This topic is a hot potato folks... it’s got Politics, Loss of Life and Property, as well as financial concerns. Nobody near or involved with it, is immune from feelings. Therefore, for those poking Juan over his reporting, remember he’s 100% more accurate than MSM and for the most part he’s maintaining a factual line of reporting. I nominate Juan for the Pulitzer Prize! 😎
I love HONEST news. People need to take into account reality when things occur. Everyone's fighting for the coffers of "funny money" from the feds, and requesting / demanding more taxpayer funds to kick the can down the road while keeping the party going. Get things working properly THEN make performance upgrades. It's like that car you'll spot broken down on the side of the highway that looks like it rolled down a cliff, but has shiny new $2000 chrome wheels or a crazy radio in it............ Money should have gone to repairs and maintenance, you can't push it off without consequences that only get worse.
Once a socialist regime assumes ownership of lands, properties, resources, institutions, utilities or businesses, political bureaucrats begin to make all decisions on the basis of disproved, Marxist theories, inevitably leading to confiscation of wealth, dictatorship over the 'proletariat' (you and me), careless workers, shoddy products and a culture of theft, bribes and mafias, in which the outcome of every election can be determined in advance. USSA is almost there, only one man currently standing in the way.
"He didn't intend to stand in the way of the victims' settlement." So that leaves two options: 1. Newsom is a liar.2. Newsom is a moron. Neither is exactly flattering for him.
It is so refreshing to listen to someone who simply reports the facts with no bias. While I get the sense you are critical of Newsom's stance on many issues, it is clear that you make sure to still remain neutral in your reporting. Thanks Juan and happy holidays to you and your family!
Seems to me his bias is (unusually) showing through here. Calling a state-regulator appointed board 'cronies' seems opinionated rather than factual to me.
@@xxwookey --- Newsom comes from a family active in politics forever --- heard of Nancy Pelosi? Yeah, Newsom is her brother in law. The family has been in politics for THREE GENERATIONS and they are ALL crooked as a dog's hind leg!!!
Thanks for the update and link to the letter. I’m hoping for three things out of all of this. 1) The safe Gas & Electrical systems we have paid for all these years. 2) We, the utility customers do not ha e to now pay for what we already had paid for to maintain and make the systems up to where they should have been if they used the funds as they should have to maintain the systems. 3) That no one takes any of this out on the hard working PG&E employees out on the front lines doing the best they can with the upper management decisions being made. Thanks Juan for the update and great reporting.
Thank you Juan. I would support you with patrion but i dont have enough money. I am sorry. I am a male 36y old single parent of two children from Finland. We are the ones who beat the soviet union in ww2. Finland. Again i am sorry that i dont have enough money to support you. What you do is good for the world. From the bottom of my heart,thank you. You have made a real impact of my life, and i guess that many of others life too. I want you to now that. You really are a good man.
The cost...is outrageous salary and bonuses paid to management of a company that has gone bankrupt twice in as many decades while their stock goes up and dividends paid out while not doing their basic duties of maintaining the infrastructure
That is part of the problem... The other part is it is the most regulated utility in the nation. CA has largely taken over the utility via the regulations.
@@Ironrodpower Both are right but I point at the Corporate side. They all know the business they're in and if they want the money and glory should have gone elsewhere. Otherwise, "you're" employed in the utility industry, deal with it.
I originally posted this on Patreon for this video: This is exactly because of reporting like this is why I became a pateron supporting Juan Browne's Blancolirio Channel. I first started watching Blancolirio because of a reference from another UA-cam Channel, Mentour Pilot, on the 737 MAX Mcas system. Yet I have enjoyed the in depth reporting on other subjects that Juan has done on the California Wildfires and the Oroville Dam. Juan keep up the excellent work and I will keep supporting you here on Patreon.
Juan, Your in depth coverage is refreshing. I am a retired EE and my customers included dozens of Electric Utilities, small and large, Public and Private. The functioning capability of these utilities was all over the map. In general utilities that operated generation were stronger. Utilities that had their own internal training programs were stronger, utilites where the field people and engineers sat in the same room were stronger. Utilities still tend to resist small scale green generation on their systems. This has to change. UTC,s are a significant problem. They usually do not include practical, hands on people hence maintenance is not a word in their vocabulary. The simply do not understand it. The Utility itself contributes to this ignoring maintenance problem by not pushing on the UTC enough. It is also a American culture problen (The 10 year car!) If I can help you in any way let me know. Most of my work was in the NW but I did some work in Alaska, Ovverseas and on the Dalles Oregon to Selmar 500 KV tie line Parker Holden
Mr. Holden, I would like to ask a question. When talking about 3 phase power whether 50 or 60 Hertz(cps), do the engineers divide the 3 phases so each is 1/3 or do you consider each phase to be the same Hertz(cps)? In watching some channels out of Europe about electrified railway lines, they list the power as say 15 Kv at 16 2/3 Hertz. The 16 2/3 is 50 divided by 3. I understood that Hertz is the same on any one of the phases as it is on the whole but each phase is 120 degrees from the next phase so the average or mean power is higher than single phase. These are all sine waves. I am just curious. May be it is just a difference in nomenclature.
I can give you just one example of "small scale" green generation cost to PG&E's system. Their Pit hydro round mountain sub station used 13,000 pound reactors to regulate (burn off) excess power before the " green " wind turbines were built atop the Mountain, in order to burn off the fluctuating unreliable inflow of power they spent Millions ? installing 40,000 pound reactors plus associated equipment . Butt I'm sure as an EE you have seen this many times...
@@silasmarner7586 To convert the cps you need to use motor/generator pairs or on smaller scale solid state phase converters. In Chicago the transit authority needed 30 cps for their equipment and as the older generators wore out they were replaced with large 60 hz synchronous motors (62,500 hp) driving 30 hz generators. Since synchronous motors aren't self starting, there was a 1500 hp motor to spin them up to speed. 16 2/3 cps is usually used for transit equipment also, because for some things (like speed controls) it behaves much like DC. And yes, all 3 phases are 120 degrees out.
Increasing percentages of renewable generation is not necessarily orthogonal to a healthy grid. Here in Texas where my fixed rate for power is $0.10/kWh, the % of renewables is greater than 20% and growing fast. Nuclear is 10%. Because transmission is in a separate regulatory category from generation, an independent body manages the grid which is apparently in pretty good shape mechanically. Not sharing this to brag on Texas, we have plenty of problems, but to say that CA’s power problems are not unsolvable and that the solution doesn’t have to sacrifice growth in renewables for maintenance of the transmission facilities.
If I'm remembering right Texas has some special circumstances making that possible. You have an independent grid, you're not hooked up to neighboring states so there's no interstate politics to fuck with things. You invested in a modern transmission network that crosses the whole state, this allows wind power from one side of the state to reach the other side which is better suited for solar and vice versa. So the whole grid is able to be balanced across the state, which makes dealing with the unpredictable peaks and valleys from renewables a lot easier. Overall the grid is just in better shape and better managed, also helps Texas has taken a market approach to renewables allowing customers to choose where they buy their power specifically so the utility is meeting real demand (and being compensated for it) rather than investing in renewables because of political pressure. God bless Texas!
