‘It’s all a lie’: PG&E undergrounding perplexes customers 

PG&E burned down communities, forced insurance providers out of our state, and continue turning a profit. 😂

Remember this folks, 83million for one person yet they need tax cuts to create jobs…

PG&E has a Boeing syndrome. They care more about their share price than their customers. Sad.

Patti used to be the ceo at consumers energy here in Michigan, the only thing she accomplished was raising rate and failing to maintain the utility. I hate her guts.

I work with contractors that do "undergrounding." Very little of it takes place in high fire danger areas. Today, we were on a job at Ehrhardt and Cosumnes River Blvd. This is a residential neighborhood with no wildlands within two miles. It seems to be just for show. I live seven miles into the wilderness in Calaveras County. It's high fire danger everywhere within miles and miles of my house. No undergrounding happening that I know of anywhere in my county.

Not only are electric rates raised, but have you seen fire insurance for your home? It's untenable.

"We stopped that whole idea because we realized it was expensive and we'd rather keep the money up top than to have it trickle down into the grid you pay for" - PG&E

PG&E just asked the PUC for another rate hike and it will be granted because the PUC and PG&E are in bed together. When is enough enough?

83 million dollars the criminal ceo can atleast cool everyone in california. Man, we really are the peasants...ain't we ?

PG&E still charges customers on days where power is out. It's a big scam for them to recoup money from recent lawsuits, including the paradise incident.

we the people are nothing but tax payers.

We literally are paying for their negligence

The CEO quietly resigned right after the Camp Fire in Paradise

Back in the 70's PG&E restrung all their 12 and 21 kV wires in the San Lorenzo Valley area Between Felton and Boulder Creek with Tree Wire", which is an insulated wire. That put an end to tree/wire contacts power outages and fires. Trees would fall on the wireing and nothing happened. Tree crews would just come out and remove the tree laying on the wires and the power never went out. Thats what they should be doing now. It's a lot faster and cheaper than doing it underground. PG&E just doesn't want to spend the money because it would take away their profits.. Just search for tree wire and you will see what I'm talking about.

Patti: "We are committed, to bury, 10000 customers............uh, lines, yeah that's it lines

We need an independent Public Utilities Commission with sharp pencils that they aren't afraid to use. Not the CPUC we have that is full of Newsome cronies.

I’m so over PG&E! They are the cause of so much devastation and they are passing down their negligence to the customers with absurd rates!🤬

So ridiculous, pg&e doesn't pay for anything! Damage repair=additional charge. New lines, above or underground=additional charge. Fines for criminal mischief and negligence=additional fees. And so on. They're lime the Boeing of energy transmission

They buried just enough to make a commercial and promotional video 🤣

How can the CEO even spend that 82 million? Gross greed. Maybe she can live on, I don't know, 2 million a YEAR!!?? GTFOuta here with raising rates on customers with that salary!

PG&E stands for (Poke gouge and extort).

This is why privatizing infrastructure is a terrible idea

PG&E Owns the California PUC, and can do whatever they want. Sometimes the CPUC "fines" them to make it look like they are tough on them, which just gets passed on to their customers. They never lose.

Funny that PG&E CEO got paid $59million last year alone.

I live in a fire prone area of California I have seen no undergrounding being done by PGE And yet their stock holders have received profits from their stock holdings And now I hear that PGE is asking for a raise so that they can do the undergrounding ?????????

They’ve spent more on ads telling everyone that they’re under grounding lines than they have actually spent doing the work.

The telephone poles in our neighborhood are so old that they look as if they're going to snap in the next windstorm and make good kindling in a fire!

“84 felony counts of manslaughter” had any human committed even one count that would carry a prison sentence. ALL top level officers of PG&E should be spending the rest of their lives in prison AND PG&E should cease to exist, with a all new utility company be established with not one former PG&E person in its employment. This should be the standard of all large corporations. We need a way to make the as accountable for their actions as any individual human citizen would be.

Energy and utilities should not be shareholder owned. Period. The monopoly on energy has to come down. It is the only way.

Corporate GREED NEEDS to STOP.

