PG&E Bankruptcy: How We Got HerePG&E Bankruptcy: How We Got Here
KQED has been providing comprehensive coverage of the massive utility’s ongoing woes, from fallout after the fatal San Bruno gas pipeline explosion of 2010 to the Camp Fire, the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in modern California history.
Pacific Gas and Electric filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2019, the company’s second bankruptcy.
LA Fire Survivors Say Newsom Is Trying to Help Utilities Reduce Their Wildfire Costs, Again
Could Smart Homes Make Electrification More Affordable for Californians?
Feds Investigate Whether PG&E Contract Work Sparked Twain Fire in Plumas County
PG&E Shutoffs Planned This Week for Thousands in Northern California Due to Fire Risk
San Francisco Inches Closer to PG&E Acquisition
San Francisco Weighs PG&E Takeover Amid Soaring Utility Costs
Northern California Warms Up This Week, With Heat Advisory and Red Flag Warnings
Deadly Shooting at Islamic Center of San Diego Investigated as Hate Crime
PG&E Spends Millions Against Tom Steyer. What’s Behind the Clash?
More Than 30,000 in Northern California Without Power Amid Winds and Wildfire Risk
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"slug": "la-fire-survivors-say-newsom-is-trying-to-help-utilities-reduce-their-wildfire-costs-again",
"title": "LA Fire Survivors Say Newsom Is Trying to Help Utilities Reduce Their Wildfire Costs, Again",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003c!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ -->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you live in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a>, chances are you’ve seen the ads that say “Home insurance rates skyrocket” and “The FAIR Plan is broken.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They urge you to contact your state representative to ask them to “fix our wildfire problem to make California more affordable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those ads are connected to what Los Angeles fire survivors, consumer advocacy groups and the insurance industry say is a secretive, last-minute attempt by Gov. Gavin Newsom to help utilities reduce how much they pay for wildfires they cause.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the legislative session set to resume next week and run through the end of the month, the governor’s staff has been talking with state lawmakers about addressing challenges around wildfire recovery and rising catastrophic risk in California, a spokesperson for his office confirmed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers have not released the text of the proposals. Newsom spokesperson Anthony Martinez would not say whether the legislation will do the following, as alleged by fire survivors and a consumer advocacy group:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Limit compensation for fire victims’ pain and suffering.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Eliminate insurance companies’ right to recover wildfire costs from utilities or other corporations.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Cap attorneys’ fees, making it harder for fire survivors to get representation.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Every Fire Survivor’s Network, a group started by survivors of last year’s Eaton Fire, and Consumer Watchdog, a consumer advocacy group that focuses on insurance and other issues, say the bills would shift recovery costs from utility companies to insurance policyholders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12076327\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12076327\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/blackhomesmatter_-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/blackhomesmatter_-1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/blackhomesmatter_-1-2000x1500.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/blackhomesmatter_-1-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/blackhomesmatter_-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/blackhomesmatter_-1-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Eaton Fire disproportionately ravaged Altadena’s historic Black neighborhoods, including the home that once stood on this lot at the corner of Glenrose Avenue and West Terrace Street. \u003ccite>(Photo Courtesy:William Jenkins/AfroLA)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Insurance industry representatives agree. The strange bedfellows are calling out the late political maneuvering known as “gut-and-amend,” which lawmakers use to create bills by gutting other pending bills and replacing their language for a different purpose and are meant to be fast-tracked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The groups are speaking out against the purported bill package, which appears to align with the goals of Wildfire Victims First, a campaign funded by utilities that, despite its name, has no wildfire survivors groups among its supporters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Californians deserve a government that works in the open, not behind closed doors,” said Joy Chen, leader of the Every Fire Survivor’s Network, in a press conference last week. She urged the governor to “choose democracy over corporate special interests.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an open \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KPrBXx7Rh6rX_I8fmuJE_FZipdKQGp0ARkYyapDFP4E/edit?tab=t.cpm7mapxvld9#heading=h.btckwp8x4d9d\">letter\u003c/a> to the governor, Chen laid out how she said Newsom has, over the years, already helped utilities shift responsibility for wildfires they cause.[aside postID=news_12093383 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260731-WOODSIDE-FIRE-01-KQED.jpg']The state’s three major utilities, San Diego Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric, have tremendous influence in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They have what seems to be an unlimited number of names, entities and affiliates; donate to campaigns by Democrats and Republicans; and together employ hundreds of lobbyists who advocate for hundreds of bills every session. In the 2025-26 session, their donations to sitting legislators totaled more than $1.2 million, according to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/financials#giver%5B%5D=oid--10505&giver%5B%5D=oid--8938&giver%5B%5D=oid--4887&transaction_type%5B%5D=Candidate+Donations&transaction_type%5B%5D=Gift&transaction_type%5B%5D=Independent+Expenditures&transaction_type%5B%5D=Party+Committees&transaction_type%5B%5D=Sponsored+Travel&year%5B%5D=2025&year%5B%5D=2026&page=31\">CalMatters’ Digital Democracy Database\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Martinez said the discussions between the governor’s office and California lawmakers are informed by a \u003ca href=\"https://www.cawildfirefund.com/sb-254-natural-catastrophe-resilience-study\">report\u003c/a> released in April by the California Earthquake Authority, which under \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb254\">Senate Bill 254\u003c/a> was tasked with studying how the state should “responsibly and equitably allocate the burdens from natural catastrophes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That bill — rewritten so late last year that it required the Legislature \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/09/california-cap-and-trade-extension/\">to extend its session\u003c/a> — also allows utilities to shift additional wildfire costs to consumers if their costs exceed a wildfire fund created in 2019 through legislation also backed by the governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The three major utilities paid half of the $21 billion fund. Californians paid the other half through monthly surcharges on their electric bills. Eaton Fire survivors have \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-08-01/this-fire-could-have-been-prevented-how-utilities-fought-removal-of-old-powerlines\">sued\u003c/a> Edison over what they say is negligence that led to the fire; the cost of claims from the fire are expected to \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-07-23/eaton-fire-could-wipe-out-21-billion-state-wildfire-fund-new-documents-say\">exceed what’s in the fund\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082708\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082708\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2172244931.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1367\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2172244931.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2172244931-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2172244931-1536x1060.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Governor Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference of housing & homelessness with new legislation and funding and bills signing, along with other local, state and federal leaders are gathered in San Francisco, California, United States on Sept. 19, 2024. \u003ccite>(Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Among the April report’s many recommendations is to put more money in the wildfire fund by increasing the surcharge on utility customers by $8.50 a month, bringing the total to $11 a month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nathan Click, a spokesperson for Wildfire Victims First, said the campaign is calling on lawmakers to “urgently implement” many of the conclusions in the SB 254 report, which he said “highlighted how payouts to financial middlemen — like trial attorneys, hedge funds and insurance companies — are often paid out before wildfire victims receive a single dollar for rebuilding.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Click did not answer CalMatters’ question about why there are no fire survivors groups on the list of more than 200 organizations that support the effort. Most are local chambers of commerce or business groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CalMatters contacted nearly a dozen of the organizations. Ten did not respond or would not make their executives available for an interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the chief executive of one of them, Jennifer Gray Thompson, said she changed her mind about participating once she realized the coalition did not include fire victims groups. Her organization, After the Fire, which helps support leaders in communities around the country that have experienced mega fires, was briefly on the list but was removed promptly at her request, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m from Sonoma,” Thompson told CalMatters. “I’m a national advocate for fire victims. I’m definitely not on their side,” she added. Former state Sen. Bill Dodd, a Democrat whom she said did a lot of good for fire survivors when he was in office, was among those who contacted her to solicit her group’s support for the effort, according to emails she shared with CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12087362\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12087362\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260611-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-04-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260611-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-04-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260611-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-04-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260611-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-04-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A PG&E substation on Mission and 8th Streets in San Francisco on June 11, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Dodd did not return a phone call and text message from CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area Council, another supporter, counts PG&E among its member businesses. Spokesperson Rufus Jeffris said the council “generally supports sensible policies and investments that reduce wildfire risk and increase community wildfire resilience and balance the diverse needs of business, consumers and residents.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Consumer Watchdog analysis of utilities’ required financial disclosures shows that 66% of the non-governmental organizations on the list have received utility-industry contributions, grants, sponsorships and more worth about $7.3 million from 2023 to 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Click called Consumer Watchdog a “shadow lobby firm for trial attorneys” and said “it should come as no surprise that they are trying to protect a system that prioritizes trial attorneys over wildfire victims.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spokespeople for PG&E, Edison and SDG&E referred CalMatters to the Wildfire Victims First campaign regarding the campaign and the legislative proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What state lawmakers are saying or not saying\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/benjamin-allen-70\">Ben Allen\u003c/a>, a Democrat from the Los Angeles area whose constituents include survivors of the Palisades Fire, attended the Friday press conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>Any solutions that we have have to (hold) the responsible parties accountable,\u003cstrong>”\u003c/strong> Allen said in a room full of fire survivors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Who’s responsible for the costs of wildfire recovery is important to both Allen’s current job and possibly his future one: He is chair of the Senate energy and utilities committee, and is \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2026/06/california-insurance-commissioner-top-two/\">running for\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-voter-guide-2026/insurance-commissioner/\">insurance commissioner\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079349\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079349\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-12-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-12-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-12-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-12-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ben Allen, a California state senator, speaks during a forum for candidates for California insurance commissioner at the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) in San Francisco on April 9, 2026. The event brought together candidates to discuss the state’s insurance market, including affordability and coverage challenges facing homeowners. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Allen’s spokesperson, Ben Cheever, said the senator was not available for an interview about the specifics of the legislative package.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he sent the following statement from Allen: “I will carefully review any proposal put forth to ensure we hold responsible parties accountable while meaningfully reducing risk to improve affordability. We should not simply shift around the costs consumers pay without addressing this more holistically.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fellow Democrat Sen. Sasha Renee Perez, who represents Eaton Fire survivors, said in an interview with CalMatters that if a legislative package contains the proposals fire survivors suspect they do, she would have a “tremendous issue” with them being presented at the last minute. She also said she has talked with other members of the Legislature who “are very upset with what’s taking place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perez said she would oppose any proposal that limits non-economic damages for fire survivors: “I represent Altadena. I have a friend who lost his sister in the fire. How do you put a price tag on losing your sibling?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The senator also said she was “so frustrated and shocked” that SB 254, which started off as a bill intended to reduce profits for investor-owned utilities, ended up helping utilities instead during the last three days of last year’s session.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12093339\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12093339\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-06-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-06-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-06-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-06-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A wall of demonstration EV Chargers and smart electrical panels made by Tesla, GM and Span are on display at PG&E’s PowerHouse in San Ramon on July 30, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“That’s not the way government should work,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CalMatters also contacted several other lawmakers or their offices, especially ones who lead related committees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The following Democratic lawmakers’ offices did not respond: Assembly Speaker \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/robert-rivas-165041\">Robert Rivas\u003c/a>; Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/lisa-calderon-165426\">Lisa Calderon\u003c/a>, who leads the insurance committee; and Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/cottie-petrie-norris-165040\">Cottie Petrie-Norris\u003c/a>, who leads the utilities and energy committee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spokespeople for Senate President Pro Tem \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/monique-limon-13069\">Monique Limon\u003c/a> and Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/josh-becker-165449\">Josh Becker\u003c/a> responded with emailed statements similar to that sent by Newsom spokesperson Martinez: “The current system is unsustainable and not working for fire survivors, utility customers, or insurance policyholders.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The insurance industry’s concerns\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Insurance industry representatives say if insurance companies can’t recover wildfire costs from utilities, also known as subrogation, they will inevitably raise premiums.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t think it’s fair to make insurance policyholders pay more to bail out utility shareholders,\u003cstrong>”\u003c/strong> said Denni Ritter, a vice president at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ritter also pushed back against the assertion by the utilities’ campaign that insurance companies usually recover their costs from utilities before paying out claims to their policyholders: “It’s not like AAA goes, ‘OK, we’ll pay you once we’ve recovered from the utilities’.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12068294\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12068294\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251222-PGEUpdates-18-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251222-PGEUpdates-18-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251222-PGEUpdates-18-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251222-PGEUpdates-18-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">PG&E employees work to repair a substation on Mission and 8th Streets in San Francisco on Dec. 22, 2025, after a fire at the site over the weekend contributed to a major citywide power outage. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rex Frazier is president of the Personal Insurance Federation of California, which represents the largest insurers operating in the state. He said this campaign is the latest attempt by utilities to chip away at their industry’s possible liability for wildfires. Sometimes, the insurance industry has had conversations with utilities, he said. That’s not happening this time, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now he, like other Californians, is seeing the ads from the Wildfire Victims First campaign, whose website says it’s funded by PG&E, SDG&E and SCE shareholders and three other organizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re trying to understand why they’re talking about the insurance market,” Frazier said. “We can’t get a clear answer about what they have in mind.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Jeanne Kuang contributed reporting.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2026/07/wildfire-liability-battle/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "LA Fire Survivors Say Newsom Is Trying to Help Utilities Reduce Their Wildfire Costs, Again | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ -->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you live in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a>, chances are you’ve seen the ads that say “Home insurance rates skyrocket” and “The FAIR Plan is broken.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They urge you to contact your state representative to ask them to “fix our wildfire problem to make California more affordable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those ads are connected to what Los Angeles fire survivors, consumer advocacy groups and the insurance industry say is a secretive, last-minute attempt by Gov. Gavin Newsom to help utilities reduce how much they pay for wildfires they cause.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the legislative session set to resume next week and run through the end of the month, the governor’s staff has been talking with state lawmakers about addressing challenges around wildfire recovery and rising catastrophic risk in California, a spokesperson for his office confirmed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers have not released the text of the proposals. Newsom spokesperson Anthony Martinez would not say whether the legislation will do the following, as alleged by fire survivors and a consumer advocacy group:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Limit compensation for fire victims’ pain and suffering.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Eliminate insurance companies’ right to recover wildfire costs from utilities or other corporations.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Cap attorneys’ fees, making it harder for fire survivors to get representation.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Every Fire Survivor’s Network, a group started by survivors of last year’s Eaton Fire, and Consumer Watchdog, a consumer advocacy group that focuses on insurance and other issues, say the bills would shift recovery costs from utility companies to insurance policyholders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12076327\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12076327\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/blackhomesmatter_-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/blackhomesmatter_-1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/blackhomesmatter_-1-2000x1500.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/blackhomesmatter_-1-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/blackhomesmatter_-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/blackhomesmatter_-1-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Eaton Fire disproportionately ravaged Altadena’s historic Black neighborhoods, including the home that once stood on this lot at the corner of Glenrose Avenue and West Terrace Street. \u003ccite>(Photo Courtesy:William Jenkins/AfroLA)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Insurance industry representatives agree. The strange bedfellows are calling out the late political maneuvering known as “gut-and-amend,” which lawmakers use to create bills by gutting other pending bills and replacing their language for a different purpose and are meant to be fast-tracked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The groups are speaking out against the purported bill package, which appears to align with the goals of Wildfire Victims First, a campaign funded by utilities that, despite its name, has no wildfire survivors groups among its supporters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Californians deserve a government that works in the open, not behind closed doors,” said Joy Chen, leader of the Every Fire Survivor’s Network, in a press conference last week. She urged the governor to “choose democracy over corporate special interests.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an open \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KPrBXx7Rh6rX_I8fmuJE_FZipdKQGp0ARkYyapDFP4E/edit?tab=t.cpm7mapxvld9#heading=h.btckwp8x4d9d\">letter\u003c/a> to the governor, Chen laid out how she said Newsom has, over the years, already helped utilities shift responsibility for wildfires they cause.