@@MrMattumbo Texas is not the only area that has a stable grid. Infact most of the western US ( not CA) is doing well, could it be better sure but overall in good shape according to my lineman buddy. He mostly does emergency response so he is all over.
In Victoria (Australia), we can choose our electricity retailer. This doesn't give us lower rates than Juan is paying. I pay a daily service-to-property charge of $1.089 and a usage charge of between 21.21 and 22.98 c/kWh depending on time of day.
@@WinSomeLoseNone0 In fact, the set up is similar to what PG&E operates under. The retailers and transmission companies are privately owned but they are heavily regulated by federal, state and local agencies.
Just signed up to be a Patreon supporter. Think I did it right. Could only pledge the minimum monthly amount as I am retired. Keep up the good work. Hope you get healthy again real soon and back into the air.
WOW that's high! We're paying just under .14 cents per kWh here in MA this winter. The price always fluctuates with the seasons. It's usually cheaper in the summer. We have no gas - electric range, and electric dryer, and a 12K BTU window A/C. Oil heats our hot water in summer, coal in winter - all run on electric. Our bill is about $150 now, and in summer it's about $220. Drafty, small but old house - built in the late 1800's. Thanks for the info, Juan!
Hi Juan, I so appreciate your candid, informative and factual reporting. The thought of California running the utility is mind-blowing. Thanks for your excellent coverage. - Dean from Minnesota
Thank you for giving us an honest report of what is going on Juan. This type of reporting is a thing of the past in our so called news media. Merry Christmas and the happiest New Year to you and all!
Why would we do that? So that we could get another Republican to put us in debt and spend the rainy day fund again? When Brown took over from Schwarzenegger, California was facing a $27B deficit. This year we have a $21.5B surplus. In the 1980s, Deukmejian refunded the rainy day fund he inherited back to taxpayers in a one-time payout. And then at the end of his term, his partymate Pete Wilson had nothing to buffer against the recession, delaying California's exit while the rest of the country was recovering.
I was told by a friend who used to live along the Gulf coast that power lines there were put in large conduits. Something like a pipeline. This was done to prevent hurricane damage. The power company resisted this and predicted all kinds of catastrophes from it, but he said none of their predictions came true. The lines do not need to be buried, just protected from high winds in vulnerable areas. Also, I would think towers could be inspected close up with drones today. I know they do bridge inspections with drones.
Juan, your reports on all of these topics are so interesting and spot on. Keep up the great work! I love your style and consider you a friend, even though we have never met, and likely won't ever meet in person. So sad that it takes someone like yourself to cut through all the crap in the media and talk some sense. Keep up the great work, and thank you again for what you are doing! Best wishes to you and yours this holiday season!
Woops, I accidentally blacked out the entire Eastern side of Lake Maracaibo when some other GE rep stuck a screwdriver in my back pocket as a joke. As I turned to see what he put in my pocket I shorted out some control wire pins behind the control panel and down the gas turbine generator went. The owner of the Hotel Mene Grande was not happy with me at all. That was a few years ago when Venezuela was a great thriving country.
Excellent job, Juan! I like how you broke that down. Note: Some of the You Tube channels that I follow also have "sad" content. Here's what they NOW do to keep the YT Payments coming: they put up a "For Adult Viewers Only" disclaimer at the beginning of each of their videos. Also, they use their own music if they use music. Hope this info helps. To see, try "Caravan Carolyn", and "Off the Ranch".
I Googled "sad content" with reference to YT some time ago and found nothing tangible. What I did find was that you got demonetised if you were found to be using non original content i.e. content not made by the UA-camr. Reused content in YT speak. Of course that means that when you report a crash/accident/disaster etc and copy in content from outside sources you violate that rule by producing a report using someone else's content. That content is just copied in and is usually copyrighted. Because of that YT don't want to pay you if you steal someone else's content or work. I don't think that's unreasonable but also realise that you won't be able to produce much first party content. Juan did manage to film a lot of original content on the Oroville dam and I think he had permission to use official footage as part of his uploads. I don't think he was demonetised for that. Of course, YT are happy to bombard us with non relevant and annoying ads, but if they can get away without paying anything out to channel owners they will! Splitting the content into two channels would hopefully allow the one with family and hobbies including biking and camping to be monetised. Two channels should generate more clicks too. Worth considering I think. Many YT'ers do it, some with only marginal differences between them even though they are non controversial. e.g Some even with three covering beauty, fashion, and lifestyle. The numbers quickly add up.
Love having Wall Street fat cats running our Board. Perhaps we should replace them with ex Enron employees, rather than Californians that have a vested interest in keeping rates low and keep us safe. Someone needs to explain to me how a Wall Street guy that want to maximize profits and reduce costs is going to help us in the current situation. Maybe paying 3%+ dividends to investors isn't the answer.
"Californians that have a vested interest in keeping rates low and keep us safe." HAHHAHAHHAHHA! You made my day buddy! Who do you think got us in this mess in the first place? Hint: It wasn't the Russians.
You were saying about your neighbour putting solar panels why don't you spread the cost between you two , battery is about $400,-500 100 amp hour lithium chloride about the same price for an inverter 2500 - 3000 Watts
I was talking to some people who had the Tesla storage batteries and were expecting to use them when the power was turned off and they were very disappointed in how long those batteries held a charge. Nowhere near as advertised.
@@fazole I don't know anything about the Tesla batteries I would have thought they should be ok rather expensive to use anywhere, where you can get 12v 100 amp hour batteries from China for about $100 each ideally running 8 but 4 should be fine 3-bedroom house in a 48 volt system
Rizzo44 Rizzo hello,,during HURRICANE SANDY HERE,,MY LITTLE WEATHER STATION BROKE AFTER RECORDING 67,MPH WINDS, BUT THERE WERE NO GENERATORS TO BE HAD ANYWHERE, SO was able to but a 7.5 kw diesel genset, never used it as yet,,but it came from CHINA,,FROM AN AMERICAN CO IT IS A HIGH SPEED. ( 3600rpm) much to my surprise,that’s the same as ALL THENGENSETS YOU BUT ANYWHERE,,INCLUDING GENERAC ... MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM NJ🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Hahaha, Juan. A glance at the bloopers is a nice change. However, we look up when we see a new posting from your channel. What you bring is serious business, and I'll tell you this, I had no knowledge of Newsom's letter and I'm thankful that you posted this. "Now I Know". Thank you, and shame on him. ✈
I'm near the foothills NE of the Nashville TN and we are under a small power company (TRI-COUNTY Electric who gets their power from the Tennessee Valley Authority). My primary heat and air are electric, with propane (rarely used) and wood fireplace (rarely used) for heat. My monthly electric bill runs bout $200 ($140 low, $300 high) which for the last month (Nov 2019) was 10.34 cents per KWH. So you're 20-28 cents KWH is pretty high. Of course, Tennessee is pro-gun and pro-Bill of Rights, and we have NO STATE INCOME TAX. lots of wildlife, and good things. I have experienced a sudden deliberate property tax hike over the past 5 years of 54% and that will be contested in court and the voting polls... and no one is happy about that. Great explanation of the PG&E stuff Juan, Thanks. Merry Christmas to you and your family. Peace for all.
