>Everyone always thinks there is some grand nefarious plot in play out to fraudulently overcharge them ... but the system is really just the result of all the m

>Everyone always thinks there is some grand nefarious plot in play out to fraudulently overcharge them ... but the system is really just the result of all the many demands placed on it by many different and frequently opposed interests I wouldn't call it a "grand nefarious plot", but instead a dynamic driven by the fact that PG&E's interests are not aligned with the citizens of California. In years when PG&E makes money, they distribute bonuses and dividends. When they lose money, or have to pay for significant infrastructure upgrades, they argue they need to raise rates because "somebody's got to pay for it". The solution is this "Public Utilities Commission", which besides accusations of regulatory capture, you now have citizens paying the commission board members to enforce regulations, and paying PG&E's lawyers (through their rates) to push back against that enforcement. The executives at PG&E know their job is to make money for the shareholders, so any way they can push expenses to rate payers or liability to the state (for example, the San Bruno pipeline explosion, caused by their negligence, yet they only paid for a fractions of the damages), just makes sense. Americans across the country are getting overcharged by their for-profit utilities, PG&E is just one of the most predatory.