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The state’s three major utilities, San Diego Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric, have tremendous influence in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They have what seems to be an unlimited number of names, entities and affiliates; donate to campaigns by Democrats and Republicans; and together employ hundreds of lobbyists who advocate for hundreds of bills every session. In the 2025-26 session, their donations to sitting legislators totaled more than $1.2 million, according to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/financials#giver%5B%5D=oid--10505&giver%5B%5D=oid--8938&giver%5B%5D=oid--4887&transaction_type%5B%5D=Candidate+Donations&transaction_type%5B%5D=Gift&transaction_type%5B%5D=Independent+Expenditures&transaction_type%5B%5D=Party+Committees&transaction_type%5B%5D=Sponsored+Travel&year%5B%5D=2025&year%5B%5D=2026&page=31\">CalMatters’ Digital Democracy Database\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Martinez said the discussions between the governor’s office and California lawmakers are informed by a \u003ca href=\"https://www.cawildfirefund.com/sb-254-natural-catastrophe-resilience-study\">report\u003c/a> released in April by the California Earthquake Authority, which under \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb254\">Senate Bill 254\u003c/a> was tasked with studying how the state should “responsibly and equitably allocate the burdens from natural catastrophes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That bill — rewritten so late last year that it required the Legislature \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/09/california-cap-and-trade-extension/\">to extend its session\u003c/a> — also allows utilities to shift additional wildfire costs to consumers if their costs exceed a wildfire fund created in 2019 through legislation also backed by the governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The three major utilities paid half of the $21 billion fund. Californians paid the other half through monthly surcharges on their electric bills. Eaton Fire survivors have \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-08-01/this-fire-could-have-been-prevented-how-utilities-fought-removal-of-old-powerlines\">sued\u003c/a> Edison over what they say is negligence that led to the fire; the cost of claims from the fire are expected to \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-07-23/eaton-fire-could-wipe-out-21-billion-state-wildfire-fund-new-documents-say\">exceed what’s in the fund\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082708\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082708\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2172244931.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1367\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2172244931.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2172244931-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2172244931-1536x1060.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Governor Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference of housing & homelessness with new legislation and funding and bills signing, along with other local, state and federal leaders are gathered in San Francisco, California, United States on Sept. 19, 2024. \u003ccite>(Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Among the April report’s many recommendations is to put more money in the wildfire fund by increasing the surcharge on utility customers by $8.50 a month, bringing the total to $11 a month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nathan Click, a spokesperson for Wildfire Victims First, said the campaign is calling on lawmakers to “urgently implement” many of the conclusions in the SB 254 report, which he said “highlighted how payouts to financial middlemen — like trial attorneys, hedge funds and insurance companies — are often paid out before wildfire victims receive a single dollar for rebuilding.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Click did not answer CalMatters’ question about why there are no fire survivors groups on the list of more than 200 organizations that support the effort. Most are local chambers of commerce or business groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CalMatters contacted nearly a dozen of the organizations. Ten did not respond or would not make their executives available for an interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the chief executive of one of them, Jennifer Gray Thompson, said she changed her mind about participating once she realized the coalition did not include fire victims groups. Her organization, After the Fire, which helps support leaders in communities around the country that have experienced mega fires, was briefly on the list but was removed promptly at her request, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m from Sonoma,” Thompson told CalMatters. “I’m a national advocate for fire victims. I’m definitely not on their side,” she added. Former state Sen. Bill Dodd, a Democrat whom she said did a lot of good for fire survivors when he was in office, was among those who contacted her to solicit her group’s support for the effort, according to emails she shared with CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12087362\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12087362\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260611-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-04-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260611-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-04-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260611-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-04-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260611-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-04-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A PG&E substation on Mission and 8th Streets in San Francisco on June 11, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Dodd did not return a phone call and text message from CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area Council, another supporter, counts PG&E among its member businesses. Spokesperson Rufus Jeffris said the council “generally supports sensible policies and investments that reduce wildfire risk and increase community wildfire resilience and balance the diverse needs of business, consumers and residents.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Consumer Watchdog analysis of utilities’ required financial disclosures shows that 66% of the non-governmental organizations on the list have received utility-industry contributions, grants, sponsorships and more worth about $7.3 million from 2023 to 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Click called Consumer Watchdog a “shadow lobby firm for trial attorneys” and said “it should come as no surprise that they are trying to protect a system that prioritizes trial attorneys over wildfire victims.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spokespeople for PG&E, Edison and SDG&E referred CalMatters to the Wildfire Victims First campaign regarding the campaign and the legislative proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What state lawmakers are saying or not saying\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/benjamin-allen-70\">Ben Allen\u003c/a>, a Democrat from the Los Angeles area whose constituents include survivors of the Palisades Fire, attended the Friday press conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>Any solutions that we have have to (hold) the responsible parties accountable,\u003cstrong>”\u003c/strong> Allen said in a room full of fire survivors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Who’s responsible for the costs of wildfire recovery is important to both Allen’s current job and possibly his future one: He is chair of the Senate energy and utilities committee, and is \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2026/06/california-insurance-commissioner-top-two/\">running for\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-voter-guide-2026/insurance-commissioner/\">insurance commissioner\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079349\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079349\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-12-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-12-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-12-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260409-InsuranceCandidateForum-12-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ben Allen, a California state senator, speaks during a forum for candidates for California insurance commissioner at the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) in San Francisco on April 9, 2026. The event brought together candidates to discuss the state’s insurance market, including affordability and coverage challenges facing homeowners. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Allen’s spokesperson, Ben Cheever, said the senator was not available for an interview about the specifics of the legislative package.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he sent the following statement from Allen: “I will carefully review any proposal put forth to ensure we hold responsible parties accountable while meaningfully reducing risk to improve affordability. We should not simply shift around the costs consumers pay without addressing this more holistically.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fellow Democrat Sen. Sasha Renee Perez, who represents Eaton Fire survivors, said in an interview with CalMatters that if a legislative package contains the proposals fire survivors suspect they do, she would have a “tremendous issue” with them being presented at the last minute. She also said she has talked with other members of the Legislature who “are very upset with what’s taking place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perez said she would oppose any proposal that limits non-economic damages for fire survivors: “I represent Altadena. I have a friend who lost his sister in the fire. How do you put a price tag on losing your sibling?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The senator also said she was “so frustrated and shocked” that SB 254, which started off as a bill intended to reduce profits for investor-owned utilities, ended up helping utilities instead during the last three days of last year’s session.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12093339\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12093339\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-06-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-06-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-06-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-06-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A wall of demonstration EV Chargers and smart electrical panels made by Tesla, GM and Span are on display at PG&E’s PowerHouse in San Ramon on July 30, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“That’s not the way government should work,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CalMatters also contacted several other lawmakers or their offices, especially ones who lead related committees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The following Democratic lawmakers’ offices did not respond: Assembly Speaker \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/robert-rivas-165041\">Robert Rivas\u003c/a>; Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/lisa-calderon-165426\">Lisa Calderon\u003c/a>, who leads the insurance committee; and Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/cottie-petrie-norris-165040\">Cottie Petrie-Norris\u003c/a>, who leads the utilities and energy committee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spokespeople for Senate President Pro Tem \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/monique-limon-13069\">Monique Limon\u003c/a> and Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/josh-becker-165449\">Josh Becker\u003c/a> responded with emailed statements similar to that sent by Newsom spokesperson Martinez: “The current system is unsustainable and not working for fire survivors, utility customers, or insurance policyholders.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The insurance industry’s concerns\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Insurance industry representatives say if insurance companies can’t recover wildfire costs from utilities, also known as subrogation, they will inevitably raise premiums.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t think it’s fair to make insurance policyholders pay more to bail out utility shareholders,\u003cstrong>”\u003c/strong> said Denni Ritter, a vice president at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ritter also pushed back against the assertion by the utilities’ campaign that insurance companies usually recover their costs from utilities before paying out claims to their policyholders: “It’s not like AAA goes, ‘OK, we’ll pay you once we’ve recovered from the utilities’.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12068294\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12068294\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251222-PGEUpdates-18-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251222-PGEUpdates-18-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251222-PGEUpdates-18-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251222-PGEUpdates-18-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">PG&E employees work to repair a substation on Mission and 8th Streets in San Francisco on Dec. 22, 2025, after a fire at the site over the weekend contributed to a major citywide power outage. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rex Frazier is president of the Personal Insurance Federation of California, which represents the largest insurers operating in the state. He said this campaign is the latest attempt by utilities to chip away at their industry’s possible liability for wildfires. Sometimes, the insurance industry has had conversations with utilities, he said. That’s not happening this time, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now he, like other Californians, is seeing the ads from the Wildfire Victims First campaign, whose website says it’s funded by PG&E, SDG&E and SCE shareholders and three other organizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re trying to understand why they’re talking about the insurance market,” Frazier said. “We can’t get a clear answer about what they have in mind.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Jeanne Kuang contributed reporting.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2026/07/wildfire-liability-battle/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Could Smart Homes Make Electrification More Affordable for Californians?",
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"headTitle": "Could Smart Homes Make Electrification More Affordable for Californians? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Tucked away in the East Bay foothills, a sleek white room houses the appliances of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2000695/california-is-transitioning-from-fossil-fuels-to-electric-power-its-going-to-get-messy\">future\u003c/a> — an induction stove, a battery-powered HVAC system, a fridge with a thin black box resting on top. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Though these devices may seem average, behind the scenes, the machines are sharing more than wires — including information about how much energy they’re using, whether or not the refrigerator door is open and increasingly, how to help balance the power grid. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Utilities and technology companies say this kind of “smart home” could make the transition to an all-electric future cheaper, more reliable and more resilient during power outages.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As part of the state’s ambitious climate agenda, California wants millions of residents to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2000695/california-is-transitioning-from-fossil-fuels-to-electric-power-its-going-to-get-messy\">electrify\u003c/a> their homes and shift away from gas-powered vehicles. But every new electric appliance increases \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/filebrowser/download/9328?fid=9328\">demand\u003c/a> on a grid already under pressure from increased use, expanding data centers and more frequent extreme weather. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" data-id=\"12093339\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-06-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12093339\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-06-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-06-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-06-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A wall of demonstration EV Chargers and smart electrical panels made by Tesla, GM and Span are on display at PG&E’s PowerHouse in San Ramon on July 30, 2026. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" data-id=\"12093337\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12093337\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-04-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The interior of the PG&E PowerHouse in San Ramon on July 30, 2026. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Building enough infrastructure to meet that demand is expensive, with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081882/san-francisco-has-been-trying-to-leave-pge-for-100-years-will-this-time-be-different\">costs often falling on consumers\u003c/a>. Instead of making costly grid upgrades, utilities are increasingly searching for ways to use the existing grid more efficiently. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the PG&E Applied Technology Services Center, an all-electric home in San Ramon, the utility works with private companies to show how advanced energy management technologies can work together to make electrification easier and more affordable. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“PG&E doesn’t make money off of energy; they make money off of stuff,” said Robert Stafford, a researcher at the World Resources Institute working on transportation electrification and grid resiliency. “Once all of those chargers and transformers and wires are out in the world, it is in everyone’s best interest to use them as efficiently as possible.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Because the grid is built to meet the highest periods of electricity demand, most of the time, we actually only use 40% or 50% of its capacity, said Paul Doherty, a PG&E spokesperson. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The utility already offers \u003ca href=\"https://www.pge.com/en/account/rate-plans/time-of-use-rate-plans.html\">“time-of-use”\u003c/a> plans to encourage customers to run appliances overnight or during off-peak hours. Smart devices would automate, or run this process quietly in the background, according to Doherty. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Rather than physically turning off lights or turning down thermostats, customers would be able to set their energy preferences and the system would take care of the rest. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If they’re running their air conditioning and their dishwasher, lights are on, TV’s on, dishwasher, the laundry is running — that EV charger may say, ‘Hey, there’s a lot going on within the home, we got to keep that down within capacity,” Doherty said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Another example: the thin black box on top of the fridge in PG&E’s smart home. The device is a Pila battery, which can power most household appliances.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Pila CEO Cole Ashman describes the tool as a way for both renters and homeowners to access “seamless” backup power during outages and to shift their power consumption to cheaper times of day. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-05-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12093338\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-05-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-05-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-05-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Paul Doherty, Manager of Clean Energy & Innovation Communications at PG&E, opens the Span smart electrical panel that operates the PowerHouse at PG&E’s Applied Technology Services Center in San Ramon on July 30, 2026. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>“All of these batteries kind of have a turbocharged brain inside of them,” Ashman said. “It’s going to work for you in the background, store energy when it’s cheap, charge up at night, and then, when power prices get expensive in the late afternoon, it seamlessly switches to start to run your refrigerator, your window AC, whatever is connected.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Some customers may be put off, however, or concerned by the potential privacy or cybersecurity risks posed by these technologies. International researchers, in collaboration with NYU, \u003ca href=\"https://engineering.nyu.edu/news/new-research-reveals-alarming-privacy-and-security-threats-smart-homes\">found\u003c/a> that potential threats include the exposure of unique device names and even household geolocation data, all of which can be harvested by external companies without user awareness. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-08-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12093341\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-08-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-08-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-08-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">PG&E’s Applied Technology Services Center in San Ramon on July 30, 2026. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>With his company’s own technology, Ashman emphasized that consumers own all their own data and that the batteries are “local first,” which means they can opt in to wifi connection or cloud data sharing. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Our phones are getting smarter, our computers are getting smarter, and the appliances in our home are also getting smarter,” Ashman said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While that might sound scary to some folks … that can be really exciting if done well,” Ashman continued. “These things are going to be able to take care of you even when the data center goes down, or Google goes down or the power goes out.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At the PG&E Applied Technology Services Center, an all-electric home in San Ramon, the utility works with private companies to show how advanced energy management technologies can work together to make electrification easier and more affordable. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“PG&E doesn’t make money off of energy; they make money off of stuff,” said Robert Stafford, a researcher at the World Resources Institute working on transportation electrification and grid resiliency. “Once all of those chargers and transformers and wires are out in the world, it is in everyone’s best interest to use them as efficiently as possible.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Because the grid is built to meet the highest periods of electricity demand, most of the time, we actually only use 40% or 50% of its capacity, said Paul Doherty, a PG&E spokesperson. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The utility already offers \u003ca href=\"https://www.pge.com/en/account/rate-plans/time-of-use-rate-plans.html\">“time-of-use”\u003c/a> plans to encourage customers to run appliances overnight or during off-peak hours. Smart devices would automate, or run this process quietly in the background, according to Doherty. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Rather than physically turning off lights or turning down thermostats, customers would be able to set their energy preferences and the system would take care of the rest. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“If they’re running their air conditioning and their dishwasher, lights are on, TV’s on, dishwasher, the laundry is running — that EV charger may say, ‘Hey, there’s a lot going on within the home, we got to keep that down within capacity,” Doherty said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Another example: the thin black box on top of the fridge in PG&E’s smart home. The device is a Pila battery, which can power most household appliances.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Pila CEO Cole Ashman describes the tool as a way for both renters and homeowners to access “seamless” backup power during outages and to shift their power consumption to cheaper times of day. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“All of these batteries kind of have a turbocharged brain inside of them,” Ashman said. “It’s going to work for you in the background, store energy when it’s cheap, charge up at night, and then, when power prices get expensive in the late afternoon, it seamlessly switches to start to run your refrigerator, your window AC, whatever is connected.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Some customers may be put off, however, or concerned by the potential privacy or cybersecurity risks posed by these technologies. International researchers, in collaboration with NYU, \u003ca href=\"https://engineering.nyu.edu/news/new-research-reveals-alarming-privacy-and-security-threats-smart-homes\">found\u003c/a> that potential threats include the exposure of unique device names and even household geolocation data, all of which can be harvested by external companies without user awareness. