Every elected official, city council, board of supervisors, and utility agency in the state needs to immediately come out publicly in opposition to the initiative and start organizing to defeat it. San Francisco elected officials, including City Attorney Dennis Herrera, need to lead the charge since San Francisco is the only city in the U.S. mandated by federal law to have public power (which it doesn’t have, thanks to PG&E’s corrupting influence through the decades.)
EDITORIAL A ballot measure that could spell the end of public power in California is headed for either the spring or fall 2010 ballot — and so far, the opposition is missing in action. This is a profoundly important issue, and every elected official, city council, board of supervisors, and utility agency in the Bay Area needs to immediately come out in opposition and start organizing to defeat it.
The source of the proposition, of course, is Pacific Gas and Electric Co. PG&E is facing political wildfires all over the state as communities rebel against bad service and high rates. In Marin County, a community choice aggregation (CCA) plan is moving along, full speed. In San Francisco, CCA is a little slower, but still on track. These efforts could turn two of PG&E’s most profitable territories into public power beachheads. Meanwhile, in San Joaquin County, a public power movement is trying to take over part of PG&E’s service area, and PG&E just spent millions of dollars fighting a similar effort in Davis.