Boy, there's a thought: State of California operating an electrical grid and natural gas system! They can't even run a DMV without massive budget deficits and CalTrans can't keep up with roadways. Cal State is the LAST group that should be considered for running a power utility.
Another good one Brownie! Thanks for focusing on the CPUC's role in capping rates and the consequences of it's rate setting decisions. Would it be "beating a dead horse" to also point out that the CPUC, politicians and much of the public seem to believe that PGE should bear the full economic consequences of the CPUC's decisions ?
Doesn’t ab 1054 just amount to taxpayers bailing out PG&E? I am not a big Newsome fan but his letter makes some good points ( not state takeover of PG&E)
It's the wall street profetiers that got PG&E where it is today. I would say the board should be Californians. Some of them might actually know a thing or two as long as they do not have a vested interest, like owning stock in it. I do not live in California anymore but lived in San Diego for 30 years and really wish I could afford to live there again. I love California! Your reporting is the best, Juan.
Hello to you Juan. I am Phillip, from Australia, and watch a lot of your aviation videos, as a regular subscriber. By the way, I agree with you on your comments about UA-cam. One time it used to be good.... My comment today is NOT on U.S. politics, but directly on aviation.... I have a concern that has simply not gone away, and that is about the demise of quad jets on long-haul, trans-oceanic routes, such as SYD/AKL to SCL or EZE, and SYD to JNB, transversing far south of the Southern Ocean, and with no airports to land in the event of a serious emergency. Qantas is soon to change from 747's to 787 to service the sectors, and LATAM is already using 787's. My concern is that revised ETOPS regulations is far too optimistic for twin engines on such routes. 11 hours or more is the non stop distance (in time) these aircraft fly, and there are no available airports to land in the event of something happening... for example, between AKL and SCL. With an engine out or other technical event, can you imagine flying on a 787 in a distressed state for 5 or 6 hours...?? Where at least with a quad, (747), you have much more redundancy if one engine is no longer able to be used.... as you still have 3 engines.... I would be very interested to hear your professional opinion about my concern, and if you consider the current ETOPS regulations are adequate or over optimistic.
Actually, public utilities are a Good Thing. There were many especially in Canada, but many, if not most, were sold off after Neoliberalism took hold in the 1990's. They were formed around the 1930's and 1940's when private utilities went bankrupt and sometimes had incompatible systems (e.g. in Ontario, Canada, the AC frequency was 25 Hz). The IMF/World Bank forced utilities (electricity, water etc.) in many countries to be privatised, but now these are being re-nationalised in lots of places. This idea should not be dismissed just because it is "socialist". Quite frankly, compensation for fire damage will have to be paid from somewhere, since bankruptcy won't produce any money (liquidate PGE?). That "somewhere" invariably means electricity rates. There's no free lunch here.
Would you trust your utility to the same government that has turned California into the country's largest homeless encampment? California's politicians are divided between those who are corrupt, those who are incompetent, and those who ideological lunatics.
It's really great to hear a Californian who has a level head and has his $h!t together! We were starting to lose faith here in AZ, nothing coming out of SoCal makes any sense and its spilling over into Phoenix... Not Good! Time for you gents to take your state back! Good luck and best wishes!
Hi Juan. So intetesting to follow this to its conclusion. If only those in power would learn and spend a drop rather than pay out huge amounts. Australia is in dire fire straits due to similar ignorance.
It's always amazing to note "rate increases" that exceed 1.5% to 2.0% per rate hike. Why? The COLA figures are always the base factor to any viable price increase in our economy. We see rates from utilities, fuel, groceries, core supplies now and then that find there way to 20% or more per increase. What folks should be asking is, just how does a company running itself fairly for decades suddenly justify price increases of that magnitude? What were they doing since the last rate increase to notice a large gap between operation costs and gross revenue? No one in private business can justify 20% from one year to another if they plan to remain in business. We're all doomed if PG&E becomes a State owned utility. Why? As it is now, all utilities are monopolies and they are all protected by the State and Federal Government, something unlawful (remember the AT&T breakup). Granted there cannot be 3 or more power companies to choose service from however, with the State grid CALISO, power distribution companies cannot compete. CALISO runs the entire states power delivery. The public are not being represented by CPUC who are in fact, golfing weekly with our power producers and distributors. It's obvious when the regulations get more demanding, rates are capped and then maintenance is ignored as are the responsibilities of the PUC. Electricity is a huge money maker for California and it shouldn't be, they really have no investment in it and CALISO is totally unnecessary since they control all of the rates and power.
@@MorseB Right, kinda like government run schools. From pewresearch.org: "The most recent PISA results, from 2015, placed the U.S. an unimpressive 38th out of 71 countries in math and 24th in science. Among the 35 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which sponsors the PISA initiative, the U.S. ranked 30th in math and 19th in science." After all, no profit motive - so why try harder....
As always awesome Juan, and by the way, a great looking hat sir. In the trucking industry, this is known as a Cluster FUXX. Political corruption continues in America today. Also, who is this man known as D. Trump? Strange happenings. Possibly my most wasted vote?
Juan, you are doing a great job. Slow down and have some your sponsors chocolate. I will bet you will have fewer takes. All the best to you and the family, for the holidays.
Your Kwh. rate is better than ours here in the UK. We don't have wildfires and our grid is much smaller. I'd be interested to know what our European neighbours pay. Thanks Juan.
Yesterday watched Jack Rickard's UA-cam channel, he embedded your entire PG&E video. So I watched it twice! It's crazy, I live in the UK!! News must be really bad here too. You'll have to kill me before I watch the BBC (Bad/Biased Broadcasting Corporation). Come from South Africa, you should see what socialism has done to ESCOM (like PG&E), see Jack's insightful comments on utilities and socialism. Thanks Juan : )
Great video again, thanks. It’s amazing how the government (state, federal or local) thinks they can take over a corporation and do a better job. The government (any) couldn’t manage a bake sale. Love the out takes too!
THE GODS BLESS YOU FOR ALL YOU DO BLANCO !!! Your Truth and Facts !!! The Haters are coming out more and more. That means your truthful videos are winning over their lies and deciept my friend. KEEP UP YOUR AWESOME CHANNEL !!!!
As a citizen of the UK, where we seem to follow the trends of the US somewhat slavishly it is interesting to see the rather schizophrenic approach of US citizens to their government structures and businesses. Particularly the idea that state ownership of infrastructure is inherently bad and doomed to failure. To be clear, I'm not saying it is inherently good either but the idea that corporations are somehow more efficient in all cases is demonstrably untrue. It would appear that PG&E have pretty consistently failed in their duty of care towards the people of California and it is the taxpayers (who are also the customers of the company of course) who end up subsidising the negligence of the business. To all intents and purposes this is already a business which is owned by the state but with the real downside that the state, i.e. the taxpayers, only get the liabilities associated with ownership but none of the benefits. The benefits flow out to the shareholders of PG&E. The problem with infrastructure, be it energy, transport, education or health is that it isn't really possible to make a profit without cutting corners because the investment costs are so high. In order to see a return - as businesses are required to do- the beancounters end up neglecting maintenance, training and ongoing system improvements. We then see the inevitable failure of the infrastructure at some point and, because it is vital, the state has to step in to prevent absolute economic collapse or social unrest. Everyone in the developed world benefits from cheap-at-the-point-of purchase energy and transport but the actual economic cost is not understood by citizens or even by many politicians. As an example we don't factor in, as a proper economic analysis ought, the monetary value of environmental degradation, not least because it would be a very complicated (and expensive) exercise in its own right. Consequently when reality bites and the infrastructure fails, we end up paying these unquantified costs one way or the other and very often they are higher due to the urgency of fixing the problem. Politicians don't want to tell us the truth about how much running our countries actually costs because then they would have to admit that taxation is too low/spending too high and nobody would vote for them. Businesses don't wan't to hike prices because then we put pressure on them via politicians to cap the bills. All of us need to grow up a bit as responsible citizens and accept that we get what we pay for and we get the politicians we deserve. These problems are solvable but we need to acknowledge that either we pay higher bills or higher taxes or live with elevated risk of infrastructure failure.
Let's not forget that the $13.5B settlement was to be half in shares of the new PG&E coming out of bankruptcy...let's see how well that works. As long a you're sure PG&E can run their system in the future better than DWR runs theirs, good luck to you.
Public utilities are a poor example of a private enterprise. So, are you saying that although a State agency sets the rates and effectively controls the amount of money available for maintenance work, that the State should not be expected to take any responsibility for the consequences? (My preference would be to see municipal utilities districts to replace private utility companies.)
I live in TVA area in Huntsville, Alabama. Our rates are about 9.5 cents/kwh. You are going to see it go way up when they close Diablo Canyon about 2022 and the big Natural Gas plant they are closing about 2025.
Lucky you on your electric rate. Last monthly bill was $330 and no electric heat, 2000 square foot house. Welcome to Oregon. By the way, what happens to all the heat from those solar panels??
Juan, your electric rate isn't that much higher than in Minnesota where I just looked at my current bill and the basic rate (before taxes) is .08803 cents per KWH. This past month I used 962 KWH's. Our Minnesota governor seems like he wants to follow California's model of green energy. I hope he doesn't get his way. Thanks so much for these updates to your beautiful state. I was stationed at Castle AFB 93 bomb wing long time ago.
@@1dotele Recently, they have added, "We are the Government, and we are here to take away all your Rights." They aren't even being surreptitious about it any more.
Thank you for your terrific posts. Too bad someone can't hack the media. Only kidding of course1 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family Juan!!
Thanks for the report. I'm definitely looking forward to the 737 Max update and I'm REALLY looking forward to any info on the Atlas Air 767 crash. Very sad. =PC=
Juan, in case you haven't figured this out yet, Utilities are designed to generate profits for their bond holders, that's money which is tacked onto operations costs, so what part of that seems fair to you, especially when everyone is already complaining about how high their bills are? Second, people back on Wall Street are NOT interested in providing you and the rest of the state with clean energy, they're ONLY interested in generating PROFITS. PROFITS come from raising your electric rates, not from improving the system and as long as the state keeps bailing them out after every disaster why should they care about modernization?
How much maintenance could be paid for by the budget for PG&E's CYA ads suggesting what we need to have on hand if their failures result in the need for evacuations, etc.?
How is it we could recall newly re-elected Governor Davis, but no one is calling for Newsom’s recall? I am all for taking over the utility. But if the State takes it over there needs to be new regulation and strong oversight.
Great job Juan...I don't care how long it takes for your reporting...I trust your reporting more than the circus reporting from National news. Question though, "Is there an impartial party to the reorganization of PGE?"
Hi Juan, would you like to comment on whether you think some kind of 737 Max public relations campaign will be evident before the plane flies again? Or will Boeing and the Airlines attempt a stealthy re-introduction?
This topic is a hot potato folks... it’s got Politics, Loss of Life and Property, as well as financial concerns. Nobody near or involved with it, is immune from feelings. Therefore, for those poking Juan over his reporting, remember he’s 100% more accurate than MSM and for the most part he’s maintaining a factual line of reporting.
I nominate Juan for the Pulitzer Prize! 😎
100 per cent agree with you. The way Juan puts it across makes me trust him much more than MANY other news outlets.
Yes and there are some folks in all areas of PG&E, CPUC, the State etc. who need to be put in prison for murder x87.
Juan deserves better than the Pulitzer
Robert Sparkes well said!!!
I concur!!!
You're my NEWS anchor. My anchor in the bedrock of SANITY. Thank you!
I love HONEST news. People need to take into account reality when things occur. Everyone's fighting for the coffers of "funny money" from the feds, and requesting / demanding more taxpayer funds to kick the can down the road while keeping the party going. Get things working properly THEN make performance upgrades. It's like that car you'll spot broken down on the side of the highway that looks like it rolled down a cliff, but has shiny new $2000 chrome wheels or a crazy radio in it............ Money should have gone to repairs and maintenance, you can't push it off without consequences that only get worse.
Once a socialist regime assumes ownership of lands, properties, resources, institutions, utilities or businesses, political bureaucrats begin to make all decisions on the basis of disproved, Marxist theories, inevitably leading to confiscation of wealth, dictatorship over the 'proletariat' (you and me), careless workers, shoddy products and a culture of theft, bribes and mafias, in which the outcome of every election can be determined in advance. USSA is almost there, only one man currently standing in the way.
@@GalenCurrah Amen to that Brother!!!
"He didn't intend to stand in the way of the victims' settlement."
So that leaves two options:
1. Newsom is a liar.2. Newsom is a moron.
Neither is exactly flattering for him.
also 1+2
Newsom is Pelosi’s nephew, and that is only the tip of the iceberg.
Gruesome Newsome
@@farcticox1409 Exactly my thought.
farcticox 1 yea a lying moron! Ya got that right.
It is so refreshing to listen to someone who simply reports the facts with no bias. While I get the sense you are critical of Newsom's stance on many issues, it is clear that you make sure to still remain neutral in your reporting. Thanks Juan and happy holidays to you and your family!
Seems to me his bias is (unusually) showing through here. Calling a state-regulator appointed board 'cronies' seems opinionated rather than factual to me.
@@xxwookey --- Newsom comes from a family active in politics forever --- heard of Nancy Pelosi? Yeah, Newsom is her brother in law.
The family has been in politics for THREE GENERATIONS and they are ALL crooked as a dog's hind leg!!!
Don't believe a word he said. This Govenor does not care for the Californian but his edification.
Thanks for the update and link to the letter. I’m hoping for three things out of all of this. 1) The safe Gas & Electrical systems we have paid for all these years. 2) We, the utility customers do not ha e to now pay for what we already had paid for to maintain and make the systems up to where they should have been if they used the funds as they should have to maintain the systems. 3) That no one takes any of this out on the hard working PG&E employees out on the front lines doing the best they can with the upper management decisions being made. Thanks Juan for the update and great reporting.
Thank you Juan. I would support you with patrion but i dont have enough money. I am sorry. I am a male 36y old single parent of two children from Finland. We are the ones who beat the soviet union in ww2. Finland. Again i am sorry that i dont have enough money to support you. What you do is good for the world. From the bottom of my heart,thank you. You have made a real impact of my life, and i guess that many of others life too. I want you to now that. You really are a good man.
Suvi Virtanen This is a really sweet note to Juan and I hope he sees it. You express my feelings exactly. Way to go Juan.
Salute to you sweet Suvi, you’re very gracious and now unforgettable. Blessings to you and your family. ✋🏼❤️
? so you fought against the allies?
The cost...is outrageous salary and bonuses paid to management of a company that has gone bankrupt twice in as many decades while their stock goes up and dividends paid out while not doing their basic duties of maintaining the infrastructure
That is part of the problem... The other part is it is the most regulated utility in the nation. CA has largely taken over the utility via the regulations.
@@Ironrodpower Both are right but I point at the Corporate side. They all know the business they're in and if they want the money and glory should have gone elsewhere. Otherwise, "you're" employed in the utility industry, deal with it.
Just what stock report (s) are you using Gordy ?..PG&E stock has lost about sixty dollars in the last two years....
What has their stock done since last bankruptcy? Trend it and dividend payouts etc.
@@gordybishop2375 it has not done well at all.
Hope your health is going well and you’re back in the air. Bless your family. Happy Holidays.
Easy health tip learned from this video, how to induce instant vomiting.
Just say "Governor Newsome" out loud.
Governor Nelson; It’s all good. “I’ll have PG&E run by my appointed cronies’’... Eye roll
Or take it over completely.
I originally posted this on Patreon for this video:
This is exactly because of reporting like this is why I became a pateron supporting Juan Browne's Blancolirio Channel. I first started watching Blancolirio because of a reference from another UA-cam Channel, Mentour Pilot, on the 737 MAX Mcas system. Yet I have enjoyed the in depth reporting on other subjects that Juan has done on the California Wildfires and the Oroville Dam. Juan keep up the excellent work and I will keep supporting you here on Patreon.
Uh-oh! More truth and logic. UA-cam apparently (obviously) doesn’t like that!
I love visiting California, but I'm sure as hell glad I don't live there.
I wish I could say that.
Juan, Your in depth coverage is refreshing. I am a retired EE and my customers included dozens of Electric Utilities, small and large, Public and Private. The functioning capability of these utilities was all over the map.
In general utilities that operated generation were stronger. Utilities that had their own internal training programs were stronger, utilites where the field people and engineers sat in the same room were stronger.
Utilities still tend to resist small scale green generation on their systems. This has to change.
UTC,s are a significant problem. They usually do not include practical, hands on people hence maintenance is not a word in their vocabulary. The simply do not understand it. The Utility itself contributes to this ignoring maintenance problem by not pushing on the UTC enough. It is also a American culture problen (The 10 year car!) If I can help you in any way let me know. Most of my work was in the NW but I did some work in Alaska, Ovverseas and on the Dalles Oregon to Selmar 500 KV tie line Parker Holden
Thanks Parker!
Mr. Holden, I would like to ask a question. When talking about 3 phase power whether 50 or 60 Hertz(cps), do the engineers divide the 3 phases so each is 1/3 or do you consider each phase to be the same Hertz(cps)? In watching some channels out of Europe about electrified railway lines, they list the power as say 15 Kv at 16 2/3 Hertz. The 16 2/3 is 50 divided by 3. I understood that Hertz is the same on any one of the phases as it is on the whole but each phase is 120 degrees from the next phase so the average or mean power is higher than single phase. These are all sine waves. I am just curious. May be it is just a difference in nomenclature.
Climet changg is a money GRAB
I can give you just one example of "small scale" green generation cost to PG&E's system. Their Pit hydro round mountain sub station used 13,000 pound reactors to regulate (burn off) excess power before the " green " wind turbines were built atop the Mountain, in order to burn off the fluctuating unreliable inflow of power they spent Millions ? installing 40,000 pound reactors plus associated equipment . Butt I'm sure as an EE you have seen this many times...
@@silasmarner7586 To convert the cps you need to use motor/generator pairs or on smaller scale solid state phase converters. In Chicago the transit authority needed 30 cps for their equipment and as the older generators wore out they were replaced with large 60 hz synchronous motors (62,500 hp) driving 30 hz generators. Since synchronous motors aren't self starting, there was a 1500 hp motor to spin them up to speed. 16 2/3 cps is usually used for transit equipment also, because for some things (like speed controls) it behaves much like DC.
And yes, all 3 phases are 120 degrees out.
Increasing percentages of renewable generation is not necessarily orthogonal to a healthy grid. Here in Texas where my fixed rate for power is $0.10/kWh, the % of renewables is greater than 20% and growing fast. Nuclear is 10%. Because transmission is in a separate regulatory category from generation, an independent body manages the grid which is apparently in pretty good shape mechanically. Not sharing this to brag on Texas, we have plenty of problems, but to say that CA’s power problems are not unsolvable and that the solution doesn’t have to sacrifice growth in renewables for maintenance of the transmission facilities.
If I'm remembering right Texas has some special circumstances making that possible. You have an independent grid, you're not hooked up to neighboring states so there's no interstate politics to fuck with things. You invested in a modern transmission network that crosses the whole state, this allows wind power from one side of the state to reach the other side which is better suited for solar and vice versa. So the whole grid is able to be balanced across the state, which makes dealing with the unpredictable peaks and valleys from renewables a lot easier. Overall the grid is just in better shape and better managed, also helps Texas has taken a market approach to renewables allowing customers to choose where they buy their power specifically so the utility is meeting real demand (and being compensated for it) rather than investing in renewables because of political pressure. God bless Texas!
@@MrMattumbo Texas is not the only area that has a stable grid. Infact most of the western US ( not CA) is doing well, could it be better sure but overall in good shape according to my lineman buddy. He mostly does emergency response so he is all over.
Nice job! Thank you for the update. Be well. 👍🏻👍🏻✌🏻
Gavin Newsom is definately wanting to get his cronies in there
In Victoria (Australia), we can choose our electricity retailer. This doesn't give us lower rates than Juan is paying. I pay a daily service-to-property charge of $1.089 and a usage charge of between 21.21 and 22.98 c/kWh depending on time of day.
That's socialism for you.
@@WinSomeLoseNone0 In fact, the set up is similar to what PG&E operates under. The retailers and transmission companies are privately owned but they are heavily regulated by federal, state and local agencies.
Thanks Juan for the great reporting. The time you take to research the facts really help us understand what is going on. I wish you the best of luck.
