 in states that adopted deregulation than in those that did not.[23]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis
- roenxi 7y ago
  "Deregulation" is a term that doesn't convey much information. In Australia we 'deregulated' the power industry. That means that we swapped shareholders in for government collecting the profit and removed some of the regulations. The problem is that the remaining regulations created a hugely complicated market and still involved a lot of price controls for arbitrary things. Eg, "network charges component of retail electricity prices is set ... by the Australian Energy Regulator ... based on ...operational and maintenance expenditure" [0]. So we have an unregulated market where the cost of electricity goes crazy because wholesalers overspend on grid maintenance and get no-risk profit. I don't know how California tried to do it, but in Australia deregulation didn't mean 'try and set prices using a market'. That was too hard and they didn't manage to set up a system that worked. It meant 'try and redirect profit from government to private enterprise'. Not surprisingly, the whole system is a disaster and worse than if they hadn't ever tried. I still think an actual free-market system would have worked but the design might be too delicate to run the political gauntlet and get legislated. [0] https://www.rba.gov.au/information/foi/disclosure-log/pdf/101115.pdf https://www.rba.gov.au/information/foi/disclosure-log/pdf/10... - I think I'm characterising the situation fairly but rely heavily on general knowledge.
- masonic 7y ago
  California's marketplace was set up to be easily gamed by the likes of BC Hydro and Enron. Follow the money. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis
masonic 7y ago
Pete Wilson (R) who was responsible for the utility deregulation In fact, Democrat Steve Peace was the self-proclaimed "Father of Deregulation". For 22 years now, every committee in both houses was chaired by a Democrat. Deregulation passed both houses with veto-proof majorities. Wilson had zero say in the matter -- CA doesn't have a "pocket veto" mechanism.
- danans 7y ago
  Indeed, the establishment of the Democratic party was very in on the deregulation fever at the time, as were many rank and file voters. It was a trope of the time. This was a case of bipartisan unity on what was in retrospect terrible legislation.

njarboe 7y ago

PG&E is already a highly regulated company. So much so that one could say that it is really state controlled [1]. "Among its stated goals for energy regulation are to establish service standards and safety rules, authorize utility rate changes, oversee markets to inhibit anti-competitive activity, prosecute unlawful utility marketing and billing activities, govern business relationships between utilities and their affiliates, resolve complaints by customers against utilities, implement energy efficiency and conservation programs and programs for the low-income and disabled, oversee the merger and restructure of utility corporations, and enforce the California Environmental Quality Act for utility construction." [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Public_Utilities_Commission https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Public_Utilities_Co...