PG&E could have a stranglehold on your bank account in perpetuality.

That’s because California’s bureaucracy led by political appointees has made it possible for PG&E to come back from” the dead” — financial bankruptcy — twice.

The California Public Utilities Commission and Sacramento apparently exist to get PG&E off life support so they can remain the darling of Wall Street hedge funds.

And apparently it is on the assumption PG&E in its current configuration and size is the cat’s meow, and therefore the best energy provider for 18 million Californians in a state whose leadership prides itself on supposedly being cutting edge.

PG&E holds four aces, thanks to Sacramento.

First, and foremost, state law assures all private sector electricity provides at least a profit pushing 11 percent on every rate increase granted.

That means for every $1 billion PG&E is now collecting for hardening their system — freely translated to make sure their product doesn’t kill customers and burn them out of house and home — they are entitled to make $110 million in profits.

That means the soaring rate hikes you are now enjoying has set PG&E on the course to continue pocketing record profits.

It is happening six years after deliberate PG&E decisions not to perform standard upgrades and maintenance of their power grid in order to keep costs down led to 85 deaths and more than 14,000 homes destroyed.

Meanwhile Paradise, a once vibrant community of 26,000 people, is still struggling to recover six years later.

The third ace is the fact PG&E will eventually replace Chevron at al as the “gas station” for households of 18 million people under the looming state electrical vehicle mandate.

The final card is the state — most notably Gov. Gavin Newsom and the legislature — can be counted on to talk a big game but then go AWOL when workable solutions require more than sound bites and clever social media postings

State leaders chickened out when they had PG&E on the ropes in the aftermath of the November 2018 Camp Fire.

They talked about forcing a PG&E sale, breaking it up, and/or converting large swaths of the company into public ownership emulating the successful examples established by Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Turlock Irrigation District, and Modesto Irrigation District.

Toss in the fact elected leaders in Sacramento have the attention span of hummingbirds, dine and shmooze with the devil, and apparently don’t want to do anything that would slow down the greening of the power grid and PG&E might as well as have Newsom as its CEO and the California Legislature as its corporate board.

Newsom and Sacramento played an oversized role in PG&E — which just a few short years ago was in the throes of its second bankruptcy in 20 years after becoming a convicted felon for killing off 85 customers and burning down 14,000 homes — hitting a historic high for profits.

In the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2023, they made $18.004 billion in gross profits.

And they owe it all to you and me thanks to state leadership that is more of a lapdog for PG&E than a watchdog for Californians.

Or should that be we owe all what we have to PG&E.

Keep in mind, PG&E will make even more this year thanks to the 13 percent hike that went into effect
Jan. 1.

That doesn’t count a slew of pending rate increase cases lined up like atmospheric rivers at the California Public Utilities Commission ready to soak you for even more money.

Yes, these are giddy times for the convicted felon corporation headquartered at 300 Lakeshore Drive in Oakland.

And you thought when the top brass at the for-profit utility proclaimed a few years back that PG&E “needed to do better you”, they meant by their customers.

Just for laughs, here’s a recap of PG&E gross profits going back to 2010:

u$8.652 billion in 2010

u$9.623 billion in 2011.

u$10.017 billion in 2012.

u$9.614 billion in 2013.

u$10.521 billion in 2014.

u$11.071 billion in 2015.

u$12.286 billion in 2016.

u$12.080 billion in 2017.

u$12.260 billion in 2018.

u$13.300 billion in 2019.

u$14.571 billion in 2020.

u$16.261 billion in 2021.

u$16.824 billion in 2022.

u$18.004 billion in 2023.

And even before rates were raised 13 percent on Jan. 1, PG&E was on track for a massive surge in earnings based on the fourth quarter (October through December) of 2023 that ended up being  $919 million.

 That was a 79.1 percent jump in earnings compared with the net profits of $513 million in the fourth quarter of 2022.

PG&E also  reported gross profits of $4.884 billion, an 18.98 percent increase over the same three-month period in 2022.

Even without the rate increase that shocked you when you opened any of your heart-stopping bills over the last seven months, PG&E was on pace to blow past the $20 billion mark in terms of annual gross profits when Sept. 30 rolls around in 32 days.

You’ve probably already noticed that the $15.8 billion in additional money for hardening the system over the next years is $2.2 billion less that PG&E’s gross profits for 2023.

In other words, PG&E could do all of the work with the 13 percent rate increase from their gross profits last year and still make money.

The record profits are courtesy, for the most part, of legislators in Sacramento that have put in place aggressive green energy initiatives.

They don’t come cheap, which doesn’t bother PG&E or their fellow for profit California utilities.

Believe it or not, there are legislators irked that the rising PG&E rates has led to constituents inundating them demanding they take the foot off the pedal for various green initiatives  that are draining their bank accounts via energy costs.

Who would have thought imposing green mandates on an accelerated schedule would raise energy rates even faster?

Californians can no longer afford for-profit utilities.

Gov. Newsom and the state Legislature didn’t do the right thing when they had the rattlesnake that PG&E is up against the wall before the last bankruptcy proceedings.

PG&E is alive, well, and more profitable  than ever before because Sacramento let them get up off the mat instead of going down for the count.

This column is the opinion of editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of The Bulletin or 209 Multimedia. He can be reached at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com