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Some customers may be put off, however, or concerned by the potential privacy or cybersecurity risks posed by these technologies. International researchers, in collaboration with NYU, \u003ca href=\"https://engineering.nyu.edu/news/new-research-reveals-alarming-privacy-and-security-threats-smart-homes\">found\u003c/a> that potential threats include the exposure of unique device names and even household geolocation data, all of which can be harvested by external companies without user awareness. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Our phones are getting smarter, our computers are getting smarter, and the appliances in our home are also getting smarter,” Ashman said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“While that might sound scary to some folks … that can be really exciting if done well,” Ashman continued. “These things are going to be able to take care of you even when the data center goes down, or Google goes down or the power goes out.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Tucked away in the East Bay foothills, a sleek white room houses the appliances of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2000695/california-is-transitioning-from-fossil-fuels-to-electric-power-its-going-to-get-messy\">future\u003c/a> — an induction stove, a battery-powered HVAC system, a fridge with a thin black box resting on top. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Though these devices may seem average, behind the scenes, the machines are sharing more than wires — including information about how much energy they’re using, whether or not the refrigerator door is open and increasingly, how to help balance the power grid. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Utilities and technology companies say this kind of “smart home” could make the transition to an all-electric future cheaper, more reliable and more resilient during power outages.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As part of the state’s ambitious climate agenda, California wants millions of residents to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2000695/california-is-transitioning-from-fossil-fuels-to-electric-power-its-going-to-get-messy\">electrify\u003c/a> their homes and shift away from gas-powered vehicles. But every new electric appliance increases \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/filebrowser/download/9328?fid=9328\">demand\u003c/a> on a grid already under pressure from increased use, expanding data centers and more frequent extreme weather. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" data-id=\"12093339\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-06-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12093339\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-06-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-06-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-06-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A wall of demonstration EV Chargers and smart electrical panels made by Tesla, GM and Span are on display at PG&E’s PowerHouse in San Ramon on July 30, 2026. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" data-id=\"12093337\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12093337\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-04-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The interior of the PG&E PowerHouse in San Ramon on July 30, 2026. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Building enough infrastructure to meet that demand is expensive, with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081882/san-francisco-has-been-trying-to-leave-pge-for-100-years-will-this-time-be-different\">costs often falling on consumers\u003c/a>. Instead of making costly grid upgrades, utilities are increasingly searching for ways to use the existing grid more efficiently. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the PG&E Applied Technology Services Center, an all-electric home in San Ramon, the utility works with private companies to show how advanced energy management technologies can work together to make electrification easier and more affordable. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“PG&E doesn’t make money off of energy; they make money off of stuff,” said Robert Stafford, a researcher at the World Resources Institute working on transportation electrification and grid resiliency. “Once all of those chargers and transformers and wires are out in the world, it is in everyone’s best interest to use them as efficiently as possible.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Because the grid is built to meet the highest periods of electricity demand, most of the time, we actually only use 40% or 50% of its capacity, said Paul Doherty, a PG&E spokesperson. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The utility already offers \u003ca href=\"https://www.pge.com/en/account/rate-plans/time-of-use-rate-plans.html\">“time-of-use”\u003c/a> plans to encourage customers to run appliances overnight or during off-peak hours. Smart devices would automate, or run this process quietly in the background, according to Doherty. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Rather than physically turning off lights or turning down thermostats, customers would be able to set their energy preferences and the system would take care of the rest. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If they’re running their air conditioning and their dishwasher, lights are on, TV’s on, dishwasher, the laundry is running — that EV charger may say, ‘Hey, there’s a lot going on within the home, we got to keep that down within capacity,” Doherty said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Another example: the thin black box on top of the fridge in PG&E’s smart home. The device is a Pila battery, which can power most household appliances.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Pila CEO Cole Ashman describes the tool as a way for both renters and homeowners to access “seamless” backup power during outages and to shift their power consumption to cheaper times of day. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-05-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12093338\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-05-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-05-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-05-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Paul Doherty, Manager of Clean Energy & Innovation Communications at PG&E, opens the Span smart electrical panel that operates the PowerHouse at PG&E’s Applied Technology Services Center in San Ramon on July 30, 2026. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>“All of these batteries kind of have a turbocharged brain inside of them,” Ashman said. “It’s going to work for you in the background, store energy when it’s cheap, charge up at night, and then, when power prices get expensive in the late afternoon, it seamlessly switches to start to run your refrigerator, your window AC, whatever is connected.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Some customers may be put off, however, or concerned by the potential privacy or cybersecurity risks posed by these technologies. International researchers, in collaboration with NYU, \u003ca href=\"https://engineering.nyu.edu/news/new-research-reveals-alarming-privacy-and-security-threats-smart-homes\">found\u003c/a> that potential threats include the exposure of unique device names and even household geolocation data, all of which can be harvested by external companies without user awareness. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-08-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12093341\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-08-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-08-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260729-POWER-HOUSE-MD-08-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">PG&E’s Applied Technology Services Center in San Ramon on July 30, 2026. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>With his company’s own technology, Ashman emphasized that consumers own all their own data and that the batteries are “local first,” which means they can opt in to wifi connection or cloud data sharing. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Our phones are getting smarter, our computers are getting smarter, and the appliances in our home are also getting smarter,” Ashman said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While that might sound scary to some folks … that can be really exciting if done well,” Ashman continued. “These things are going to be able to take care of you even when the data center goes down, or Google goes down or the power goes out.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The U.S. Forest Service is investigating \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12091122/pge-shutoffs-planned-this-week-for-thousands-in-northern-california-due-to-fire-risk\">PG&E’s\u003c/a> potential involvement in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2026/7/11/twain-fire\">Twain Fire, \u003c/a>which burned about 276 acres of Plumas National Forest in Northern California last week. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On July 13, PG&E filed an \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/-/media/cpuc-website/divisions/safety-and-enforcement-division/electric-safety-incidents-reported-by-ious/2026-incidents/electric-safety-incident--pge-incident-twain-fire.pdf\">incident\u003c/a> report with the California Public Utilities Commission, stating that a contractor was performing work on a steel pole for a transmission line near Feather River U.S. Highway 70 and Twain Store Road around noon. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“A short time later, the Twain Fire was reported in the same area,” the filing said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>PG&E said it was aware of the Forest Service’s investigation and is conducting its own investigation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The fire was first reported on \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2026/7/11/twain-fire\">July 11\u003c/a>, and, as of July 19, the fire is 95% contained. The Kingsbury Grade Forest Road will remain closed until July 31 according to a Forest Service \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1485876640249565&set=pcb.1485876996916196\">update\u003c/a>, but the Pacific Crest Trail remains open. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past decade, PG&E has been fined \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11804048/pge-fined-2-1-billion-for-wildfires-largest-amount-in-california-history\">billions of dollars\u003c/a> for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12016417/californians-pay-billions-for-power-companies-wildfire-prevention-efforts-are-they-cost-effective\">numerous\u003c/a> fires sparked by its electrical equipment and filed for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11722186/5-things-to-know-about-the-pge-bankruptcy\">bankruptcy\u003c/a> over wildfire liabilities in 2019. According to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/psps/\">CPUC\u003c/a>, electric utility infrastructure has been responsible for less than 10% of reported wildfires — though these fires make up about half of the “most destructive fires in California history.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>PG&E potentially faces a \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/news-and-updates/all-news/cpuc-staff-issue-proposal-penalizing-pacific-gas-and-electric-22-million-for-2022-placer-county-fire\">$22 million fine\u003c/a> for the 2022 Mosquito Fire. The CPUC will vote on that settlement on Aug. 13. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>PG&E confirmed the details of the incident report and reiterated that there are no reports of injuries or of damaged structures. They did not provide any information about the contractor or the nature of the work. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Forest Service did not provide a timeline for their investigation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/dventon\">\u003cem>Danielle Venton\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On July 13, PG&E filed an \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/-/media/cpuc-website/divisions/safety-and-enforcement-division/electric-safety-incidents-reported-by-ious/2026-incidents/electric-safety-incident--pge-incident-twain-fire.pdf\">incident\u003c/a> report with the California Public Utilities Commission, stating that a contractor was performing work on a steel pole for a transmission line near Feather River U.S. Highway 70 and Twain Store Road around noon. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“A short time later, the Twain Fire was reported in the same area,” the filing said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>PG&E said it was aware of the Forest Service’s investigation and is conducting its own investigation.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The fire was first reported on \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2026/7/11/twain-fire\">July 11\u003c/a>, and, as of July 19, the fire is 95% contained. The Kingsbury Grade Forest Road will remain closed until July 31 according to a Forest Service \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1485876640249565&set=pcb.1485876996916196\">update\u003c/a>, but the Pacific Crest Trail remains open. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Over the past decade, PG&E has been fined \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11804048/pge-fined-2-1-billion-for-wildfires-largest-amount-in-california-history\">billions of dollars\u003c/a> for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12016417/californians-pay-billions-for-power-companies-wildfire-prevention-efforts-are-they-cost-effective\">numerous\u003c/a> fires sparked by its electrical equipment and filed for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11722186/5-things-to-know-about-the-pge-bankruptcy\">bankruptcy\u003c/a> over wildfire liabilities in 2019. According to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/psps/\">CPUC\u003c/a>, electric utility infrastructure has been responsible for less than 10% of reported wildfires — though these fires make up about half of the “most destructive fires in California history.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>PG&E confirmed the details of the incident report and reiterated that there are no reports of injuries or of damaged structures. They did not provide any information about the contractor or the nature of the work. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Forest Service did not provide a timeline for their investigation. \u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past decade, PG&E has been fined \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11804048/pge-fined-2-1-billion-for-wildfires-largest-amount-in-california-history\">billions of dollars\u003c/a> for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12016417/californians-pay-billions-for-power-companies-wildfire-prevention-efforts-are-they-cost-effective\">numerous\u003c/a> fires sparked by its electrical equipment and filed for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11722186/5-things-to-know-about-the-pge-bankruptcy\">bankruptcy\u003c/a> over wildfire liabilities in 2019. According to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/psps/\">CPUC\u003c/a>, electric utility infrastructure has been responsible for less than 10% of reported wildfires — though these fires make up about half of the “most destructive fires in California history.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>PG&E potentially faces a \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/news-and-updates/all-news/cpuc-staff-issue-proposal-penalizing-pacific-gas-and-electric-22-million-for-2022-placer-county-fire\">$22 million fine\u003c/a> for the 2022 Mosquito Fire. The CPUC will vote on that settlement on Aug. 13. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>PG&E confirmed the details of the incident report and reiterated that there are no reports of injuries or of damaged structures. They did not provide any information about the contractor or the nature of the work. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Forest Service did not provide a timeline for their investigation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/dventon\">\u003cem>Danielle Venton\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12090521/san-francisco-inches-closer-to-pge-acquisition\">PG&E\u003c/a> warned approximately 7,800 customers across 10 Northern California counties to prepare for possible public safety power shutoffs beginning Wednesday due to elevated fire risks. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Alameda, Contra Costa and Marin counties are among the counties listed on the utility’s \u003ca href=\"https://pgealerts.alerts.pge.com/psps-updates/7day/\">website\u003c/a> as “under warning” on Wednesday and Thursday, due to high winds. More than 2,000 customers in Marin could be affected, according to a PG&E press \u003ca href=\"https://investor.pgecorp.com/news-events/press-releases/press-release-details/2026/PGE-Monitoring-High-Wind-Event-Is-Preparing-for-Possible-Public-Safety-Power-Shutoff-for-Portions-of-10-Counties/default.aspx\">release\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The company is tracking a potential “high wind event” expected to reach portions of 10 counties across the North, South and East Bay around 1 p.m. Wednesday, as well as Salinas Valley, San Joaquin Valley and the Central Coast. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>PG&E’s public service announcement also cited “high winds, low relative humidity and dry fuel loads” as key factors contributing to the fire risk. It also noted that dry weather in March has contributed to an earlier fire season. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1289\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/PGEAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12027934\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/PGEAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/PGEAP-800x516.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/PGEAP-1020x657.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/PGEAP-160x103.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/PGEAP-1536x990.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/PGEAP-1920x1237.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Pacific Gas & Electric truck drives past a PG&E entrance in Daly City, California, on Sept. 24, 2019. (Jeff Chiu/AP Photo)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Evan Duffey, PG&E’s manager of forecasting and operations, said that the winds are blowing in from the Northwest and are not the Diablo winds that often contribute to California fires. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Duffey said that the outages should be “relatively short-lived” and emphasized that “this is a very targeted and small area that we’re concerned with.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>PG&E said it initiates the shutoffs when severe weather conditions pose a significant fire threat, even if the weather appears calm. Power lines often travel through different regions, and the line serving one community may pass through a higher-risk area.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Steven Torrence, Marin County’s director of emergency management, urged residents to sign up for \u003ca href=\"https://emergency.marincounty.gov/sign-alertmarin\">AlertMarin\u003c/a> to stay prepared. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He said that the county, in coordination with PG&E, is operating a community resource center for affected residents. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Torrence added that the last time the county experienced a planned outage like this one was back in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11778499/pge-eyeing-massive-power-shutoffs-across-northern-california-due-to-extreme-weather-concerns\">2019\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He said that because the 2019 planned outage was likely one of the first that PG&E conducted in Marin County, a lot of people actually remember it. He added that the outage lasted for several days.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Since then, according to Torrence, the county has been working with PG&E to reduce the impact of these planned outages. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This outage is not projected to last past 10 a.m. on Thursday, said Torrence, and it’s possible that the power may not go off at all. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Regardless of what happens, Torrence reminded residents that wildfire season is now year-round. He encouraged people to check in on their neighbors — especially older residents — to see if they need support preparing for any emergencies. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ninathorsen\">\u003cem>Nina Thorsen\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Alameda, Contra Costa and Marin counties are among the counties listed on the utility’s \u003ca href=\"https://pgealerts.alerts.pge.com/psps-updates/7day/\">website\u003c/a> as “under warning” on Wednesday and Thursday, due to high winds. More than 2,000 customers in Marin could be affected, according to a PG&E press \u003ca href=\"https://investor.pgecorp.com/news-events/press-releases/press-release-details/2026/PGE-Monitoring-High-Wind-Event-Is-Preparing-for-Possible-Public-Safety-Power-Shutoff-for-Portions-of-10-Counties/default.aspx\">release\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The company is tracking a potential “high wind event” expected to reach portions of 10 counties across the North, South and East Bay around 1 p.m. Wednesday, as well as Salinas Valley, San Joaquin Valley and the Central Coast. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>PG&E’s public service announcement also cited “high winds, low relative humidity and dry fuel loads” as key factors contributing to the fire risk. It also noted that dry weather in March has contributed to an earlier fire season. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Evan Duffey, PG&E’s manager of forecasting and operations, said that the winds are blowing in from the Northwest and are not the Diablo winds that often contribute to California fires. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Duffey said that the outages should be “relatively short-lived” and emphasized that “this is a very targeted and small area that we’re concerned with.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>PG&E said it initiates the shutoffs when severe weather conditions pose a significant fire threat, even if the weather appears calm. Power lines often travel through different regions, and the line serving one community may pass through a higher-risk area.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Steven Torrence, Marin County’s director of emergency management, urged residents to sign up for \u003ca href=\"https://emergency.marincounty.gov/sign-alertmarin\">AlertMarin\u003c/a> to stay prepared. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He said that the county, in coordination with PG&E, is operating a community resource center for affected residents. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Torrence added that the last time the county experienced a planned outage like this one was back in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11778499/pge-eyeing-massive-power-shutoffs-across-northern-california-due-to-extreme-weather-concerns\">2019\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He said that because the 2019 planned outage was likely one of the first that PG&E conducted in Marin County, a lot of people actually remember it. He added that the outage lasted for several days.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Since then, according to Torrence, the county has been working with PG&E to reduce the impact of these planned outages. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This outage is not projected to last past 10 a.m. on Thursday, said Torrence, and it’s possible that the power may not go off at all. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Regardless of what happens, Torrence reminded residents that wildfire season is now year-round. He encouraged people to check in on their neighbors — especially older residents — to see if they need support preparing for any emergencies. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ninathorsen\">\u003cem>Nina Thorsen\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Households across the Bay Area, including more than 2,000 customers in parts of Marin County, could be affected, according to the utility. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Duffey said that the outages should be “relatively short-lived” and emphasized that “this is a very targeted and small area that we’re concerned with.