{"id":45741,"date":"2025-12-23T13:01:23","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T21:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=45741"},"modified":"2025-12-23T13:01:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T21:01:24","slug":"its-time-to-kick-pge-out-of-the-city-in-fact-its-long-long-overdue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/12\/23\/its-time-to-kick-pge-out-of-the-city-in-fact-its-long-long-overdue\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s time to kick PG&E out of the city. In fact, it\u2019s long, long overdue"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Plus: Robocars could cause a massive crisis in an emergency\u2014 and the budget for next year is going to be awful. That’s The Agenda for Dec. 21-28<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Tim Redmond<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

December 21, 2025 (48hills.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We learned at least two things from this weekend\u2019s (ongoing) blackout: PG&E can\u2019t be trusted to provide reliable service to this city\u2014and new technologies like Waymo are not ready for emergencies and could seriously hinder public safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The private utility has for years made maintenance and safety a second priority, after bonus payments to management<\/a> and high shareholder returns. Along with the other big private power companies in the state, PG&E has asked for even more money from the ratepayers<\/a> to bump up its stock price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The blackout caused huge traffic problems, seen here on Divisadero\u2014and the stalled robocars made things worse. Photo by Emma Lorraine Garcia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Now an old transformer caught fire, and the company didn\u2019t have the resiliency to avoid a blackout that impacted a third of the city, and is still going as I write this. We don\u2019t know yet whether a lack of on-duty staff  made things worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We do know that PG&E has operated illegally in San Francisco for more than 100 years<\/a>, costing the city tens of millions of dollars a year<\/a>. You can read a detailed history I did about 30 years ago here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SF has been moving, slowly, to take over the company\u2019s system and create a public power utility in the city<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now the case for public power is more clear than ever, and it\u2019s time the supes hold a hearing on where the process is, what the next steps are, and how to move forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile: Waymo clearly isn\u2019t ready for prime time,<\/strong> not in a city where blackouts and other emergencies are common. The robocars just stopped in the middle of intersections when the streetlights went out. They\u2019ve stopped and blocked traffic when the wifi signals aren\u2019t getting through (like near big events<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine if an ambulance or a fire truck needed to get through one of the blocked intersections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is insane, Waymo vehicles all over SF are bricked due to a power outage. https:\/\/t.co\/2AnKB80Qj7<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/HnHPjq7FcB<\/a><\/p>— Nic Cruz Patane (@niccruzpatane) December 21, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote>