Gov. Newsom Blames ‘Dog-Eat-Dog Capitalism’ as Millions of Californians are in Darkness

California Governor Gavin Newsom, doing his best to avoid responsibility for California’s power failures, blames “dog-eat-dog capitalism” for the state’s current crisis. In his next breath, Newsom wants Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway to make a takeover bid for bankrupt utility giant PG&E Corp.

If it sounds like he’s referring to the modern day robber barons who have descended on the state to suck it dry of profits while burning it to the ground, he is. And then he turned to one of those robber barons for a bailout.

“California’s return to the dark ages is a direct result of the Democratic political monopoly in Sacramento,” the Wall Street Journal editorial board said last week.

California’s current crisis is the direct result of 40 years of Democrat rule, and their leftist policies. While neglecting crucial infrastructure repairs and maintenance, they’ve imposed strangling environmental priorities.

Many California residents have purchased expensive generators to keep refrigerators and freezers on, but generators rely mostly on natural gas. Democrats in the California Legislature want to ban natural gas to homes and require only electric appliances. So California residents won’t even be able to protect keep our power on in this “new normal.”

California has some of the most fertile land in the country yet growers are rationed water, leaving crops to fallow. Democrats in the State Capitol instead grant favors to Silicon Valley billionaires instead of the farmers and ranchers who feed them.

“Democrats say privately owned utilities have been more interested in making money for investors than prioritizing safety, the Sacramento Bee reported. “They say it’s all the more important now to prepare for climate change because it has contributed to the hot, dry conditions that result in wildfires.”

As Governor Newsom struggles to stay in control, he continues blame “climate change” and “extreme weather,” as well as to criticize PG&E for its failure to invest in its infrastructure and technology, never acknowledging that state government is in charge of regulating these utilities to make sure this never happens.

“As it relates to PG&E, it’s about dog-eat-dog capitalism meeting climate change,” Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said last week. “It’s about corporate greed meeting climate change. It’s about decades of mismanagement.”

As Newsom searches for someone to blame, he needn’t look that far. His predecessor, Gov. Jerry Brown for whom Newsom was Lt. Governor for eight years, is responsible for implementing the majority of the climate change and environmental restrictions on water, natural gas and nuclear power, and impositions of 33%, then 50% and finally 100% renewable energy mandates on the utilities.

And it was Jerry Brown’s corrupt Public Utilities Commission under Chairman Michael Peevey, who colluded with the state’s largest utilities prioritizing profits over responsible utility management. UtilityDive.com explains:

• California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) Chair Michael Peevey failed to file disclosure forms for hundreds of thousands of dollars he requested from Pacific Gas & Electric, a company the CPUC regulates, according to a local news investigation.
• NBC Bay Area found that Peevey failed to file the necessary Form 803 disclosure document when he accepted money from PG&E for a political campaign and the commission’s 100 year anniversary party. Failure to file the form when required is punishable as a misdemeanor with penalties including fines and removal from office.
• The controversy dates back to May 2010, when emails were exchanged between PG&E employees and the CPUC Chair. The emails appear to outline not only what Peevey wanted, but what PG&E needed as well, according to NBC Bay Area. Critics say the messages illustrate a quid-pro-quo exchange of favors, which could break California corruption laws.

This is only the tip of the iceberg. Shortly after the contributions, Peevey approved PG&E’s proposal to raise electricity rates. This happened many times during Peevey’s leadership of the CPUC.

Many felt Peevey should have been perp-walked out of the CPUC headquarters.

CPUC President Michael Peevey, and executives of Southern California Edison also colluded in secret to saddle ratepayers with $3.3 billion of the $5 billion shutdown cost of the 2012 closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. The $5 billion recovery settlement was negotiated in secret in Poland by Peevey, away from prying eyes and open records laws in California.

Meanwhile, two Republican lawmakers have an actual plan. Senator Jim Nielsen (R-Tehama) and Assemblyman James Gallagher (R-Yuba City), represent the Town of Paradise and Camp Fire survivors, announced a plan to introduce legislation to help prevent future wildfires and Public Safety Power Shutoffs by PG&E.  The lawmakers are authoring legislation to direct additional funding into utility infrastructure upgrades and forest fuel reduction projects – two of the leading factors in catastrophic wildfires and cited by PG&E in declaring power shutoff events.

Concurrently, the legislation will temporarily pause the state’s renewable power mandates until infrastructure and vegetation management conditions are improved.