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>PG&E said it initiates the shutoffs when severe weather conditions pose a significant fire threat, even if the weather appears calm. Power lines often travel through different regions, and the line serving one community may pass through a higher-risk area.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Steven Torrence, Marin County’s director of emergency management, urged residents to sign up for \u003ca href=\"https://emergency.marincounty.gov/sign-alertmarin\">AlertMarin\u003c/a> to stay prepared. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He said that the county, in coordination with PG&E, is operating a community resource center for affected residents. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Torrence added that the last time the county experienced a planned outage like this one was back in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11778499/pge-eyeing-massive-power-shutoffs-across-northern-california-due-to-extreme-weather-concerns\">2019\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He said that because the 2019 planned outage was likely one of the first that PG&E conducted in Marin County, a lot of people actually remember it. He added that the outage lasted for several days.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Since then, according to Torrence, the county has been working with PG&E to reduce the impact of these planned outages. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This outage is not projected to last past 10 a.m. on Thursday, said Torrence, and it’s possible that the power may not go off at all. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Regardless of what happens, Torrence reminded residents that wildfire season is now year-round. He encouraged people to check in on their neighbors — especially older residents — to see if they need support preparing for any emergencies. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ninathorsen\">\u003cem>Nina Thorsen\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>San Francisco took a step forward in its \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081882/san-francisco-has-been-trying-to-leave-pge-for-100-years-will-this-time-be-different\">quest for public power\u003c/a> on Thursday after the city’s planning commission unanimously approved an Environmental Impact Report needed for the proposed acquisition of PG&E’s electric grid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ron Flynn, deputy general manager and chief operating officer of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, called the decision an important milestone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is more work ahead, and there are future decisions to be made, but the final Environmental Impact Report is a key step to expand public power,” Flynn said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Daniel Robelo, a communications and digital organizer with Reclaim Our Power, a campaign fighting for a community- and worker-owned energy system in California, said “a victory in San Francisco” would be a positive sign for the state’s future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Energy is a public good,” Robelo said. “Ultimately, the whole state, not just San Francisco, needs to break up with PG&E and build a new utility that puts people and the planet over corporate profits.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E is the state’s largest investor-owned utility and has faced years of criticism over its role in deadly wildfires and aging infrastructure. Calls for the city to separate from the utility intensified after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12083011/humidity-at-pge-substation-likely-cause-of-massive-december-san-francisco-blackout\">a fire at a PG&E substation\u003c/a> in the Mission District sparked a major outage in December.[aside postID=news_12081882 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260608-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-06-BL-KQED.jpg']The city has \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfpuc.gov/about-us/news/its-high-time-san-francisco-buy-pges-grid-city\">said\u003c/a> leaving the utility will save residents millions — savings that will come from San Francisco having access to cheaper loans for infrastructure and not having to pay shareholder dividends, corporate taxes or executive bonuses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, PG&E spokesperson Lynsey Paulo said its electric grid assets are not for sale, and a takeover “would be so expensive that it would raise San Franciscans’ electric rates for decades.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paulo also called the report “deficient” and said that “the project that the City described in the [report] appears to be inconsistent with the project that it described” to the California Public Utilities Commission, the state’s utility regulator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If San Francisco did purchase the city’s local electric grid from PG&E, it would need to physically separate the wires and substations that serve the city from the ones serving the rest of PG&E’s territory. This construction would largely take place along the San Francisco-San Mateo border.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://citypln-m-extnl.sfgov.org/SharedLinks.aspx?accesskey=8a0619004c3d8c263a45dc229e3d14cf9892ff5498e8865e1c5bf3da182f5240&VaultGUID=A4A7DACD-B0DC-4322-BD29-F6F07103C6E0\">56-page\u003c/a> environmental review includes measures to reduce emissions and noise pollution during construction and plans to avoid disturbing historic, archeological and paleontological sites. It also details protections for the northwestern pond turtle, butterflies, nesting birds, roosting bats and emerging wetlands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco said it has asked the CPUC to determine the fair market value of PG&E’s electric assets, after the city provided its valuation of $3.4 billion in April. PG&E is due to respond in October.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/lklivans\">\u003cem>Laura Klivans\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "City leaders argued that public ownership would lower costs, but the utility company has repeatedly disputed the plan, saying a takeover would increase rates.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>San Francisco took a step forward in its \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081882/san-francisco-has-been-trying-to-leave-pge-for-100-years-will-this-time-be-different\">quest for public power\u003c/a> on Thursday after the city’s planning commission unanimously approved an Environmental Impact Report needed for the proposed acquisition of PG&E’s electric grid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ron Flynn, deputy general manager and chief operating officer of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, called the decision an important milestone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is more work ahead, and there are future decisions to be made, but the final Environmental Impact Report is a key step to expand public power,” Flynn said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Daniel Robelo, a communications and digital organizer with Reclaim Our Power, a campaign fighting for a community- and worker-owned energy system in California, said “a victory in San Francisco” would be a positive sign for the state’s future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Energy is a public good,” Robelo said. “Ultimately, the whole state, not just San Francisco, needs to break up with PG&E and build a new utility that puts people and the planet over corporate profits.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E is the state’s largest investor-owned utility and has faced years of criticism over its role in deadly wildfires and aging infrastructure. Calls for the city to separate from the utility intensified after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12083011/humidity-at-pge-substation-likely-cause-of-massive-december-san-francisco-blackout\">a fire at a PG&E substation\u003c/a> in the Mission District sparked a major outage in December.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The city has \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfpuc.gov/about-us/news/its-high-time-san-francisco-buy-pges-grid-city\">said\u003c/a> leaving the utility will save residents millions — savings that will come from San Francisco having access to cheaper loans for infrastructure and not having to pay shareholder dividends, corporate taxes or executive bonuses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, PG&E spokesperson Lynsey Paulo said its electric grid assets are not for sale, and a takeover “would be so expensive that it would raise San Franciscans’ electric rates for decades.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paulo also called the report “deficient” and said that “the project that the City described in the [report] appears to be inconsistent with the project that it described” to the California Public Utilities Commission, the state’s utility regulator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If San Francisco did purchase the city’s local electric grid from PG&E, it would need to physically separate the wires and substations that serve the city from the ones serving the rest of PG&E’s territory. This construction would largely take place along the San Francisco-San Mateo border.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://citypln-m-extnl.sfgov.org/SharedLinks.aspx?accesskey=8a0619004c3d8c263a45dc229e3d14cf9892ff5498e8865e1c5bf3da182f5240&VaultGUID=A4A7DACD-B0DC-4322-BD29-F6F07103C6E0\">56-page\u003c/a> environmental review includes measures to reduce emissions and noise pollution during construction and plans to avoid disturbing historic, archeological and paleontological sites. It also details protections for the northwestern pond turtle, butterflies, nesting birds, roosting bats and emerging wetlands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco said it has asked the CPUC to determine the fair market value of PG&E’s electric assets, after the city provided its valuation of $3.4 billion in April. PG&E is due to respond in October.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/lklivans\">\u003cem>Laura Klivans\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "San Francisco Weighs PG&E Takeover Amid Soaring Utility Costs",
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"content": "\u003cp>Joe Dabit’s cozy, mural-covered restaurant, Pizza Joint, sits next to George Washington High School in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco’s\u003c/a> Outer Richmond neighborhood. Every afternoon, students line up to buy lunch at the counter and take home half-price slices at the end of the day. He credits them with keeping the business afloat — a task that’s gotten harder thanks, in part, to\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12082876/pge-bills-are-going-up-heres-why\"> rising electricity costs. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Energy prices are crazy. Two or three years ago, I used to pay $1,000 to $1,100, $1,200 max,” Dabit, 62, said. “My last bill was $2,800.” His utility bills now cost almost as much as rent for his 900-square-foot restaurant\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dabit’s energy problems reached a new level in December when a PG&E \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12083011/humidity-at-pge-substation-likely-cause-of-massive-december-san-francisco-blackout\">substation\u003c/a> fire caused a three-day power outage for the neighborhood. In addition to losing business, Dabit lost $10,000 to $15,000 worth of ingredients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The utility company initially offered him just $2,500, he said — which barely covered his typical electricity bill, let alone all the product and business that he lost. After more than three months of back and forth, he said he finally got PG&E to agree to something he found reasonable, but only after threatening to hire a lawyer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between December’s series of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12073229/san-francisco-supervisors-probe-pge-after-widespread-winter-power-outages\">power\u003c/a> outages and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/nhttps:/www.kqed.org/news/12033386/pge-electricity-rates-have-jumped-nearly-70-since-2020ews/12033386/pge-electricity-rates-have-jumped-nearly-70-since-2020\">skyrocketing\u003c/a> electricity bills, Dabit and other San Franciscans are growing increasingly frustrated with the utility company. In February, a group of residents and small businesses \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071937/san-francisco-small-businesses-to-sue-pge-over-losses-from-december-power-outages\">filed a class-action lawsuit\u003c/a> against PG&E, alleging the utility failed to remediate major financial losses after major \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101912529/san-francisco-blackouts-raise-concerns-about-pge-and-robotaxis\">power outages in December\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their discontent recently led the Board of Supervisors to reaffirm their commitment to cutting ties with PG&E, a process that’s been quietly underway for about five years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12087359\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12087359\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260608-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-01-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260608-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-01-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260608-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-01-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260608-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-01-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Customers sit at Pizza Joint in San Francisco’s Richmond District on June 8, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While PG&E has said that a takeover would \u003ca href=\"https://www.pge.com/en/newsroom/currents/future-of-energy/city-and-county-of-san-francisco-proposal-to-take-over-pg-e-elec.html\">increase\u003c/a> San Francisco electricity rates for decades, some advocates believe it might be the only way out. With the ever-increasing cost of living, would a takeover make life easier for Dabit?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though many residents may not be aware of it, the city has been in a protracted battle over whether or not to leave PG&E since the start of the 20th century, said Josh Lappen, a researcher at the University of Notre Dame who studies utilities and energy. The last significant attempt took place in the early 2000s and \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/In-S-F-voters-defeat-Prop-H-for-city-utility-3186957.php\">failed\u003c/a> as a ballot measure over concerns about government spending, questions about San Francisco’s ability to run a utility and significant campaigning from PG&E.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While similar ballot measures have been \u003ca href=\"https://www.spur.org/publications/voter-guide/2008-11-01/proposition-h-municipalizing-electric-service\">voted\u003c/a> down for decades, the city may no longer have to go through voter approval. Since residents passed \u003ca href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/San_Francisco,_California,_Proposition_A,_Revenue_Bonds_for_Power_Facilities_Excluding_Fossil_Fuels_and_Nuclear_Energy_Charter_Amendment_(June_2018)\">Proposition A\u003c/a> in 2018, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission can now issue revenue bonds to buy clean power facilities with approval by two-thirds of the Board of Supervisors. This means that, if San Francisco and PG&E agree on a price, the city could potentially buy PG&E’s wire, poles and other physical infrastructure without putting anything on the ballot, according to John Coté, a spokesperson for San Francisco Power and Water.[aside postID=news_12074281 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260123-SIGNATUREKICKOFF00063_TV-KQED.jpg']The city’s latest attempt to buy the utility officially \u003ca href=\"https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Efile/G000/M394/K796/394796977.PDF\">started\u003c/a> in 2019 when it offered $2.5 billion for PG&E’s infrastructure. The company rejected the offer outright, saying the offer was too low, but in 2021, the city asked the California Public Utilities Commission to set a fair price. After years of delays, the CPUC directed San Francisco to submit its valuation and for PG&E to file its response by Oct. 20, 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In April, San Francisco submitted a valuation of $3.4 billion to acquire the land, infrastructure and equipment needed for a takeover. PG&E, which has repeatedly said its infrastructure is not for sale, said in a statement around the same time that San Francisco “greatly undervalues” the utility’s property, and doesn’t account for separation costs or costs of state-mandated programs that would be offloaded onto remaining customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If San Francisco ever gets to the end of this process, Jim Lazar, an economist with a five-decade career in utility regulation and an advocate for public power, estimated that rates could go down by 15%-20% in the 10 years following purchase. Lazar said that prices would go down primarily because investor-owned utilities come with some baked-in costs that make them more expensive to run than consumer-owned utilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, being a public, nonprofit company allows consumer-owned utilities to both borrow money for construction projects at a cheaper rate and to pay less in taxes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consumer-owned utilities also tend to pay their executives less than investor-owned utilities, and that’s certainly the case for PG&E. The CEO of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, a consumer-owned utility, is set to earn \u003ca href=\"https://www.smud.org/-/media/Documents/Corporate/Careers-at-SMUD/Salary-Schedule.ashx\">$1.4 million\u003c/a> in 2026. While that’s a lot, PG&E’s CEO made\u003ca href=\"https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1004980/000100498026000020/pcg-20260409.htm#i76f77ef7e29d43c3add9edcb2e098a62_55\"> $19.8 million\u003c/a> in 2025 alone. The skilled workers that maintain the grid, however, earn about the same regardless of ownership — about \u003ca href=\"https://www.smud.org/-/media/Documents/Corporate/Careers-at-SMUD/Salary-Schedule.ashx\">$79\u003c/a> per hour at SMUD and about \u003ca href=\"https://jobs.pge.com/lineworker\">$77\u003c/a> at PG&E.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12087362\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12087362\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260611-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-04-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260611-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-04-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260611-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-04-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260611-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-04-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A PG&E substation on Mission and 8th Streets in San Francisco on June 11, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As an investor-owned utility, PG&E also pays dividends to shareholders. While PG&E said that those dividends make up less than\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999400/bay-area-electricity-bills-are-some-of-the-highest-where-does-your-money-go\"> 1%\u003c/a> of a typical residential bill, the incentive to generate dividends creates one more expense for ratepayers — a never-ending need to increase profits by building more infrastructure. In 2024, they built enough to pay their shareholders \u003ca href=\"https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001004980/b7a70191-b3cb-41e7-8f6e-4d5d22abd201.pdf\">$1.45\u003c/a> billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While ratepayers may see gains in the long run, Michael Wara, a senior research scholar at Stanford University’s Woods Institute for the Environment, said \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">there would be inherent challenges to exiting a grid that is part of “a \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">regional\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> system.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, Wara said, PG&E ratepayers outside of San Francisco, including places like Oakland and Marin, would take on the costs that San Francisco leaves behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s why: San Francisco ratepayers subsidize grid upgrades across Northern California, particularly in fire-prone areas, and \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> energy programs for low-income residents, according to multiple experts KQED spoke with\u003c/span>. And PG&E \u003ca href=\"https://www.pge.com/assets/pge/docs/outages-and-safety/outage-preparedness-and-support/PGE-2023-RNR-R0.pdf\">increased\u003c/a> its spending on wildfire prevention from $3.84 billion in 2019 to $6.17 billion in 2024. According to Wara, this wildfire spending was the “largest driver of rate increase for PG&E over the last decade,” and the majority of these investments happened outside of the city — where wildfires actually get started.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12087363\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12087363\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260611-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-07-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260611-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-07-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260611-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-07-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260611-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-07-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A PG&E substation on Mission and 8th Streets in San Francisco on June 11, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The investments still benefit San Franciscans by protecting them from the impacts of these natural disasters and making sure their energy gets to them safely. \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The SFPUC also noted that the agency will continue to pay PG&E for their \u003ca href=\"https://publicpowersf.org/faq\">transmission\u003c/a> — the wires that get electricity to the city — and will therefore continue to pay into wildfire prevention costs. Coté also shared that the CPUC \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">will ultimately be responsible for making sure that PG&E’s remaining ratepayers are not harmed by San Francisco leaving the utility. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know people that really think this is a great idea, but they tend to think about it solely from the perspective of San Francisco and the residents of San Francisco,” Wara said, referring to a takeover. “At the end of the day, the city is a regional entity that relies on energy that comes from oil refineries, electric dams and ports across the state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wara said that because “electric power is this essential good that’s provided over a very large system,” more radical change — like turning all of PG&E into a public utility — would be better than cities leaving individually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jessica Tovar, a climate and environmental justice advocate in San Francisco, generally agreed with this take.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I really would like to see a municipalization push that’s not solely big cities like San Francisco,” she said, “but other communities as well, because there is a lot of benefit to having control of the whole system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12087361\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12087361\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260608-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260608-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260608-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260608-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-09-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">International currency and graduation photos from customers hang behind the counter at Pizza Joint in San Francisco’s Richmond District on June 8, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While experts and advocates agree that PG&E’s current structure does not always protect consumers, “there’s a lot less consensus among the voters on what to do than there is on the fact that something needs to be done,” Lappen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These utilities really prop up daily life and any sort of change that risks increasing costs for any portion of the electorate would be really immediately and severely felt,” Lappen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dabit, the Pizza Joint owner, said that while he had “heard about the government taking over PG&E, I don’t know if it’s going to be any better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We just need PG&E, and whoever is providing electricity and gas to all these restaurants all over the city, to just be fair,” he said. “Just be fair, you know? We’re struggling. We really are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story has been updated to reflect that San Francisco will remain a transmission customer of PG&E if the city achieves public power. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Concerns over affordability and public safety have reignited San Francisco’s fight for public power. While PG&E has argued that a takeover would increase local electricity rates for decades, some advocates believe it might be the only way out.",
