Right out of Atlas Shrugged

Posted by $ Abaco 4 years, 4 months ago to Government
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This is right out of Atlas Shrugged. I'll flesh out why later. I'm so ticked about this... When you own a chunk of an entity's stock you pay attention to the manipulators. As a guy who spent several years as a registered investment advisor I know crap when I see it. Note the error in the wise mayor's statement in this story...
SOURCE URL: https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2019/12/11/san-jose-city-council-backs-mayors-plan-to-make-pg.html


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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 4 years, 4 months ago
    John Galt knows how to fix this. I know him. He has been to my house to fix my A/C a couple of times. I also know that he will not work for PG&E.
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  • Posted by Lucky 4 years, 4 months ago
    A little aside- if you read down that page you will see,
    ..gusts could blow embers more than a mile

    This is correct. Efforts to stop these fires with firebreaks are as worthless as the other methods that the green/left publicize. Water sprayed from very large aircraft evaporates before reaching tree top level, replacing gasoline in motor vehicles with electricity that cannot be supplied- pure grandstanding, and as the article says even fire breaks need to be a mile or more wide. The fact is these fires can not be stopped, the only approach is to reduce the fuel load by controlled burns in the wet/cool season.
    If PGE were a normal profit seeking company they would know about proper forest management and controlled burning, and lobbied accordingly, but they were too busy on political correctness exercises.

    To think that any kind of customer or government ownership will improve all that is to ignore experience in human behavior.
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  • Posted by AMeador1 4 years, 4 months ago
    How are the customers supposed to make this into a non-profit owned by the customers - yet be a public agency? One, it should not be a public agency. Two, bankruptcy doesn't take away ownership of the original company - I suppose they are filing a Chapter 11 for restructuring purposes - if so that makes this all moot - unless the judge in the bankruptcy case literally takes the business away from the owners to turn it over to this hodgepodge the Mayer is yapping about. Besides, wasn't a lot of the reasons behind why this all blew up because of the government regulations imposed on this company which kept them from doing a lot of what needed to be done to have stopped all this fire storm in the first place? (Fire storm referring to the fires as well as the overall collapse and problems of this company via regulation)
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    • Posted by exceller 4 years, 4 months ago
      Don't expect local gov officials to understand bankruptcy laws let alone ownership.

      While it is true that CA environmental laws prevented some of the safety measures to be implemented, it is also true that PG&E has been negligent in maintaining the proper working order of its equipment for decades.

      As it happens in life, the disastrous fires erupting all over CA have multiple origin and will not be solved by a one off magic wand of changing ownership.
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      • Posted by AMeador1 4 years, 4 months ago
        Ha - I know that's true! I work in local government and it is amazing to me the lack of business knowledge that permeates it. Wasn't one of their complaints about not maintaining some of the equipment properly due to the fact that they were restricted from raising rates to bring in the additional income needed to do so? I though I had hear or read that somewhere.

        If so, this reminds me of the situation with NY City taking over the railroad/subway system that was initially privately owned and run - but when the private company wanted to raise rates - they were told they couldn't. It eventually ran them out, then the local government took the business over - and then figured out the rates needed to be higher to maintain the system.
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        • Posted by exceller 4 years, 4 months ago
          In the case of PG&E, the cost of upgrading the grid has grown to astronomical amounts and the company opted to pay that amount out as bonuses for its executives for a job well done.

          I don't sympathize with PG&E for a second, having been exposed to its "services" for a long time.

          The attitude itself how they handled emergencies merits a bankruptcy.

          They gave explanations when you called them up such as "who would have expected flooding in that area" when it has been well known the area was prone to flooding because of the terrain, every time the rainy season hit.

          Or: "we have been spending millions of dollars cutting trees that present danger to the lines" this when power was cut due to a storm that downed trees in open areas, bringing down power lines with them.
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          • Posted by AMeador1 4 years, 4 months ago
            Ah, that's a shame. I've only heard pieces and parts about their issues. I still don't like government mucking around in things - but it surely doesn't mean they are not on the hook for poor decisions and poor management themselves. If they have run themselves into the ground - bankruptcy is justified. Maybe it would be better if they would file a chapter 7 and just go out of business. Let the creditors sell their assets - hopefully to an operation that can do a better job. But, they need to get rid of the regulatory BS that will be facing the new company. They really should do this as a private for profit company. There is too much movement in this country of businesses being non-profit - which really puts the IRS in a position of fixing what people are allowed to earn based on job titles - an indirect way of our government implementing that "no one is worth that much pay" mentality. The more they do it the more they will push it everywhere. Besides all of the benefits of doing it in a capitalistic manner. I've been seeing retail stored popping up that are getting non-profit, tax exempt status due to the fact that they offer classes on cooking related things here and there and get by with calling themselves educational - all while competing with close by for profit stores that don't get the tax benefits.
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  • Posted by Bill54 4 years, 4 months ago
    Well, it just seems that humankind is doomed to repeat the mistakes of our predecessors. Who is John Galt? Where is individualism today? Perhaps just over the horizon. Perhaps it is under our feet. Be brave.
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  • Posted by LibertyBelle 4 years, 4 months ago
    I wonder about a few things. Did PG&E cause the fire? (I've heard things on the radio news about fires being caused or spread out that way by underbrush that people have been forbidden to get rid of).
    Is PG&E a private, free-enterprise company or a coercive monopoly?
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  • Posted by term2 4 years, 4 months ago
    I think they should just take it over and let socialism run it’s course there If socialism is so great maybe it can make flammable things inflammable
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  • Posted by bassboat 4 years, 4 months ago
    This is a very good idea. It would shut off power to all customers and the people would have to leave the area and their goal of returning to the past would be accomplished. Only government would be able to come up with this looney tunes idea.
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  • Posted by $ 25n56il4 4 years, 4 months ago
    Talk about utility dumbness. I got a water bill last month indicating I used 25,000 gallons of water. Then this month one for 10,100 gallons. Now, I have two water meters. This one has one toilet (no bath or shower) and a dishwasher. Really?
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  • Posted by Dobrien 4 years, 4 months ago
    The resolution passed by the City Council said that “ratepayers — including businesses and residents — critically need a utility company focused on placing the provision of reliable, safe, and affordable power above the interests of its shareholders.”
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    • Posted by $ 25n56il4 4 years, 4 months ago
      Just like in Atlas Shrugged! The Pendulum does swing. With the advent of the USMCA Trade Agreement, I have found an ending for my most recent fiction effort.
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