Thanks Mr. Browne.👍
Just signed up to be a Patreon supporter. Think I did it right. Could only pledge the minimum monthly amount as I am retired. Keep up the good work. Hope you get healthy again real soon and back into the air.
WOW that's high! We're paying just under .14 cents per kWh here in MA this winter. The price always fluctuates with the seasons. It's usually cheaper in the summer. We have no gas - electric range, and electric dryer, and a 12K BTU window A/C. Oil heats our hot water in summer, coal in winter - all run on electric. Our bill is about $150 now, and in summer it's about $220. Drafty, small but old house - built in the late 1800's.
Thanks for the info, Juan!
Hi Juan, I so appreciate your candid, informative and factual reporting. The thought of California running the utility is mind-blowing. Thanks for your excellent coverage. - Dean from Minnesota
Thank you for giving us an honest report of what is going on Juan. This type of reporting is a thing of the past in our so called news media. Merry Christmas and the happiest New Year to you and all!
On top of important news - as usual. Thank you.
Have you seen how much pge bonused it's top 5 execs over the 2 or 3 years? Particularly in the area of safety compliance?
No, how much did they bonus them, and on what basis was it paid?
@@xxwookey 17 million from 2012 to 2017 for meeting maintainence and safty standards among other reasons.
There is nothing in the state of California that Gavin Newsom can't destroy and given enough time he will.
Newsom needs to be recalled, just as Gray Davis was!
What he attempted to do sounds like abuse of power going by what the judge ruled
Why would we do that? So that we could get another Republican to put us in debt and spend the rainy day fund again? When Brown took over from Schwarzenegger, California was facing a $27B deficit. This year we have a $21.5B surplus. In the 1980s, Deukmejian refunded the rainy day fund he inherited back to taxpayers in a one-time payout. And then at the end of his term, his partymate Pete Wilson had nothing to buffer against the recession, delaying California's exit while the rest of the country was recovering.
I was told by a friend who used to live along the Gulf coast that power lines there were put in large conduits. Something like a pipeline. This was done to prevent hurricane damage. The power company resisted this and predicted all kinds of catastrophes from it, but he said none of their predictions came true. The lines do not need to be buried, just protected from high winds in vulnerable areas. Also, I would think towers could be inspected close up with drones today. I know they do bridge inspections with drones.
thanks Juan.. love the outtakes too
Thanks for the hard work putting this together...listened to it all. Keep reporting the truth Juan. Nadolig Llawen!
Juan, your reports on all of these topics are so interesting and spot on. Keep up the great work! I love your style and consider you a friend, even though we have never met, and likely won't ever meet in person. So sad that it takes someone like yourself to cut through all the crap in the media and talk some sense. Keep up the great work, and thank you again for what you are doing! Best wishes to you and yours this holiday season!
The Associated Press counted 80,000 major power outages in Venezuela's power grid so far this year. It's a government-run enterprise.
Woops, I accidentally blacked out the entire Eastern side of Lake Maracaibo when some other GE rep stuck a screwdriver in my back pocket as a joke. As I turned to see what he put in my pocket I shorted out some control wire pins behind the control panel and down the gas turbine generator went. The owner of the Hotel Mene Grande was not happy with me at all. That was a few years ago when Venezuela was a great thriving country.
Excellent job, Juan! I like how you broke that down.
Note: Some of the You Tube channels that I follow also have "sad" content. Here's what they NOW do to keep the YT Payments
coming: they put up a "For Adult Viewers Only" disclaimer at the beginning of each of their videos.
Also, they use their own music if they use music. Hope this info helps.
To see, try "Caravan Carolyn", and
"Off the Ranch".
I Googled "sad content" with reference to YT some time ago and found nothing tangible. What I did find was that you got demonetised if you were found to be using non original content i.e. content not made by the UA-camr. Reused content in YT speak. Of course that means that when you report a crash/accident/disaster etc and copy in content from outside sources you violate that rule by producing a report using someone else's content. That content is just copied in and is usually copyrighted. Because of that YT don't want to pay you if you steal someone else's content or work. I don't think that's unreasonable but also realise that you won't be able to produce much first party content. Juan did manage to film a lot of original content on the Oroville dam and I think he had permission to use official footage as part of his uploads. I don't think he was demonetised for that.
Of course, YT are happy to bombard us with non relevant and annoying ads, but if they can get away without paying anything out to channel owners they will!
Splitting the content into two channels would hopefully allow the one with family and hobbies including biking and camping to be monetised. Two channels should generate more clicks too. Worth considering I think. Many YT'ers do it, some with only marginal differences between them even though they are non controversial. e.g Some even with three covering beauty, fashion, and lifestyle. The numbers quickly add up.
Thanks Juan. Government take over of private industry. Where have we heard that before?
Love having Wall Street fat cats running our Board. Perhaps we should replace them with ex Enron employees, rather than Californians that have a vested interest in keeping rates low and keep us safe. Someone needs to explain to me how a Wall Street guy that want to maximize profits and reduce costs is going to help us in the current situation. Maybe paying 3%+ dividends to investors isn't the answer.
Maybe Hunter Biden has a plan!
"Californians that have a vested interest in keeping rates low and keep us safe."
HAHHAHAHHAHHA! You made my day buddy! Who do you think got us in this mess in the first place? Hint: It wasn't the Russians.
You were saying about your neighbour putting solar panels why don't you spread the cost between you two , battery is about $400,-500 100 amp hour lithium chloride about the same price for an inverter 2500 - 3000 Watts
I was talking to some people who had the Tesla storage batteries and were expecting to use them when the power was turned off and they were very disappointed in how long those batteries held a charge. Nowhere near as advertised.
@@fazole I don't know anything about the Tesla batteries I would have thought they should be ok rather expensive to use anywhere, where you can get 12v 100 amp hour batteries from China for about $100 each ideally running 8 but 4 should be fine 3-bedroom house in a 48 volt system
@@fazole 13.4kw. If you're running your ac, that'll only last a few hours.
Rizzo44 Rizzo hello,,during HURRICANE SANDY HERE,,MY LITTLE WEATHER STATION BROKE AFTER RECORDING 67,MPH WINDS, BUT THERE WERE NO GENERATORS TO BE HAD ANYWHERE, SO was able to but a 7.5 kw diesel genset, never used it as yet,,but it came from CHINA,,FROM AN AMERICAN CO IT IS A HIGH SPEED. ( 3600rpm) much to my surprise,that’s the same as ALL THENGENSETS YOU BUT ANYWHERE,,INCLUDING GENERAC ... MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM NJ🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Real, smart & genuine. 👍👍
Thank you for your channel and thank you for being sane. It's nice to have a coffee and watch someone who's sane. It's nice. :) :)
Hahaha, Juan. A glance at the bloopers is a nice change. However, we look up when we see a new posting from your channel. What you bring is serious business, and I'll tell you this, I had no knowledge of Newsom's letter and I'm thankful that you posted this. "Now I Know". Thank you, and shame on him. ✈
Your new catch phrase “NEWS YOU CAN USE!”
Could we get some more casino managers on the PG&E board?