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"title": "San Francisco Weighs PG&E Takeover Amid Soaring Utility Costs | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Joe Dabit’s cozy, mural-covered restaurant, Pizza Joint, sits next to George Washington High School in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco’s\u003c/a> Outer Richmond neighborhood. Every afternoon, students line up to buy lunch at the counter and take home half-price slices at the end of the day. He credits them with keeping the business afloat — a task that’s gotten harder thanks, in part, to\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12082876/pge-bills-are-going-up-heres-why\"> rising electricity costs. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Energy prices are crazy. Two or three years ago, I used to pay $1,000 to $1,100, $1,200 max,” Dabit, 62, said. “My last bill was $2,800.” His utility bills now cost almost as much as rent for his 900-square-foot restaurant\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dabit’s energy problems reached a new level in December when a PG&E \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12083011/humidity-at-pge-substation-likely-cause-of-massive-december-san-francisco-blackout\">substation\u003c/a> fire caused a three-day power outage for the neighborhood. In addition to losing business, Dabit lost $10,000 to $15,000 worth of ingredients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The utility company initially offered him just $2,500, he said — which barely covered his typical electricity bill, let alone all the product and business that he lost. After more than three months of back and forth, he said he finally got PG&E to agree to something he found reasonable, but only after threatening to hire a lawyer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between December’s series of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12073229/san-francisco-supervisors-probe-pge-after-widespread-winter-power-outages\">power\u003c/a> outages and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/nhttps:/www.kqed.org/news/12033386/pge-electricity-rates-have-jumped-nearly-70-since-2020ews/12033386/pge-electricity-rates-have-jumped-nearly-70-since-2020\">skyrocketing\u003c/a> electricity bills, Dabit and other San Franciscans are growing increasingly frustrated with the utility company. In February, a group of residents and small businesses \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071937/san-francisco-small-businesses-to-sue-pge-over-losses-from-december-power-outages\">filed a class-action lawsuit\u003c/a> against PG&E, alleging the utility failed to remediate major financial losses after major \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101912529/san-francisco-blackouts-raise-concerns-about-pge-and-robotaxis\">power outages in December\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their discontent recently led the Board of Supervisors to reaffirm their commitment to cutting ties with PG&E, a process that’s been quietly underway for about five years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12087359\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12087359\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260608-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-01-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260608-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-01-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260608-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-01-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260608-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-01-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Customers sit at Pizza Joint in San Francisco’s Richmond District on June 8, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While PG&E has said that a takeover would \u003ca href=\"https://www.pge.com/en/newsroom/currents/future-of-energy/city-and-county-of-san-francisco-proposal-to-take-over-pg-e-elec.html\">increase\u003c/a> San Francisco electricity rates for decades, some advocates believe it might be the only way out. With the ever-increasing cost of living, would a takeover make life easier for Dabit?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though many residents may not be aware of it, the city has been in a protracted battle over whether or not to leave PG&E since the start of the 20th century, said Josh Lappen, a researcher at the University of Notre Dame who studies utilities and energy. The last significant attempt took place in the early 2000s and \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/In-S-F-voters-defeat-Prop-H-for-city-utility-3186957.php\">failed\u003c/a> as a ballot measure over concerns about government spending, questions about San Francisco’s ability to run a utility and significant campaigning from PG&E.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While similar ballot measures have been \u003ca href=\"https://www.spur.org/publications/voter-guide/2008-11-01/proposition-h-municipalizing-electric-service\">voted\u003c/a> down for decades, the city may no longer have to go through voter approval. Since residents passed \u003ca href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/San_Francisco,_California,_Proposition_A,_Revenue_Bonds_for_Power_Facilities_Excluding_Fossil_Fuels_and_Nuclear_Energy_Charter_Amendment_(June_2018)\">Proposition A\u003c/a> in 2018, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission can now issue revenue bonds to buy clean power facilities with approval by two-thirds of the Board of Supervisors. This means that, if San Francisco and PG&E agree on a price, the city could potentially buy PG&E’s wire, poles and other physical infrastructure without putting anything on the ballot, according to John Coté, a spokesperson for San Francisco Power and Water.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The city’s latest attempt to buy the utility officially \u003ca href=\"https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Efile/G000/M394/K796/394796977.PDF\">started\u003c/a> in 2019 when it offered $2.5 billion for PG&E’s infrastructure. The company rejected the offer outright, saying the offer was too low, but in 2021, the city asked the California Public Utilities Commission to set a fair price. After years of delays, the CPUC directed San Francisco to submit its valuation and for PG&E to file its response by Oct. 20, 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In April, San Francisco submitted a valuation of $3.4 billion to acquire the land, infrastructure and equipment needed for a takeover. PG&E, which has repeatedly said its infrastructure is not for sale, said in a statement around the same time that San Francisco “greatly undervalues” the utility’s property, and doesn’t account for separation costs or costs of state-mandated programs that would be offloaded onto remaining customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If San Francisco ever gets to the end of this process, Jim Lazar, an economist with a five-decade career in utility regulation and an advocate for public power, estimated that rates could go down by 15%-20% in the 10 years following purchase. Lazar said that prices would go down primarily because investor-owned utilities come with some baked-in costs that make them more expensive to run than consumer-owned utilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, being a public, nonprofit company allows consumer-owned utilities to both borrow money for construction projects at a cheaper rate and to pay less in taxes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consumer-owned utilities also tend to pay their executives less than investor-owned utilities, and that’s certainly the case for PG&E. The CEO of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, a consumer-owned utility, is set to earn \u003ca href=\"https://www.smud.org/-/media/Documents/Corporate/Careers-at-SMUD/Salary-Schedule.ashx\">$1.4 million\u003c/a> in 2026. While that’s a lot, PG&E’s CEO made\u003ca href=\"https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1004980/000100498026000020/pcg-20260409.htm#i76f77ef7e29d43c3add9edcb2e098a62_55\"> $19.8 million\u003c/a> in 2025 alone. The skilled workers that maintain the grid, however, earn about the same regardless of ownership — about \u003ca href=\"https://www.smud.org/-/media/Documents/Corporate/Careers-at-SMUD/Salary-Schedule.ashx\">$79\u003c/a> per hour at SMUD and about \u003ca href=\"https://jobs.pge.com/lineworker\">$77\u003c/a> at PG&E.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12087362\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12087362\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260611-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-04-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260611-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-04-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260611-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-04-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260611-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-04-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A PG&E substation on Mission and 8th Streets in San Francisco on June 11, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As an investor-owned utility, PG&E also pays dividends to shareholders. While PG&E said that those dividends make up less than\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999400/bay-area-electricity-bills-are-some-of-the-highest-where-does-your-money-go\"> 1%\u003c/a> of a typical residential bill, the incentive to generate dividends creates one more expense for ratepayers — a never-ending need to increase profits by building more infrastructure. In 2024, they built enough to pay their shareholders \u003ca href=\"https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001004980/b7a70191-b3cb-41e7-8f6e-4d5d22abd201.pdf\">$1.45\u003c/a> billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While ratepayers may see gains in the long run, Michael Wara, a senior research scholar at Stanford University’s Woods Institute for the Environment, said \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">there would be inherent challenges to exiting a grid that is part of “a \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">regional\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> system.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, Wara said, PG&E ratepayers outside of San Francisco, including places like Oakland and Marin, would take on the costs that San Francisco leaves behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s why: San Francisco ratepayers subsidize grid upgrades across Northern California, particularly in fire-prone areas, and \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> energy programs for low-income residents, according to multiple experts KQED spoke with\u003c/span>. And PG&E \u003ca href=\"https://www.pge.com/assets/pge/docs/outages-and-safety/outage-preparedness-and-support/PGE-2023-RNR-R0.pdf\">increased\u003c/a> its spending on wildfire prevention from $3.84 billion in 2019 to $6.17 billion in 2024. According to Wara, this wildfire spending was the “largest driver of rate increase for PG&E over the last decade,” and the majority of these investments happened outside of the city — where wildfires actually get started.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12087363\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12087363\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260611-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-07-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260611-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-07-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260611-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-07-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260611-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-07-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A PG&E substation on Mission and 8th Streets in San Francisco on June 11, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The investments still benefit San Franciscans by protecting them from the impacts of these natural disasters and making sure their energy gets to them safely. \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The SFPUC also noted that the agency will continue to pay PG&E for their \u003ca href=\"https://publicpowersf.org/faq\">transmission\u003c/a> — the wires that get electricity to the city — and will therefore continue to pay into wildfire prevention costs. Coté also shared that the CPUC \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">will ultimately be responsible for making sure that PG&E’s remaining ratepayers are not harmed by San Francisco leaving the utility. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know people that really think this is a great idea, but they tend to think about it solely from the perspective of San Francisco and the residents of San Francisco,” Wara said, referring to a takeover. “At the end of the day, the city is a regional entity that relies on energy that comes from oil refineries, electric dams and ports across the state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wara said that because “electric power is this essential good that’s provided over a very large system,” more radical change — like turning all of PG&E into a public utility — would be better than cities leaving individually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jessica Tovar, a climate and environmental justice advocate in San Francisco, generally agreed with this take.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I really would like to see a municipalization push that’s not solely big cities like San Francisco,” she said, “but other communities as well, because there is a lot of benefit to having control of the whole system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12087361\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12087361\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260608-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260608-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260608-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260608-PGEBREAKUPPRICING-09-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">International currency and graduation photos from customers hang behind the counter at Pizza Joint in San Francisco’s Richmond District on June 8, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While experts and advocates agree that PG&E’s current structure does not always protect consumers, “there’s a lot less consensus among the voters on what to do than there is on the fact that something needs to be done,” Lappen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These utilities really prop up daily life and any sort of change that risks increasing costs for any portion of the electorate would be really immediately and severely felt,” Lappen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dabit, the Pizza Joint owner, said that while he had “heard about the government taking over PG&E, I don’t know if it’s going to be any better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We just need PG&E, and whoever is providing electricity and gas to all these restaurants all over the city, to just be fair,” he said. “Just be fair, you know? We’re struggling. We really are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story has been updated to reflect that San Francisco will remain a transmission customer of PG&E if the city achieves public power. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Northern California Warms Up This Week, With Heat Advisory and Red Flag Warnings",
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"content": "\u003cp>By the end of the week, forecasters expect \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/summer-guide-2026\">summer\u003c/a>-like temperatures across much of the\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\"> Bay Area\u003c/a>, with dry, windy conditions leading PG&E to warn of potential power shutoffs across Northern California due to wildfire risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>High temperatures could reach the 100-degree mark across the North and South Bay. The trend begins Tuesday after possible showers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Temperatures “will rise dramatically” on Wednesday as a ridge of high pressure builds over the region, Bay Area National Weather Service meteorologists wrote in their \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?format=ci&glossary=1&issuedby=mtr&product=afd&site=mtr&version=1\">daily\u003c/a> forecast discussion. Inland areas like Livermore could reach into the triple digits by Thursday before dipping into the 80s and 90s this weekend, adding to forecasters’ fire concerns as the region heats up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Thursday is our hottest day of the week,” said Karleisa Rogacheski, a lead meteorologist with the weather service’s Bay Area office. “We may have a couple of 100-degree spots sitting up in the North Bay and East Bay areas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The service has issued a red flag warning for the North Bay mountains and the East Bay Hills. The warning starts Wednesday at 11 a.m. and continues through Thursday morning due to gusty winds and critically dry conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a really strong setup for if a spark starts a fire, that fire is going to have the opportunity to grow very quickly in those areas,” said Brayden Murdock, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Bay Area office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000321\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1949px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000321\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/20240711_HeatFeatures-7_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1949\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/20240711_HeatFeatures-7_qed.jpg 1949w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/20240711_HeatFeatures-7_qed-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/20240711_HeatFeatures-7_qed-768x525.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/20240711_HeatFeatures-7_qed-1536x1051.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1949px) 100vw, 1949px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Siblings Mason, 7, and Jordan Dewitt, 8, enjoy the spray grounds at Prince Gateway Park in Santa Rosa as the temperature reached 100 degrees on July 11, 2024. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The service has also issued a heat advisory through Thursday evening for most of the region, extending from the North Bay to San Francisco to San José. Temperatures could reach near triple digits in inland areas like Santa Rosa and Livermore, while San Francisco and Oakland are expected to reach the low 80s by Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Wednesday is going to be a pretty warm day and one of the warmest we’ve seen so far this year,” Murdock said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rogacheski said the warm-up isn’t considered a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2000299/a-delight-mare-bay-area-sizzles-march-heat-wave-could-shatter-records\">heat wave\u003c/a>, but forecasters expect to reach the low 80s in San Francisco and the 90s and low 100s in the North, South and East Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000292\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000292\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/250821-FRUITVALE-HEAT-MD-01_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/250821-FRUITVALE-HEAT-MD-01_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/250821-FRUITVALE-HEAT-MD-01_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/250821-FRUITVALE-HEAT-MD-01_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/250821-FRUITVALE-HEAT-MD-01_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People walk down International Boulevard in Oakland during a heat wave on Aug. 21, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rogacheski’s office is warning the public, especially in inland areas, that a moderate heat risk will begin Wednesday. That level of heat poses a risk of heat-related illness for sensitive populations, including children, the elderly and people who work or live outdoors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Pay attention to your body during these times because that’s kind of going to be an indicator of what might help,” Rogacheski said. “Take frequent breaks, rest in shade, stay hydrated and wear sunscreen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The warm temperatures, winds up to 45 mph and decreasing relative humidity could create prime wildfire conditions if a spark were to ignite, Rogacheski said, for areas such as the eastern Napa Hills and the interior East Bay valleys and mountains.[aside postID=science_2001063 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/05/260527-BEE-SWARMS-MD-06-KQED.jpg']“This isn’t a slam dunk red flag warning because all of our fuels aren’t fully cured and dried out,” Rogacheski said. “If there are locations that are dry, there could be easier fire starts and spreads, but there are areas that are still kind of green and moist. It’ll be a little bit harder for fires to start there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The weather service’s Sacramento office has issued a \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/wwamap/wwatxtget.php?cwa=STO&wwa=red%20flag%20warning\">red flag warning\u003c/a> for a large portion of the Sacramento Valley on Wednesday through Thursday evening, said Courtney Carpenter, the office’s warning coordination meteorologist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There could be a problem if anything gets started,” Carpenter said. “Fuels are drying out, and we’ve got gusty winds and low humidity, so that makes firefighting conditions challenging.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response, PG&E announced Monday that it may shut off power in parts of at least eight counties this week. The warning includes potential \u003ca href=\"https://pgealerts.alerts.pge.com/psps-updates/7day/\">public safety power shutoffs \u003c/a>through Friday in parts of Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Napa, Sonoma, Sutter, Tehama and Yolo counties. The utility shuts off power in order to limit the risk of wildfire from its equipment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company notes that only “some parts” of each county may be affected and that specific addresses are usually available two days before a shutoff occurs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>By the end of the week, forecasters expect \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/summer-guide-2026\">summer\u003c/a>-like temperatures across much of the\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\"> Bay Area\u003c/a>, with dry, windy conditions leading PG&E to warn of potential power shutoffs across Northern California due to wildfire risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>High temperatures could reach the 100-degree mark across the North and South Bay. The trend begins Tuesday after possible showers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Temperatures “will rise dramatically” on Wednesday as a ridge of high pressure builds over the region, Bay Area National Weather Service meteorologists wrote in their \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?format=ci&glossary=1&issuedby=mtr&product=afd&site=mtr&version=1\">daily\u003c/a> forecast discussion. Inland areas like Livermore could reach into the triple digits by Thursday before dipping into the 80s and 90s this weekend, adding to forecasters’ fire concerns as the region heats up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Thursday is our hottest day of the week,” said Karleisa Rogacheski, a lead meteorologist with the weather service’s Bay Area office. “We may have a couple of 100-degree spots sitting up in the North Bay and East Bay areas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The service has issued a red flag warning for the North Bay mountains and the East Bay Hills. The warning starts Wednesday at 11 a.m. and continues through Thursday morning due to gusty winds and critically dry conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a really strong setup for if a spark starts a fire, that fire is going to have the opportunity to grow very quickly in those areas,” said Brayden Murdock, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Bay Area office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000321\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1949px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000321\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/20240711_HeatFeatures-7_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1949\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/20240711_HeatFeatures-7_qed.jpg 1949w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/20240711_HeatFeatures-7_qed-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/20240711_HeatFeatures-7_qed-768x525.