After PG&E lost the Camp Fire lawsuit, they raised rates, and then instituted the Public Safety Power Shut-off's (PSPS) as a retaliatory measure. During PSPS events, they ONLY shut down low voltage distribution lines, but keep high voltage transmission lines online. During a PSPS event, one of their high voltage transmission lines started a MAJOR wildfire (I can't remember if it was the Zogg fire or the Dixie fire) that burned over a million acres, destroyed 1,000's of homes and businesses and countless animals (including both wild animals as well as livestock.). Not a single penny was missed by their executives and/or shareholders. *_PG&E is the LARGEST ARSONIST IN CALIFORNIA._*

We need more of these investigative reporting to expose deceptive corporate ad campaigns along with corrupt politicians who get their donations by colluding with such companies.

I demand a refund from PG&E!

Utility regulators should have oversight over PG&E undergrounding lines and make sure goals are met.

My neighbor is 54 and on disability and during this hest wave is afraid to use her ac. So she sits in an apartment thsts probably 100 degress with ice packs. What can we do to get rid of pge

50 years ago you could trim the trees around the lines to keep them clear. Whoops dead trees fall on power lines.

Patti DEI her way to 83 million dollar salary. Meanwhile we live paycheck to paycheck.

This is a level of journalism that I’m not used to seeing from the local/tv news. Keep at it and do more of this!

When you sue your power company, when you penalize your power company, when you fine your power company, when you make your power company hire lawyers, when you make your power company accountable, your the one paying for it. Its not some charity.

Wow they're paying that lady way too much and I bet she never worked on the field

Corporations will always get the best of us. Our politicians on both sides don’t care. Nothing will change.

Charging me 300 + dollars a month for a fridge and and ac

They spent so much money on the commercials, they didn’t have any left for the work.

Out here on the east coast, the power companies wanted to bury lines to protect them during hurricanes. They stopped soon after they started, as it cost them $1000 per foot to bury the lines. Digging up roads and yards got very expensive very quickly.

Burying power lines underground is great until there is a fault then troubleshooting where that fault is becomes problematic. Above ground lines are more cost effective and easier to maintain. The problem is committing to maintaining them especially tree pruning or removal. Those buried power cables also present a hazard to folks that don't call 811 before digging.

PGE needs to be federally investigated this is beyond out of control!

Above ground lines are used everywhere around the world. The problem is they never cleared the trees and brush around and under the lines. Until that happens, the fires will continue.

Did I see that right 83.2 million for the CEOs annual wage? whoa I need to get a job at PG&E.

Welcome to the future: Government Incorporated. The corporations own the government, instead of the people owning the government.

And now we have an home insurace crisis ! And extreme rates!

When are people gonna get it through their heads? YOU👏DON’T👏MATTER👏! The ONLY thing that matters is shareholder profits. Period full stop.

The state should absolutely take over PG&E.

I went through this last year with SCE. They replaced all the poles in our mountain community one at a time and shut us off with each one. It was a terrible experience but I must say that now we have no power outages at all because of the new equipment.

the CEO makes 82 million a year yet they can't afford bury the power lines.

And THIS is what happens when the media reports on stuff that they know absolutely nothing about. I literally work in that industry. I have created designs for underground conversions. The issue with burying all the lines is that it is actually about 5 times more expensive than putting them overhead. Another thing. In some areas the risk is way lower than other's. California has a very rocky terrain and in some cases, it is not easy at all having to break up so many rocks just to bury a cable. I don't think they would have lied and implied that they were going to bury all of the lines. Another thing, in some cases they do have to come back up and leave the conductor overhead because some people actually don't want stuff buried in their property. They will not provide the easement for it.

This is outrageous. The state needs to do its job and finally start regulating PGE. In a world of a fast changing climate, we need to take PGE public to make sure they are acting in our interest.

I don't see how they can justify paying 82 million dollars a year for a ceo

The fires were not because the lines were above ground but poor to no maitainance

Undergrounding takes time, in Germany small village with 300 souls, we got underground residential supply of electricity and communication lines in the 1980s. On the other hand we are still waiting for fiber optic internet.

Make utilities a public resource

"Don't sue us" that's all it is 👿

How much money does PG&E give to the politicians?

pG&E this salaries are 82 million- I do her job for a million and get the job done. This is a crime on two levels.

You gotta admit - it was a good PR stunt while it lasted 🤣

They are not burying transmission lines -only distribution level lines. Most of the major fires in recent years that were caused by PG&E were at the transmission so the whole process is BS

Give it 3 months there's going to be another price hike it's all a sham.