I'm near the foothills NE of the Nashville TN and we are under a small power company (TRI-COUNTY Electric who gets their power from the Tennessee Valley Authority). My primary heat and air are electric, with propane (rarely used) and wood fireplace (rarely used) for heat. My monthly electric bill runs bout $200 ($140 low, $300 high) which for the last month (Nov 2019) was 10.34 cents per KWH. So you're 20-28 cents KWH is pretty high. Of course, Tennessee is pro-gun and pro-Bill of Rights, and we have NO STATE INCOME TAX. lots of wildlife, and good things. I have experienced a sudden deliberate property tax hike over the past 5 years of 54% and that will be contested in court and the voting polls... and no one is happy about that. Great explanation of the PG&E stuff Juan, Thanks. Merry Christmas to you and your family. Peace for all.
Boy, there's a thought: State of California operating an electrical grid and natural gas system! They can't even run a DMV without massive budget deficits and CalTrans can't keep up with roadways. Cal State is the LAST group that should be considered for running a power utility.
Unrelated but given the NTSB opened the public docket on flight 3591, can you do an update video? Thanks!
will do.
Another good one Brownie! Thanks for focusing on the CPUC's role in capping rates and the consequences of it's rate setting decisions. Would it be "beating a dead horse" to also point out that the CPUC, politicians and much of the public seem to believe that PGE should bear the full economic consequences of the CPUC's decisions ?
Doesn’t ab 1054 just amount to taxpayers bailing out PG&E? I am not a big Newsome fan but his letter makes some good points ( not state takeover of PG&E)
It's the wall street profetiers that got PG&E where it is today. I would say the board should be Californians. Some of them might actually know a thing or two as long as they do not have a vested interest, like owning stock in it.
I do not live in California anymore but lived in San Diego for 30 years and really wish I could afford to live there again. I love California!
Your reporting is the best, Juan.
Thank you Juan for the update.
Hello to you Juan. I am Phillip, from Australia, and watch a lot of your aviation videos, as a regular subscriber. By the way, I agree with you on your comments about UA-cam. One time it used to be good.... My comment today is NOT on U.S. politics, but directly on aviation.... I have a concern that has simply not gone away, and that is about the demise of quad jets on long-haul, trans-oceanic routes, such as SYD/AKL to SCL or EZE, and SYD to JNB, transversing far south of the Southern Ocean, and with no airports to land in the event of a serious emergency. Qantas is soon to change from 747's to 787 to service the sectors, and LATAM is already using 787's. My concern is that revised ETOPS regulations is far too optimistic for twin engines on such routes. 11 hours or more is the non stop distance (in time) these aircraft fly, and there are no available airports to land in the event of something happening... for example, between AKL and SCL. With an engine out or other technical event, can you imagine flying on a 787 in a distressed state for 5 or 6 hours...?? Where at least with a quad, (747), you have much more redundancy if one engine is no longer able to be used.... as you still have 3 engines.... I would be very interested to hear your professional opinion about my concern, and if you consider the current ETOPS regulations are adequate or over optimistic.
In NE Minnesota on the local coop power we pay similar rates, and we don't even have forest fires.
Thanks. Merry Christmas you-all ! ! !
I love your intro/outro/theme music. When it’s not in a video I miss it
It reminds me of the interval signals from short wave stations I listened to as a kid.
Say NO to Gavin Newsom 🙅♂️
PG&E must fix their issues to the people...
How'd I miss this? Thanks Juan
Actually, public utilities are a Good Thing. There were many especially in Canada, but many, if not most, were sold off after Neoliberalism took hold in the 1990's. They were formed around the 1930's and 1940's when private utilities went bankrupt and sometimes had incompatible systems (e.g. in Ontario, Canada, the AC frequency was 25 Hz). The IMF/World Bank forced utilities (electricity, water etc.) in many countries to be privatised, but now these are being re-nationalised in lots of places. This idea should not be dismissed just because it is "socialist". Quite frankly, compensation for fire damage will have to be paid from somewhere, since bankruptcy won't produce any money (liquidate PGE?). That "somewhere" invariably means electricity rates. There's no free lunch here.
Would you trust your utility to the same government that has turned California into the country's largest homeless encampment?
California's politicians are divided between those who are corrupt, those who are incompetent, and those who ideological lunatics.
Excellent reporting!! Where’s Godzilla
I can't afford that by now. But it's great to know how private electricity companies steal our money. Great update! Thanks Juan.
It's really great to hear a Californian who has a level head and has his $h!t together! We were starting to lose faith here in AZ, nothing coming out of SoCal makes any sense and its spilling over into Phoenix... Not Good! Time for you gents to take your state back! Good luck and best wishes!
Hi Juan. So intetesting to follow this to its conclusion. If only those in power would learn and spend a drop rather than pay out huge amounts. Australia is in dire fire straits due to similar ignorance.
Refreshing.. Thank you
Now where does your electric company get the money to repair and update your electric grid?
It's always amazing to note "rate increases" that exceed 1.5% to 2.0% per rate hike. Why? The COLA figures are always the base factor to any viable price increase in our economy. We see rates from utilities, fuel, groceries, core supplies now and then that find there way to 20% or more per increase. What folks should be asking is, just how does a company running itself fairly for decades suddenly justify price increases of that magnitude? What were they doing since the last rate increase to notice a large gap between operation costs and gross revenue? No one in private business can justify 20% from one year to another if they plan to remain in business. We're all doomed if PG&E becomes a State owned utility. Why? As it is now, all utilities are monopolies and they are all protected by the State and Federal Government, something unlawful (remember the AT&T breakup). Granted there cannot be 3 or more power companies to choose service from however, with the State grid CALISO, power distribution companies cannot compete. CALISO runs the entire states power delivery. The public are not being represented by CPUC who are in fact, golfing weekly with our power producers and distributors. It's obvious when the regulations get more demanding, rates are capped and then maintenance is ignored as are the responsibilities of the PUC. Electricity is a huge money maker for California and it shouldn't be, they really have no investment in it and CALISO is totally unnecessary since they control all of the rates and power.
Wow! We are only at 13.8 cents/kw/hr here in KS.
Yeah, let the California state government take over the utility. THAT will solve the problem......
@@MorseB Right, kinda like government run schools. From pewresearch.org: "The most recent PISA results, from 2015, placed the U.S. an unimpressive 38th out of 71 countries in math and 24th in science. Among the 35 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which sponsors the PISA initiative, the U.S. ranked 30th in math and 19th in science." After all, no profit motive - so why try harder....
As always awesome Juan, and by the way, a great looking hat sir. In the trucking industry, this is known as a Cluster FUXX. Political corruption continues in America today. Also, who is this man known as D. Trump? Strange happenings. Possibly my most wasted vote?
Juan, you are doing a great job. Slow down and have some your sponsors chocolate. I will bet you will have fewer takes. All the best to you and the family, for the holidays.
Here in central Texas I pay 11 cents per kilowatt-hour. I have AC and have $500 a month bills in the summer.
Thank you Jaun. This was most helpful.
Your Kwh. rate is better than ours here in the UK. We don't have wildfires and our grid is much smaller. I'd be interested to know what our European neighbours pay.