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/20240711_HeatFeatures-7_qed-1536x1051.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1949px) 100vw, 1949px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Siblings Mason, 7, and Jordan Dewitt, 8, enjoy the spray grounds at Prince Gateway Park in Santa Rosa as the temperature reached 100 degrees on July 11, 2024. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The service has also issued a heat advisory through Thursday evening for most of the region, extending from the North Bay to San Francisco to San José. Temperatures could reach near triple digits in inland areas like Santa Rosa and Livermore, while San Francisco and Oakland are expected to reach the low 80s by Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Wednesday is going to be a pretty warm day and one of the warmest we’ve seen so far this year,” Murdock said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rogacheski said the warm-up isn’t considered a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2000299/a-delight-mare-bay-area-sizzles-march-heat-wave-could-shatter-records\">heat wave\u003c/a>, but forecasters expect to reach the low 80s in San Francisco and the 90s and low 100s in the North, South and East Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_2000292\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000292\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/250821-FRUITVALE-HEAT-MD-01_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/250821-FRUITVALE-HEAT-MD-01_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/250821-FRUITVALE-HEAT-MD-01_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/250821-FRUITVALE-HEAT-MD-01_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/03/250821-FRUITVALE-HEAT-MD-01_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People walk down International Boulevard in Oakland during a heat wave on Aug. 21, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rogacheski’s office is warning the public, especially in inland areas, that a moderate heat risk will begin Wednesday. That level of heat poses a risk of heat-related illness for sensitive populations, including children, the elderly and people who work or live outdoors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Pay attention to your body during these times because that’s kind of going to be an indicator of what might help,” Rogacheski said. “Take frequent breaks, rest in shade, stay hydrated and wear sunscreen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The warm temperatures, winds up to 45 mph and decreasing relative humidity could create prime wildfire conditions if a spark were to ignite, Rogacheski said, for areas such as the eastern Napa Hills and the interior East Bay valleys and mountains.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“This isn’t a slam dunk red flag warning because all of our fuels aren’t fully cured and dried out,” Rogacheski said. “If there are locations that are dry, there could be easier fire starts and spreads, but there are areas that are still kind of green and moist. It’ll be a little bit harder for fires to start there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The weather service’s Sacramento office has issued a \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/wwamap/wwatxtget.php?cwa=STO&wwa=red%20flag%20warning\">red flag warning\u003c/a> for a large portion of the Sacramento Valley on Wednesday through Thursday evening, said Courtney Carpenter, the office’s warning coordination meteorologist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There could be a problem if anything gets started,” Carpenter said. “Fuels are drying out, and we’ve got gusty winds and low humidity, so that makes firefighting conditions challenging.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response, PG&E announced Monday that it may shut off power in parts of at least eight counties this week. The warning includes potential \u003ca href=\"https://pgealerts.alerts.pge.com/psps-updates/7day/\">public safety power shutoffs \u003c/a>through Friday in parts of Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Napa, Sonoma, Sutter, Tehama and Yolo counties. The utility shuts off power in order to limit the risk of wildfire from its equipment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company notes that only “some parts” of each county may be affected and that specific addresses are usually available two days before a shutoff occurs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cb>Here are the morning’s top stories on Tuesday, May 19, 2026\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Five people are dead including two suspected gunmen after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kpbs.org/news/public-safety/2026/05/18/san-diego-police-respond-to-reports-of-active-shooter-at-san-diego-islamic-center\">shooting at San Diego’s largest mosque.\u003c/a> The shooting is being investigated as a hate crime.\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This week we’ve been taking a look at PG&E. On Monday, we talked about the utility’s efforts to keep its Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant open. Today, we’re looking at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12083747/pge-spends-millions-against-tom-steyer-whats-behind-clash\">their political spending.\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kpbs.org/news/public-safety/2026/05/18/san-diego-police-respond-to-reports-of-active-shooter-at-san-diego-islamic-center\">\u003cstrong>San Diego Police investigate Islamic Center shooting as a hate-crime\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Police raced Monday to catch an armed teenage runaway before he and another teen \u003cspan class=\"LinkEnhancement\">\u003ca class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" href=\"https://apnews.com/article/islamic-center-san-diego-shooting-mosque-hate-d81d87793aa3eea836d45a9d5b1f297b\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\">opened fire on a San Diego mosque\u003c/a>\u003c/span>, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/san-diego-islamic-center-shooting-7f74a37a58116f40e852a303ea23230d\">killing three men and then themselves.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About two hours after one teen’s mother called to warn police that he had run away with her weapons and vehicle, shots rang out at \u003cspan class=\"LinkEnhancement\">\u003ca class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" href=\"https://apnews.com/photo-gallery/photos-scene-deadly-shooting-san-diego-mosque-2d0d7fd5ecce459182c79a040068b88a\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\">the Islamic Center of San Diego\u003c/a>\u003c/span>, and a mosque security guard and two others were killed, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said. The gunmen, ages 17 and 18, were found dead of apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds, the chief added. The shooting is being investigated as \u003cspan class=\"LinkEnhancement\">\u003ca class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" href=\"https://apnews.com/article/san-diego-mosque-shooting-60f286a5fa6ba4a1051765291137d2a7\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\">a hate crime.\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wahl said the mother, who called the police around 9:40 a.m., had described her son as suicidal. The search for the teen took on more urgency as police learned that he was dressed in camouflage and with an acquaintance — facts that were not consistent with someone about to die by suicide, the chief said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Police used automated license plate readers to try to find the teens, dispatched authorities to a nearby mall and alerted Madison High School, where at least one suspect was a student, Wahl said. Officers were still interviewing the mother about places the teens might be when they received reports of a shooting at the largest mosque in San Diego County. As police arrived, gunshots rang out a few blocks away where a landscaper was shot at but uninjured. The shooters were soon found dead in a vehicle stopped in the middle of a road nearby, Wahl said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was no specific threat made against the Islamic Center of San Diego but authorities found evidence that the suspects engaged in “generalized hate rhetoric,” Wahl said. He declined to immediately share more details. The mosque’s director, Imam Taha Hassane, said the center focused on interfaith relations, and that a group of non-Muslims had been touring the mosque earlier Monday to learn about Islam. The white mosque is surrounded by homes, apartments and strip malls with Middle Eastern restaurants and markets. It is home to the Al Rashid School, which offers courses in Arabic language, Islamic studies and the Quran for students ages 5 and up, according to its website. No students were harmed, Hassane said, and aerial TV footage showed the school children holding hands as they were led out of the parking lot surrounded by police vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"more-section-display-name\" class=\"AnchorLink\">\u003c/a>\u003ca style=\"font-size: 24px;font-weight: bold\" href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12083747/pge-spends-millions-against-tom-steyer-whats-behind-clash\">\u003cstrong>PG&E spends millions against Tom Steyer. What’s behind the clash?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12075769/tom-steyer-lays-out-vision-for-a-more-affordable-california-in-run-for-governor\">Tom Steyer\u003c/a> is smashing self-funding records with an unprecedented $193 million poured into his own campaign as he tries to advance past California’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/california/governor\">wide-open primary\u003c/a> for governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The race’s second-largest donor is trying to prevent that from happening. PG&E, the Oakland-based utility giant, has shelled out more than $12 million to oppose the Democratic investor, a historic level of spending for the utility in a governor’s race.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The campaign to sink Steyer’s chances (and \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/AdImpact_Pol/status/2055295439365103930?s=20\">recently\u003c/a>, boost former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra), whose ads target Steyer’s career as a hedge-fund manager, reasons that an investor with no government experience is ill-suited to manage the difficult tradeoffs that come with the state’s top job. But central to the conflict between the progressive billionaire and the power behemoth, experts say, is Steyer’s ambitious plan to cut electricity bills. That platform is built on a pledge to wield the governor’s power over appointments to install regulators who will reduce the utilities’ guaranteed profits. “That is a material threat to utility investors,” said Michael Wara, director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at Stanford University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Few areas offer as vexing a challenge for the governor as the oversight of investor-owned utilities in the midst of California’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1998536/newsom-signs-climate-energy-bills-charting-state-course-through-perilous-mid-transition\">energy transition\u003c/a> away from fossil fuels. Outside observers are divided over the impact that Steyer could have in a policy area that has thwarted the ambitions (and even \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-dec-31-mn-6834-story.html\">careers\u003c/a>) of previous governors. But Steyer is relishing the clash, arguing that the utility’s big-dollar effort to stop him is proof of the power it holds — and the change he vows to bring. He has cast the state’s three investor-owned utilities — PG&E, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric — as bogeymen standing in the way of a more affordable life in California. “I’ve said that we are going to regulate them differently and introduce local competition,” Steyer told KQED. “And they clearly think it’s worth $10 million as a bet to try and defeat me because they want to preserve their monopoly. I think that’s corrupt.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Californians pay the \u003ca href=\"https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.php?t=epmt_5_6_a\">second-highest\u003c/a> electricity rates in the country after Hawaii, and those rates have grown much faster than the national average this decade. At the heart of the price spike are wildfire-related costs that the utilities have passed along in part to customers. In response, Steyer is proposing to appoint reform-minded regulators to oversee the utilities. He promises that those appointees will cut utility profits, more closely examine the cost-effectiveness of wildfire spending and promote small-scale power generation, such as rooftop solar and microgrids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E has emerged as the top anti-Steyer spender in the closing weeks ahead of the June 2 primary. The utility has contributed $12.6 million to a committee named Californians for Resilient and Affordable Energy, No on Steyer for Governor 2026. That committee has sent $12.5 million to an anti-Steyer independent expenditure committee, called California is Not for Sale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steyer’s campaign filed a complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission earlier this month, arguing that PG&E is deliberately obscuring its role as the top funder of the ads by donating to the Resilient and Affordable Energy group instead of directly to California is Not for Sale. PG&E referred a request for an interview for this story to a spokesperson for the super PAC. California is Not for Sale spokesperson Amelia Matier said the group’s spending is not being driven by PG&E — or by opposition to any specific proposal from Steyer. “This is bigger than any one policy,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "Deadly Shooting at Islamic Center of San Diego Investigated as Hate Crime | KQED",
"description": "Here are the morning's top stories on Tuesday, May 19, 2026 Five people are dead including two suspected gunmen after a shooting at San Diego's largest mosque. The shooting is being investigated as a hate crime. This week we’ve been taking a look at PG&E. On Monday, we talked about the utility's efforts to keep its Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant open. Today, we’re looking at their political spending. San Diego Police investigate Islamic Center shooting as a hate-crime Police raced Monday to catch an armed teenage runaway before he and another teen opened fire on a San Diego mosque, killing three",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>Here are the morning’s top stories on Tuesday, May 19, 2026\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Five people are dead including two suspected gunmen after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kpbs.org/news/public-safety/2026/05/18/san-diego-police-respond-to-reports-of-active-shooter-at-san-diego-islamic-center\">shooting at San Diego’s largest mosque.\u003c/a> The shooting is being investigated as a hate crime.\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This week we’ve been taking a look at PG&E. On Monday, we talked about the utility’s efforts to keep its Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant open. Today, we’re looking at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12083747/pge-spends-millions-against-tom-steyer-whats-behind-clash\">their political spending.\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kpbs.org/news/public-safety/2026/05/18/san-diego-police-respond-to-reports-of-active-shooter-at-san-diego-islamic-center\">\u003cstrong>San Diego Police investigate Islamic Center shooting as a hate-crime\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Police raced Monday to catch an armed teenage runaway before he and another teen \u003cspan class=\"LinkEnhancement\">\u003ca class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" href=\"https://apnews.com/article/islamic-center-san-diego-shooting-mosque-hate-d81d87793aa3eea836d45a9d5b1f297b\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\">opened fire on a San Diego mosque\u003c/a>\u003c/span>, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/san-diego-islamic-center-shooting-7f74a37a58116f40e852a303ea23230d\">killing three men and then themselves.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About two hours after one teen’s mother called to warn police that he had run away with her weapons and vehicle, shots rang out at \u003cspan class=\"LinkEnhancement\">\u003ca class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" href=\"https://apnews.com/photo-gallery/photos-scene-deadly-shooting-san-diego-mosque-2d0d7fd5ecce459182c79a040068b88a\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\">the Islamic Center of San Diego\u003c/a>\u003c/span>, and a mosque security guard and two others were killed, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said. The gunmen, ages 17 and 18, were found dead of apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds, the chief added. The shooting is being investigated as \u003cspan class=\"LinkEnhancement\">\u003ca class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" href=\"https://apnews.com/article/san-diego-mosque-shooting-60f286a5fa6ba4a1051765291137d2a7\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\">a hate crime.\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wahl said the mother, who called the police around 9:40 a.m., had described her son as suicidal. The search for the teen took on more urgency as police learned that he was dressed in camouflage and with an acquaintance — facts that were not consistent with someone about to die by suicide, the chief said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Police used automated license plate readers to try to find the teens, dispatched authorities to a nearby mall and alerted Madison High School, where at least one suspect was a student, Wahl said. Officers were still interviewing the mother about places the teens might be when they received reports of a shooting at the largest mosque in San Diego County. As police arrived, gunshots rang out a few blocks away where a landscaper was shot at but uninjured. The shooters were soon found dead in a vehicle stopped in the middle of a road nearby, Wahl said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was no specific threat made against the Islamic Center of San Diego but authorities found evidence that the suspects engaged in “generalized hate rhetoric,” Wahl said. He declined to immediately share more details. The mosque’s director, Imam Taha Hassane, said the center focused on interfaith relations, and that a group of non-Muslims had been touring the mosque earlier Monday to learn about Islam. The white mosque is surrounded by homes, apartments and strip malls with Middle Eastern restaurants and markets. It is home to the Al Rashid School, which offers courses in Arabic language, Islamic studies and the Quran for students ages 5 and up, according to its website. No students were harmed, Hassane said, and aerial TV footage showed the school children holding hands as they were led out of the parking lot surrounded by police vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"more-section-display-name\" class=\"AnchorLink\">\u003c/a>\u003ca style=\"font-size: 24px;font-weight: bold\" href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12083747/pge-spends-millions-against-tom-steyer-whats-behind-clash\">\u003cstrong>PG&E spends millions against Tom Steyer. What’s behind the clash?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12075769/tom-steyer-lays-out-vision-for-a-more-affordable-california-in-run-for-governor\">Tom Steyer\u003c/a> is smashing self-funding records with an unprecedented $193 million poured into his own campaign as he tries to advance past California’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/california/governor\">wide-open primary\u003c/a> for governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The race’s second-largest donor is trying to prevent that from happening. PG&E, the Oakland-based utility giant, has shelled out more than $12 million to oppose the Democratic investor, a historic level of spending for the utility in a governor’s race.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The campaign to sink Steyer’s chances (and \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/AdImpact_Pol/status/2055295439365103930?s=20\">recently\u003c/a>, boost former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra), whose ads target Steyer’s career as a hedge-fund manager, reasons that an investor with no government experience is ill-suited to manage the difficult tradeoffs that come with the state’s top job. But central to the conflict between the progressive billionaire and the power behemoth, experts say, is Steyer’s ambitious plan to cut electricity bills. That platform is built on a pledge to wield the governor’s power over appointments to install regulators who will reduce the utilities’ guaranteed profits. “That is a material threat to utility investors,” said Michael Wara, director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at Stanford University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Few areas offer as vexing a challenge for the governor as the oversight of investor-owned utilities in the midst of California’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1998536/newsom-signs-climate-energy-bills-charting-state-course-through-perilous-mid-transition\">energy transition\u003c/a> away from fossil fuels. Outside observers are divided over the impact that Steyer could have in a policy area that has thwarted the ambitions (and even \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-dec-31-mn-6834-story.html\">careers\u003c/a>) of previous governors. But Steyer is relishing the clash, arguing that the utility’s big-dollar effort to stop him is proof of the power it holds — and the change he vows to bring. He has cast the state’s three investor-owned utilities — PG&E, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric — as bogeymen standing in the way of a more affordable life in California. “I’ve said that we are going to regulate them differently and introduce local competition,” Steyer told KQED. “And they clearly think it’s worth $10 million as a bet to try and defeat me because they want to preserve their monopoly. I think that’s corrupt.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Californians pay the \u003ca href=\"https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.php?t=epmt_5_6_a\">second-highest\u003c/a> electricity rates in the country after Hawaii, and those rates have grown much faster than the national average this decade. At the heart of the price spike are wildfire-related costs that the utilities have passed along in part to customers. In response, Steyer is proposing to appoint reform-minded regulators to oversee the utilities. He promises that those appointees will cut utility profits, more closely examine the cost-effectiveness of wildfire spending and promote small-scale power generation, such as rooftop solar and microgrids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E has emerged as the top anti-Steyer spender in the closing weeks ahead of the June 2 primary. The utility has contributed $12.6 million to a committee named Californians for Resilient and Affordable Energy, No on Steyer for Governor 2026. That committee has sent $12.5 million to an anti-Steyer independent expenditure committee, called California is Not for Sale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steyer’s campaign filed a complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission earlier this month, arguing that PG&E is deliberately obscuring its role as the top funder of the ads by donating to the Resilient and Affordable Energy group instead of directly to California is Not for Sale. PG&E referred a request for an interview for this story to a spokesperson for the super PAC. California is Not for Sale spokesperson Amelia Matier said the group’s spending is not being driven by PG&E — or by opposition to any specific proposal from Steyer. “This is bigger than any one policy,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "PG&E Spends Millions Against Tom Steyer. What’s Behind the Clash?",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12075769/tom-steyer-lays-out-vision-for-a-more-affordable-california-in-run-for-governor\">Tom Steyer\u003c/a> is smashing self-funding records with an unprecedented $193 million poured into his own campaign as he tries to advance past California’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/california/governor\">wide-open primary\u003c/a> for governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The race’s second-largest donor is trying to prevent that from happening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E, the Oakland-based utility giant, has shelled out more than $12 million to oppose the Democratic investor, a historic level of spending for the utility in a governor’s race.