I can't afford my electric bill or fire insurance. It's a fun little bet to see whether the heat or the fire kills me.

The UK has been burying power cables since 1890 , you need to catch up.

Whenever you hear “PG&E,” think “California Government.” They are the same thing

PG&E is just straight out evil.

When I visited Huntsville Alabama for a work trip I noticed there were no powerlines in the areas I visited. My coworker from Huntsville mentioned all the lines were underground there. Every time I mention a fire from powerlines he laughs and says "That state is less competent than Alabama"

Im a Northern California El Dorado county resident and stuck in PG&E’s Monopoly. Thanks to PG&E and their fires, I pay 10x the national average for power and most of us now can’t insure our homes. If you do have homeowners insurance it’s a $1000 a month. Our power is so expensive that our 1300sf home has an average monthly power bill over $500. Thats conserving energy too with only cooling our home to 85 in summer and warming it to 68 in the winter. We pay so much as a consumer but yet have horrible Service. We get forced power outages all the time (public safety outages) for days, we are stuck with no alternatives. California is already the most expensive state with the highest taxes and cost of living. We cannot afford to be paying an extra $1500 month because of PGE. They screwed us in so many ways and we are stuck in their monopoly.

Guilty of 84 counts of Manslaughter , how much probation & community service hours did they get , and who gets the money from the fines ?

Why am I not surprised that newsom won't do a thing like always?

They strted.laying lines near my home last year now they stopped and raised my rates almost 200%. Smh

If you are actually convicted of manslaughter, someone does jail time, who is in jail for that?

Everything thing Gavin touches does not turn to gold. What has he turned the golden state into?

Newsom is in bed with them, things won't change.

I left California 30 years ago and it was the best decision I've ever made. I just feel so bad for all the people still stuck there.

At this point in history, why are people surprised when companies lie?

99% of cables in england are underground its basically just phone lines that use poles

PG&E's mistakes should not mean costs to their customers.

I never understood how a 'hight-tech' country has third world infrastructure. Then I realized what private companies value most: profit.

When has PG&E ever acted responsibly or ethically? EVER??? Shame on Newsom for being complicit in the grift; my opinion of him just dropped immensely.

Wind breaking the line is more of a threat, according to San Diego politicians and utilities. So hard to figure it out, bc no one wants you to.

They were given government grants to do it for the last 25 years and they haven't done shy it

All their profit goes to their shareholders. Public utilities should be nonprofits. Governor Newsom protects PG&E.

42 days of power outages in Sant Cruz Mountains last year no notices. Zero under grounding seen. Had active fire in the lines called PG&E and they said call fire department and took 4 hours to send someone out to de-energize lines before the fire department could do anything.

Great job Stephanie !

I'm surprised the insurance companies didn't sue sine the power company was responsible vs making who were not at fault pay higher premiums homeowners hence higher mortgage payments because of claims?

Never thought this was going to go anywhere, except to pad PG&E's bottom line as they raised rates for everyone for this. Electricity was supposed to be undergrounded in San Francisco long ago, but PG&E very quickly ran out of money (big shocker), and they still charge customers for the process (yes even those without undergrounded lines). The fact they're saying it could cost billions per mile to underground wires just shows the level of criminality to this whole thing. If I were that lady I would invest in solar, with a battery back up system, and just rid myself of PG&E once and for all.

Anyone remember when California used to practice forest management to reduce wild fires?

It’s to Jack up prices. PGE should be dissolved

How has did PG&E profit from not up grading the infrastructure over the years.

They need to demand a pro-rata refund for every charge for every minute that power is unavailable.

"Undergrounding" is not a real word. Its PR newspeak

PG&E has to be the worst utility

Ah if only corporations didn't lie , didn't deny responsibility, and didn't put profits over clients ... but that's what they do . Or if only government would hold corporations to their word , but that's not what they do . In between the rock and the hard place lies the customer, that's what we do.

Why am I not surprised. It’s the same here in Nevada county, fiberglass poles next to old wooden polls. Remember none of them ever went to jail for all those criminal charges. The only positive thing I can say about PGE is they have excellent response time here in the county.

Isn't this the same company that the ceo did an interview in front iof a thermostat set at 70 degrees?