Thanks Juan.
Yesterday watched Jack Rickard's UA-cam channel, he embedded your entire PG&E video. So I watched it twice! It's crazy, I live in the UK!! News must be really bad here too. You'll have to kill me before I watch the BBC (Bad/Biased Broadcasting Corporation). Come from South Africa, you should see what socialism has done to ESCOM (like PG&E), see Jack's insightful comments on utilities and socialism. Thanks Juan : )
Good looking out Brother Juan 🔴🇺🇸🔧👍
i pay 8.8 cents/kw/hr in Houston and my wife says we pay too much compared to neighbors.
Great video again, thanks. It’s amazing how the government (state, federal or local) thinks they can take over a corporation and do a better job. The government (any) couldn’t manage a bake sale. Love the out takes too!
THE GODS BLESS YOU FOR ALL YOU DO BLANCO !!! Your Truth and Facts !!! The Haters are coming out more and more. That means your truthful videos are winning over their lies and deciept my friend. KEEP UP YOUR AWESOME CHANNEL !!!!
As a citizen of the UK, where we seem to follow the trends of the US somewhat slavishly it is interesting to see the rather schizophrenic approach of US citizens to their government structures and businesses. Particularly the idea that state ownership of infrastructure is inherently bad and doomed to failure. To be clear, I'm not saying it is inherently good either but the idea that corporations are somehow more efficient in all cases is demonstrably untrue.
It would appear that PG&E have pretty consistently failed in their duty of care towards the people of California and it is the taxpayers (who are also the customers of the company of course) who end up subsidising the negligence of the business. To all intents and purposes this is already a business which is owned by the state but with the real downside that the state, i.e. the taxpayers, only get the liabilities associated with ownership but none of the benefits. The benefits flow out to the shareholders of PG&E. The problem with infrastructure, be it energy, transport, education or health is that it isn't really possible to make a profit without cutting corners because the investment costs are so high. In order to see a return - as businesses are required to do- the beancounters end up neglecting maintenance, training and ongoing system improvements. We then see the inevitable failure of the infrastructure at some point and, because it is vital, the state has to step in to prevent absolute economic collapse or social unrest. Everyone in the developed world benefits from cheap-at-the-point-of purchase energy and transport but the actual economic cost is not understood by citizens or even by many politicians. As an example we don't factor in, as a proper economic analysis ought, the monetary value of environmental degradation, not least because it would be a very complicated (and expensive) exercise in its own right. Consequently when reality bites and the infrastructure fails, we end up paying these unquantified costs one way or the other and very often they are higher due to the urgency of fixing the problem. Politicians don't want to tell us the truth about how much running our countries actually costs because then they would have to admit that taxation is too low/spending too high and nobody would vote for them. Businesses don't wan't to hike prices because then we put pressure on them via politicians to cap the bills. All of us need to grow up a bit as responsible citizens and accept that we get what we pay for and we get the politicians we deserve. These problems are solvable but we need to acknowledge that either we pay higher bills or higher taxes or live with elevated risk of infrastructure failure.
Let's not forget that the $13.5B settlement was to be half in shares of the new PG&E coming out of bankruptcy...let's see how well that works. As long a you're sure PG&E can run their system in the future better than DWR runs theirs, good luck to you.
Thank you for your service. I hope you'll soon be running for governor.
So, are you saying we are paying to bail out another private enterprise?
Public utilities are a poor example of a private enterprise.
So, are you saying that although a State agency sets the rates and effectively controls the amount of money available for maintenance work, that the State should not be expected to take any responsibility for the consequences?
(My preference would be to see municipal utilities districts to replace private utility companies.)
Newsome is a piece of work! lol Looking forward to hear your thoughts on the 737 Max news.
Kevin from Ireland ,250 dollars a month for gas and electricity is very cheap, thanks
I live in TVA area in Huntsville, Alabama. Our rates are about 9.5 cents/kwh. You are going to see it go way up when they close Diablo Canyon about 2022 and the big Natural Gas plant they are closing about 2025.
Dang, I'm in TVA area too. East Tennessee. Our rate is $0.067 per kwh. But we have an access charge of $20 per month.
Great report
Lucky you on your electric rate. Last monthly bill was $330 and no electric heat, 2000 square foot house. Welcome to Oregon. By the way, what happens to all the heat from those solar panels??
Our's was $500 and our rent is 4500, the house next door just rented for $6000 mo. They are fleecing us fire-victims.
Thank you again for a great report, Juan.
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Juan, your electric rate isn't that much higher than in Minnesota where I just looked at my current bill and the basic rate (before taxes) is .08803 cents per KWH. This past month I used 962 KWH's. Our Minnesota governor seems like he wants to follow California's model of green energy. I hope he doesn't get his way. Thanks so much for these updates to your beautiful state. I was stationed at Castle AFB 93 bomb wing long time ago.
We are the Government, and we are here to help you.
Help!! RUN!!!
HELP!! RUN!!
the 11 scariest words
@@1dotele Recently, they have added, "We are the Government, and we are here to take away all your Rights." They aren't even being surreptitious about it any more.
@@avlisk I know that's why I moved out of Cali after 56 years born and raised there it was the best now the worst
Thank you for your terrific posts. Too bad someone can't hack the media. Only kidding of course1 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family Juan!!
Thank you for the report . I am praying for your health and may GOD bless you and your family.
This was more about Newsom sticking his nose where it doesn't belong "report"! Thank you Juan...
We should be glad bankruptcy is a Federal function and not a CA political function.
Any comment on the latest 737 news....? Or, considered too "sad" by UA-cam? DJ's Aviation & Mentor Pilot have done videos on the subject.
Thanks for the report. I'm definitely looking forward to the 737 Max update and I'm REALLY looking forward to any info on the Atlas Air 767 crash. Very sad. =PC=
Great video! Great stuff! Thanks you!
Juan, in case you haven't figured this out yet, Utilities are designed to generate profits for their bond holders, that's money which is tacked onto operations costs, so what part of that seems fair to you, especially when everyone is already complaining about how high their bills are? Second, people back on Wall Street are NOT interested in providing you and the rest of the state with clean energy, they're ONLY interested in generating PROFITS. PROFITS come from raising your electric rates, not from improving the system and as long as the state keeps bailing them out after every disaster why should they care about modernization?
How much maintenance could be paid for by the budget for PG&E's CYA ads suggesting what we need to have on hand if their failures result in the need for evacuations, etc.?
How is it we could recall newly re-elected Governor Davis, but no one is calling for Newsom’s recall? I am all for taking over the utility. But if the State takes it over there needs to be new regulation and strong oversight.
Great job Juan...I don't care how long it takes for your reporting...I trust your reporting more than the circus reporting from National news. Question though, "Is there an impartial party to the reorganization of PGE?"
Hi Juan, would you like to comment on whether you think some kind of 737 Max public relations campaign will be evident before the plane flies again? Or will Boeing and the Airlines attempt a stealthy re-introduction?
Another great report, Juan! Many thanks!!