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The campaign to sink Steyer’s chances (and \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/AdImpact_Pol/status/2055295439365103930?s=20\">recently\u003c/a>, boost former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra), whose ads target Steyer’s career as a hedge-fund manager, reasons that an investor with no government experience is ill-suited to manage the difficult tradeoffs that come with the state’s top job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But central to the conflict between the progressive billionaire and the power behemoth, experts say, is Steyer’s ambitious plan to cut electricity bills. That platform is built on a pledge to wield the governor’s power over appointments to install regulators who will reduce the utilities’ guaranteed profits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is a material threat to utility investors,” said Michael Wara, director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at Stanford University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Few areas offer as vexing a challenge for the governor as the oversight of investor-owned utilities in the midst of California’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1998536/newsom-signs-climate-energy-bills-charting-state-course-through-perilous-mid-transition\">energy transition\u003c/a> away from fossil fuels. Outside observers are divided over the impact that Steyer could have in a policy area that has thwarted the ambitions (and even \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-dec-31-mn-6834-story.html\">careers\u003c/a>) of previous governors.[aside label=\"From the 2026 Voter Guide\" link1='https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/governor,Learn about the California Governor Election' hero=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/80/2026/04/Aside-California-Governor-2026-Primary-Election-1200x1200@2x.png]But Steyer is relishing the clash, arguing that the utility’s big-dollar effort to stop him is proof of the power it holds — and the change he vows to bring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He has cast the state’s three investor-owned utilities — PG&E, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric — as bogeymen standing in the way of a more affordable life in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve said that we are going to regulate them differently and introduce local competition,” Steyer told KQED. “And they clearly think it’s worth $10 million as a bet to try and defeat me because they want to preserve their monopoly. I think that’s corrupt.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Californians pay the \u003ca href=\"https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.php?t=epmt_5_6_a\">second-highest\u003c/a> electricity rates in the country after Hawaii, and those rates have grown much faster than the national average this decade. At the heart of the price spike are wildfire-related costs that the utilities have passed along in part to customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response, Steyer is proposing to appoint reform-minded regulators to oversee the utilities. He promises that those appointees will cut utility profits, more closely examine the cost-effectiveness of wildfire spending and promote small-scale power generation, such as rooftop solar and microgrids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Steyer’s supporters, the politics of a utility crusade are undeniably positive. Voter antipathy toward the state’s large power providers cuts across urban progressives wary of monopoly power, rural residents anxious about utility-sparked fires and suburban solar customers furious about utility efforts to claw back rooftop benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an issue that is felt by not just the progressives but the moderates who also try to fight utility costs,” said Assemblymember Alex Lee, a progressive Democrat from San José who has endorsed Steyer. “We are all lamenting together that utilities have way too much power.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>PG&E spends big\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Steyer is leading with a bold promise: a 25% drop in electricity rates. He has paraded that vow in town halls, candidate debates and unceasing television advertisements. On Valentine’s Day, Steyer \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGv3mhkKRPQ\">released\u003c/a> a “break-up message” video outside a PG&E substation in San Francisco in which he called out the company’s CEO, Patti Poppe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steyer’s broadsides against the electric giants caught the eye of utility leadership — particularly after former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s campaign imploded \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079502/rep-eric-swalwell-candidate-for-california-governor-is-accused-of-sexual-assault\">amid sexual assault allegations\u003c/a>, making the possibility of a Steyer victory more realistic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pedro Pizarro, the CEO of SoCal Edison’s parent company, said on an April earnings call that he did not see any “fact basis” to Steyer’s promise of a 25% rate cut.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11943199\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11943199\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/RS34908_P1100952-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Blue trucks with 'pg and e' logo on them sit parked in a lot with the white and black blurry pattern of a fence in the foreground\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/RS34908_P1100952-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/RS34908_P1100952-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/RS34908_P1100952-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/RS34908_P1100952-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/RS34908_P1100952-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">PG&E trucks sit inside a Mission District facility owned by the utility. \u003ccite>(Sheraz Sadiq/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We have been very pointed about taking on things that are not connected to fact like those, and being outspoken about them,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E has gone further — emerging as the top anti-Steyer spender in the closing weeks ahead of the June 2 primary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The utility has contributed $12.6 million to a committee named Californians for Resilient and Affordable Energy, No on Steyer for Governor 2026. That committee has sent $12.5 million to an anti-Steyer independent expenditure committee, called California is Not for Sale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Chamber of Commerce’s political arm, JOBSPAC, sent over $7.7 million to California is Not for Sale — after receiving roughly $2 million from each of the state’s investor-owned utilities in April. A spokesperson for the Chamber said decisions on campaign spending are made by JOBSPAC leadership, not individual donors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11725572\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11725572 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/02/ap_19032839240667-c3ea9c8607ab8c46c7dcbc486a7c0f917e3d5a08-e1549984154270.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1438\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A man walks past a PG&E sign. \u003ccite>(Jeff Chiu/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The anti-Steyer super PAC has also drawn contributions from groups representing realtors, homebuilders and correctional officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The television ads funded by California is Not for Sale make no mention of Steyer’s electricity plan. Instead, they take aim at investments made by Steyer’s former hedge fund in private prison companies and fossil fuel projects. Steyer left the firm, Farallon Capital Management, in 2012.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steyer’s campaign filed a complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission earlier this month, arguing that PG&E is deliberately obscuring its role as the top funder of the ads by donating to the Resilient and Affordable Energy group instead of directly to California is Not for Sale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E referred a request for an interview for this story to a spokesperson for the super PAC.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Super PAC: Opposition ‘bigger than any one policy’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California is Not for Sale spokesperson Amelia Matier said the group’s spending is not being driven by PG&E — or by opposition to any specific proposal from Steyer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is bigger than any one policy,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matier argued the connective thread between the businesses spending against Steyer is a shared lack of faith that someone without any government experience could govern the world’s fourth-largest economy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12075623\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12075623 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260306-TOM-STEYER-ON-PB-MD-03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260306-TOM-STEYER-ON-PB-MD-03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260306-TOM-STEYER-ON-PB-MD-03-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260306-TOM-STEYER-ON-PB-MD-03-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tom Steyer speaks with Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos on Political Breakdown at KQED in San Francisco on March 6, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The group of people behind the IE just don’t think he’d be a good governor,” she said. “He doesn’t have the experience and know-how, and he wants to make everybody else the big corporate bogeyman — but the reality is that’s him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The $12.6 million PG&E has spent against Steyer is hardly a financial avalanche in the context of costly California campaigns. The utility spent over $46 million to support a single initiative, Proposition 16, a failed 2010 measure that would have made it harder for cities and counties to create local power providers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the anti-Steyer spending marks PG&E’s largest such outlay in a governor’s race, according to \u003ca href=\"https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/Detail.aspx?id=1007836&view=contributions&session=1999\">online filings\u003c/a> with the California secretary of state’s office, which date back to 1999.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In splashy television ads, Steyer has declared that he will “bust” the utilities and “break up” their power. But he is not proposing to end California’s current structure of electricity regulation, in which power companies are traded on Wall Street and entitled to a guaranteed rate of return on capital investments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m happy to have investor-owned,” Steyer said during \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12075769/tom-steyer-lays-out-vision-for-a-more-affordable-california-in-run-for-governor\">an interview\u003c/a> on KQED’s Political Breakdown. “My issue is we are not regulating them right.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A plan to ‘stop their gravy trains’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Much of Steyer’s electricity agenda is built on appointments he is eyeing for the five-member California Public Utilities Commission. The next governor will appoint two commissioners in January and replace three others over the course of their first term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CPUC has been at the center of bitter fights between utilities and ratepayer advocates over \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101910175/california-rooftop-solar-is-at-a-crossroads\">rooftop solar\u003c/a> benefits, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1992639/california-regulators-approve-adding-24-fixed-fee-to-utility-bills\">structure of electricity bills\u003c/a> and wildfire-related spending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former CPUC President Loretta Lynch, a frequent agency critic, said regulators have not properly scrutinized utility spending, which has resulted in higher bills for customers. Steyer could bring the first change to that dynamic in decades, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033400\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12033400\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/P1100970_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/P1100970_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/P1100970_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/P1100970_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/P1100970_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/P1100970_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/P1100970_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">PG&E utility poles in the Mission District on Jan. 27, 2019. \u003ccite>(Sheraz Sadiq/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s not surprising if you look at it that way that the utilities are going all out to fight the candidates who are going to stop their gravy trains,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steyer said he will appoint commissioners who push the utilities to more quickly connect new customers to the grid (spreading the system’s fixed costs more broadly) and incentivize the power providers to spend on solar and battery storage, instead of building expensive new transmission lines and substations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the most threatening proposal for California power companies is Steyer’s call for a cut in utility profits, said Wara.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The return on equity, set by the CPUC, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/industries-and-topics/electrical-energy/electric-costs/cost-of-capital\">currently sits\u003c/a> at roughly 10% for PG&E, SoCal Edison and SDG&E. The rate represents the profit that utilities are authorized to earn — and collect from ratepayers — on shareholder-funded infrastructure investments.[aside postID=news_12082915 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260423_-XAVIERBECERRA_EG_039-KQED.jpg']Utilities argue that a healthy return on equity is necessary to attract capital and fairly compensate shareholders for the risk of owning power companies that could face massive liability and even bankruptcy if their equipment sparks a wildfire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But those guaranteed profit rates have remained steady even at times when borrowing costs across the economy have declined. Utility critics point to research showing that elevated rates \u003ca href=\"https://haas.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/archive/WP329.pdf\">create a perverse incentive\u003c/a> for electric companies to pursue costly investments in order to recoup the highest return — all at inflated cost to the customer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A former economist for the parent company of SDG&E \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-12-18/state-regulators-vote-to-keep-utility-profits-high-angering-customers\">estimated\u003c/a> that reducing the return on equity to 6% would save customers $6.1 billion annually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steyer has floated the idea of reducing the rate of return by 2 percentage points.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If that could be accomplished, there is a significant potential savings for California electricity customers,” Wara said. “Of course [utilities] object to that — it would be crazy if they didn’t.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Wara cautioned that a cut to utility profits is not without risk. If California lowers its rate of return and other states do not, shareholders could decide to invest in utilities in parts of the country offering higher profits without wildfire risk. With less cash on hand, California utilities could face higher borrowing costs that, in turn, would raise bills for ratepayers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The question is how investors in that market respond,” Wara said. “Do they take their money elsewhere? Or do they think these three [California utility] stocks are too big not to have in their utility portfolio?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Difficult tradeoffs\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Others see an imperiousness in Steyer’s broadsides against the utilities — a belief that complex reforms can be pushed through without compromise or tradeoffs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bill Dodd, a former state senator who worked extensively on utility legislation, has had a recurring question as he’s watched Steyer’s ads promising lower electricity rates: “How the hell is he going to do that?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dodd argued that many of the cost pressures facing utilities and their ratepayers are a result of climate change, as hotter temperatures and shorter windows of precipitation have lengthened California’s fire season. No matter who is governor, power companies will need to spend money to trim trees and bury power lines, while setting aside billions of dollars to pay claims arising from future wildfires caused by their equipment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082332\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082332\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/043006TOMSTEYER_GH_009-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/043006TOMSTEYER_GH_009-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/043006TOMSTEYER_GH_009-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/043006TOMSTEYER_GH_009-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer speaks during a town hall event on April 30, 2026, in San José. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And while governors typically enjoy great sway over state agencies, the commissioners Steyer appoints to the CPUC will still be bound by state law requiring utility rates to be “just and reasonable” — balancing affordability with the need to attract shareholder investment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The bottom line is even when you appoint members of the CPUC, they are still taking an oath to the state of California,” Dodd said. “So I don’t think it’s as easy to get done as just [saying] ‘I’m going to replace everybody.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steyer’s campaign said he will look for commissioners with a shared vision for regulating the state’s investor-owned utilities.[aside label=\"2026 Bay Area Voter Guide\" link1='https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/bayarea,Learn about every single race and measure across the nine Bay Area counties' hero=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/80/2026/04/Aside-Bay-Area-Voter-Guide-2026-Primary-Election-1200x1200@2x.png]Complicating matters, Californians’ desire for rate relief exists alongside their expectations of reliable service and wildfire safety. Steyer’s electricity plan promises to “strengthen safety, bolster reliability, and lower prices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s hard for me to imagine that we can achieve all of those three things at once,” said Meredith Fowlie, faculty director at UC Berkeley’s Energy Institute at Haas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ongoing utility investments to prevent wildfires are likely to keep electricity prices elevated: The CPUC is \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/-/media/cpuc-website/divisions/office-of-governmental-affairs-division/reports/2025/2025-sb-695-report_093025.pdf\">projecting\u003c/a> rate increases through 2028 of roughly 6% for PG&E and SDG&E and around 7% for SoCal Edison, compared with an assumed inflation rate of 2.6%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But lowering bills by reducing spending on wildfire mitigation could require the state to accept a higher tolerance for catastrophic blazes. And while strategies such as planned \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11891810/pge-power-shutoffs-are-affecting-thousands-again-heres-when-they-can-expect-to-get-it-back\">power outages\u003c/a> could help avoid those fires at a relatively low cost, they bring disruption to the daily lives of Californians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we decide to focus on reducing rates, I think we’re going to have to trade off reliability and tolerate more wildfire risk,” Fowlie said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom and members of the Legislature have spent much of the last year weighing those tradeoffs. In some ways, Steyer would be showing up in the second act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Legislation moving through the Senate this year would \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB905\">reduce\u003c/a> utility profits and tap the state budget to pay for certain investments currently funded by ratepayers. And a \u003ca href=\"https://www.cawildfirefund.com/sb-254-natural-catastrophe-resilience-study\">state report\u003c/a> on resilience to natural catastrophes released last month could serve as the starting point for negotiations this summer around reforms to wildfire liability and California’s home insurance market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So I think if I was a utility, I would see [Steyer] as signaling that he will continue along this path,” Fowlie said. “And continuing along that path could have implications for how they’re able to conduct their business.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "PG&E Spends Millions Against Tom Steyer. What’s Behind the Clash? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12075769/tom-steyer-lays-out-vision-for-a-more-affordable-california-in-run-for-governor\">Tom Steyer\u003c/a> is smashing self-funding records with an unprecedented $193 million poured into his own campaign as he tries to advance past California’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/california/governor\">wide-open primary\u003c/a> for governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The race’s second-largest donor is trying to prevent that from happening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E, the Oakland-based utility giant, has shelled out more than $12 million to oppose the Democratic investor, a historic level of spending for the utility in a governor’s race.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The campaign to sink Steyer’s chances (and \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/AdImpact_Pol/status/2055295439365103930?s=20\">recently\u003c/a>, boost former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra), whose ads target Steyer’s career as a hedge-fund manager, reasons that an investor with no government experience is ill-suited to manage the difficult tradeoffs that come with the state’s top job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But central to the conflict between the progressive billionaire and the power behemoth, experts say, is Steyer’s ambitious plan to cut electricity bills. That platform is built on a pledge to wield the governor’s power over appointments to install regulators who will reduce the utilities’ guaranteed profits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is a material threat to utility investors,” said Michael Wara, director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at Stanford University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Few areas offer as vexing a challenge for the governor as the oversight of investor-owned utilities in the midst of California’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1998536/newsom-signs-climate-energy-bills-charting-state-course-through-perilous-mid-transition\">energy transition\u003c/a> away from fossil fuels. Outside observers are divided over the impact that Steyer could have in a policy area that has thwarted the ambitions (and even \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-dec-31-mn-6834-story.html\">careers\u003c/a>) of previous governors.