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PG&E doesn’t deserve any favors from Sacramento — or taxpayers

The scandal-scarred utility is a headache for the entire state

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The endless scandals surrounding Pacific Gas & Electric may seem of little consequence to San Diego County residents. But given that all state taxpayers could suffer if the state’s largest utility keeps screwing up, PG&E demands attention.

The latest example came this week. PG&E was driven into bankruptcy in January because of the billions of dollars in liabilities it faces because of wildfires started by its dangerously poor maintenance of power lines and infrastructure. Its management failings are so extreme that in December, Michael Picker — the outgoing head of the California Public Utilities Commission — suggested the utility should be broken up or sold off. Yet on Wednesday, the Sacramento Bee reported that PG&E was lobbying for the Legislature to quickly approve a bill that could give the company access to tax-free state bonds — an extraordinary favor to give any privately held business, especially one convicted in federal court of six felonies related to a 2010 disaster in San Bruno that left eight people dead.

But that’s not all. The Bee also reported on evidence gathered by PG&E’s bondholders that showed that utility CEO Bill Johnson could earn as much as $110 million if the company’s stock price rebounded to its 2017 peak. This is beyond ludicrous. PG&E’s 16 million customers should be up in arms.

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The same holds for lawmakers being implored to do the utility a huge favor. Nothing in PG&E’s recent history suggests it deserves any breaks at all.

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