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But Steyer is relishing the clash, arguing that the utility’s big-dollar effort to stop him is proof of the power it holds — and the change he vows to bring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He has cast the state’s three investor-owned utilities — PG&E, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric — as bogeymen standing in the way of a more affordable life in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve said that we are going to regulate them differently and introduce local competition,” Steyer told KQED. “And they clearly think it’s worth $10 million as a bet to try and defeat me because they want to preserve their monopoly. I think that’s corrupt.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Californians pay the \u003ca href=\"https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.php?t=epmt_5_6_a\">second-highest\u003c/a> electricity rates in the country after Hawaii, and those rates have grown much faster than the national average this decade. At the heart of the price spike are wildfire-related costs that the utilities have passed along in part to customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response, Steyer is proposing to appoint reform-minded regulators to oversee the utilities. He promises that those appointees will cut utility profits, more closely examine the cost-effectiveness of wildfire spending and promote small-scale power generation, such as rooftop solar and microgrids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Steyer’s supporters, the politics of a utility crusade are undeniably positive. Voter antipathy toward the state’s large power providers cuts across urban progressives wary of monopoly power, rural residents anxious about utility-sparked fires and suburban solar customers furious about utility efforts to claw back rooftop benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an issue that is felt by not just the progressives but the moderates who also try to fight utility costs,” said Assemblymember Alex Lee, a progressive Democrat from San José who has endorsed Steyer. “We are all lamenting together that utilities have way too much power.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>PG&E spends big\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Steyer is leading with a bold promise: a 25% drop in electricity rates. He has paraded that vow in town halls, candidate debates and unceasing television advertisements. On Valentine’s Day, Steyer \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGv3mhkKRPQ\">released\u003c/a> a “break-up message” video outside a PG&E substation in San Francisco in which he called out the company’s CEO, Patti Poppe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steyer’s broadsides against the electric giants caught the eye of utility leadership — particularly after former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s campaign imploded \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079502/rep-eric-swalwell-candidate-for-california-governor-is-accused-of-sexual-assault\">amid sexual assault allegations\u003c/a>, making the possibility of a Steyer victory more realistic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pedro Pizarro, the CEO of SoCal Edison’s parent company, said on an April earnings call that he did not see any “fact basis” to Steyer’s promise of a 25% rate cut.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11943199\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11943199\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/RS34908_P1100952-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Blue trucks with 'pg and e' logo on them sit parked in a lot with the white and black blurry pattern of a fence in the foreground\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/RS34908_P1100952-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/RS34908_P1100952-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/RS34908_P1100952-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/RS34908_P1100952-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/RS34908_P1100952-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">PG&E trucks sit inside a Mission District facility owned by the utility. \u003ccite>(Sheraz Sadiq/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We have been very pointed about taking on things that are not connected to fact like those, and being outspoken about them,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E has gone further — emerging as the top anti-Steyer spender in the closing weeks ahead of the June 2 primary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The utility has contributed $12.6 million to a committee named Californians for Resilient and Affordable Energy, No on Steyer for Governor 2026. That committee has sent $12.5 million to an anti-Steyer independent expenditure committee, called California is Not for Sale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Chamber of Commerce’s political arm, JOBSPAC, sent over $7.7 million to California is Not for Sale — after receiving roughly $2 million from each of the state’s investor-owned utilities in April. A spokesperson for the Chamber said decisions on campaign spending are made by JOBSPAC leadership, not individual donors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11725572\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11725572 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/02/ap_19032839240667-c3ea9c8607ab8c46c7dcbc486a7c0f917e3d5a08-e1549984154270.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1438\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A man walks past a PG&E sign. \u003ccite>(Jeff Chiu/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The anti-Steyer super PAC has also drawn contributions from groups representing realtors, homebuilders and correctional officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The television ads funded by California is Not for Sale make no mention of Steyer’s electricity plan. Instead, they take aim at investments made by Steyer’s former hedge fund in private prison companies and fossil fuel projects. Steyer left the firm, Farallon Capital Management, in 2012.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steyer’s campaign filed a complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission earlier this month, arguing that PG&E is deliberately obscuring its role as the top funder of the ads by donating to the Resilient and Affordable Energy group instead of directly to California is Not for Sale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E referred a request for an interview for this story to a spokesperson for the super PAC.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Super PAC: Opposition ‘bigger than any one policy’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California is Not for Sale spokesperson Amelia Matier said the group’s spending is not being driven by PG&E — or by opposition to any specific proposal from Steyer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is bigger than any one policy,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matier argued the connective thread between the businesses spending against Steyer is a shared lack of faith that someone without any government experience could govern the world’s fourth-largest economy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12075623\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12075623 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260306-TOM-STEYER-ON-PB-MD-03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260306-TOM-STEYER-ON-PB-MD-03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260306-TOM-STEYER-ON-PB-MD-03-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260306-TOM-STEYER-ON-PB-MD-03-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tom Steyer speaks with Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos on Political Breakdown at KQED in San Francisco on March 6, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The group of people behind the IE just don’t think he’d be a good governor,” she said. “He doesn’t have the experience and know-how, and he wants to make everybody else the big corporate bogeyman — but the reality is that’s him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The $12.6 million PG&E has spent against Steyer is hardly a financial avalanche in the context of costly California campaigns. The utility spent over $46 million to support a single initiative, Proposition 16, a failed 2010 measure that would have made it harder for cities and counties to create local power providers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the anti-Steyer spending marks PG&E’s largest such outlay in a governor’s race, according to \u003ca href=\"https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/Detail.aspx?id=1007836&view=contributions&session=1999\">online filings\u003c/a> with the California secretary of state’s office, which date back to 1999.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In splashy television ads, Steyer has declared that he will “bust” the utilities and “break up” their power. But he is not proposing to end California’s current structure of electricity regulation, in which power companies are traded on Wall Street and entitled to a guaranteed rate of return on capital investments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m happy to have investor-owned,” Steyer said during \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12075769/tom-steyer-lays-out-vision-for-a-more-affordable-california-in-run-for-governor\">an interview\u003c/a> on KQED’s Political Breakdown. “My issue is we are not regulating them right.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A plan to ‘stop their gravy trains’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Much of Steyer’s electricity agenda is built on appointments he is eyeing for the five-member California Public Utilities Commission. The next governor will appoint two commissioners in January and replace three others over the course of their first term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CPUC has been at the center of bitter fights between utilities and ratepayer advocates over \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101910175/california-rooftop-solar-is-at-a-crossroads\">rooftop solar\u003c/a> benefits, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1992639/california-regulators-approve-adding-24-fixed-fee-to-utility-bills\">structure of electricity bills\u003c/a> and wildfire-related spending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former CPUC President Loretta Lynch, a frequent agency critic, said regulators have not properly scrutinized utility spending, which has resulted in higher bills for customers. Steyer could bring the first change to that dynamic in decades, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033400\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12033400\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/P1100970_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/P1100970_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/P1100970_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/P1100970_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/P1100970_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/P1100970_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/P1100970_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">PG&E utility poles in the Mission District on Jan. 27, 2019. \u003ccite>(Sheraz Sadiq/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s not surprising if you look at it that way that the utilities are going all out to fight the candidates who are going to stop their gravy trains,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steyer said he will appoint commissioners who push the utilities to more quickly connect new customers to the grid (spreading the system’s fixed costs more broadly) and incentivize the power providers to spend on solar and battery storage, instead of building expensive new transmission lines and substations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the most threatening proposal for California power companies is Steyer’s call for a cut in utility profits, said Wara.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The return on equity, set by the CPUC, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/industries-and-topics/electrical-energy/electric-costs/cost-of-capital\">currently sits\u003c/a> at roughly 10% for PG&E, SoCal Edison and SDG&E. The rate represents the profit that utilities are authorized to earn — and collect from ratepayers — on shareholder-funded infrastructure investments.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Utilities argue that a healthy return on equity is necessary to attract capital and fairly compensate shareholders for the risk of owning power companies that could face massive liability and even bankruptcy if their equipment sparks a wildfire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But those guaranteed profit rates have remained steady even at times when borrowing costs across the economy have declined. Utility critics point to research showing that elevated rates \u003ca href=\"https://haas.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/archive/WP329.pdf\">create a perverse incentive\u003c/a> for electric companies to pursue costly investments in order to recoup the highest return — all at inflated cost to the customer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A former economist for the parent company of SDG&E \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-12-18/state-regulators-vote-to-keep-utility-profits-high-angering-customers\">estimated\u003c/a> that reducing the return on equity to 6% would save customers $6.1 billion annually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steyer has floated the idea of reducing the rate of return by 2 percentage points.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If that could be accomplished, there is a significant potential savings for California electricity customers,” Wara said. “Of course [utilities] object to that — it would be crazy if they didn’t.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Wara cautioned that a cut to utility profits is not without risk. If California lowers its rate of return and other states do not, shareholders could decide to invest in utilities in parts of the country offering higher profits without wildfire risk. With less cash on hand, California utilities could face higher borrowing costs that, in turn, would raise bills for ratepayers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The question is how investors in that market respond,” Wara said. “Do they take their money elsewhere? Or do they think these three [California utility] stocks are too big not to have in their utility portfolio?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Difficult tradeoffs\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Others see an imperiousness in Steyer’s broadsides against the utilities — a belief that complex reforms can be pushed through without compromise or tradeoffs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bill Dodd, a former state senator who worked extensively on utility legislation, has had a recurring question as he’s watched Steyer’s ads promising lower electricity rates: “How the hell is he going to do that?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dodd argued that many of the cost pressures facing utilities and their ratepayers are a result of climate change, as hotter temperatures and shorter windows of precipitation have lengthened California’s fire season. No matter who is governor, power companies will need to spend money to trim trees and bury power lines, while setting aside billions of dollars to pay claims arising from future wildfires caused by their equipment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082332\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082332\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/043006TOMSTEYER_GH_009-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/043006TOMSTEYER_GH_009-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/043006TOMSTEYER_GH_009-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/043006TOMSTEYER_GH_009-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer speaks during a town hall event on April 30, 2026, in San José. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And while governors typically enjoy great sway over state agencies, the commissioners Steyer appoints to the CPUC will still be bound by state law requiring utility rates to be “just and reasonable” — balancing affordability with the need to attract shareholder investment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The bottom line is even when you appoint members of the CPUC, they are still taking an oath to the state of California,” Dodd said. “So I don’t think it’s as easy to get done as just [saying] ‘I’m going to replace everybody.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steyer’s campaign said he will look for commissioners with a shared vision for regulating the state’s investor-owned utilities.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Complicating matters, Californians’ desire for rate relief exists alongside their expectations of reliable service and wildfire safety. Steyer’s electricity plan promises to “strengthen safety, bolster reliability, and lower prices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s hard for me to imagine that we can achieve all of those three things at once,” said Meredith Fowlie, faculty director at UC Berkeley’s Energy Institute at Haas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ongoing utility investments to prevent wildfires are likely to keep electricity prices elevated: The CPUC is \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/-/media/cpuc-website/divisions/office-of-governmental-affairs-division/reports/2025/2025-sb-695-report_093025.pdf\">projecting\u003c/a> rate increases through 2028 of roughly 6% for PG&E and SDG&E and around 7% for SoCal Edison, compared with an assumed inflation rate of 2.6%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But lowering bills by reducing spending on wildfire mitigation could require the state to accept a higher tolerance for catastrophic blazes. And while strategies such as planned \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11891810/pge-power-shutoffs-are-affecting-thousands-again-heres-when-they-can-expect-to-get-it-back\">power outages\u003c/a> could help avoid those fires at a relatively low cost, they bring disruption to the daily lives of Californians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we decide to focus on reducing rates, I think we’re going to have to trade off reliability and tolerate more wildfire risk,” Fowlie said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom and members of the Legislature have spent much of the last year weighing those tradeoffs. In some ways, Steyer would be showing up in the second act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Legislation moving through the Senate this year would \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB905\">reduce\u003c/a> utility profits and tap the state budget to pay for certain investments currently funded by ratepayers. And a \u003ca href=\"https://www.cawildfirefund.com/sb-254-natural-catastrophe-resilience-study\">state report\u003c/a> on resilience to natural catastrophes released last month could serve as the starting point for negotiations this summer around reforms to wildfire liability and California’s home insurance market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So I think if I was a utility, I would see [Steyer] as signaling that he will continue along this path,” Fowlie said. “And continuing along that path could have implications for how they’re able to conduct their business.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "more-than-30000-in-northern-california-without-power-amid-winds-and-wildfire-risk",
"title": "More Than 30,000 in Northern California Without Power Amid Winds and Wildfire Risk",
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"headTitle": "More Than 30,000 in Northern California Without Power Amid Winds and Wildfire Risk | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>More than 34,000 PG&E customers in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\">Bay Area\u003c/a> remained without power on Monday, as high winds and dry conditions increased wildfire risk across the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of 9:49 a.m., Monday, the utility’s outage map showed more than 813 current outages, and 34,549 customers affected, due to a combination of planned public safety power shutoffs and unplanned outages. The outage continued from Sunday, when more than 40,000 customers were affected, according to the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The utility said it cut power in parts of Napa, Marin, Sonoma and Santa Cruz counties to prevent wildfire. Elsewhere in the South Bay and Sonoma counties, thousands of customers were affected by unplanned outages that PG&E said were caused by a storm. PG&E estimated that those outages would end throughout the afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The preventative shutoffs come as warm weather and gusty winds arrived in the Bay Area over the weekend. The National Weather Service issued a high wind advisory overnight Sunday for the Santa Cruz and interior North Bay Mountains, along with the Eastern Santa Clara and East Bay Hills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gusts up to 60 mph and sustained winds between 15 and 30 mph blew through the region overnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Winds are expected to ebb on Monday afternoon. Fire risk was still elevated, though, due to relatively low humidity and hotter-than-expected conditions. The National Weather Service said temperatures were recording about 6 degrees higher than forecasted due to stronger-than-expected offshore winds bringing in warmer and drier air inland. The interior Bay Area could reach the high 80s and low 90s later in the day, while the coast remains in the 70s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Elevated fire weather concerns continue through today across the interior with low humidities and strong gusts,” the weather service said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "PG&E said the preventative shutoffs come as warm weather and gusty winds arrived in the Bay Area over the weekend.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>More than 34,000 PG&E customers in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\">Bay Area\u003c/a> remained without power on Monday, as high winds and dry conditions increased wildfire risk across the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of 9:49 a.m., Monday, the utility’s outage map showed more than 813 current outages, and 34,549 customers affected, due to a combination of planned public safety power shutoffs and unplanned outages. The outage continued from Sunday, when more than 40,000 customers were affected, according to the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The utility said it cut power in parts of Napa, Marin, Sonoma and Santa Cruz counties to prevent wildfire. Elsewhere in the South Bay and Sonoma counties, thousands of customers were affected by unplanned outages that PG&E said were caused by a storm. PG&E estimated that those outages would end throughout the afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The preventative shutoffs come as warm weather and gusty winds arrived in the Bay Area over the weekend. The National Weather Service issued a high wind advisory overnight Sunday for the Santa Cruz and interior North Bay Mountains, along with the Eastern Santa Clara and East Bay Hills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gusts up to 60 mph and sustained winds between 15 and 30 mph blew through the region overnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Winds are expected to ebb on Monday afternoon. Fire risk was still elevated, though, due to relatively low humidity and hotter-than-expected conditions. The National Weather Service said temperatures were recording about 6 degrees higher than forecasted due to stronger-than-expected offshore winds bringing in warmer and drier air inland. The interior Bay Area could reach the high 80s and low 90s later in the day, while the coast remains in the 70s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Elevated fire weather concerns continue through today across the interior with low humidities and strong gusts,” the weather service said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"soldout": {
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"title": "SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America",
"tagline": "A new future for housing",
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