Why SMUD is a Better Deal for Yolo County than PG&E

Like every other man, woman, child, housepet, burrowing owl and unincorporated tract of farmland in Yolo County, my mailbox has been deluged by glossy flyers from PG&E, under the flimsy cover of some "concerned citizens of somethingorother," telling me how dangerous voting for Measures H&I (they're a package deal, for anyoneone still unclear) will be, invariably featuring some digitally edited photo of smoggy rural Yolo County farmland. Warning me of the dire consequences that could befall us if we allow SMUD to "take over" PG&E'S monopoly and ill-maintained power lines Yolo County. Ooga-booga! just in time for Hallowe'en. Let the kindly power corporation save you from the dastardly public utility! And for God's sake, don't ask about Folsom (who left PG&E for SMUD a while ago, and did just fine, following similar PG&E scare tactics)

So where is that 9 million dollar ad campaign (by contrast, PG&E bought San Francisco's votes with a piddling $3 million) that's stuffing your mailbox with truckloads of "concerned" flyers coming from? Those are OUR ratepayer dollars, recycled from our PG&E bills, people! As if sticking us with the bill for PG&E's "bankruptcy" after the Enron robbery of the state of California wasn't bad enough, the CEO of PG&E is an old Enron exec! SMUD can't campaign by law, as a public utility, which is why things seem so lopsided. And what's with that rebate in the October PG&E bill? Vote buying much?

This whole campaign is premised on the rhetorical frame of a "takeover," as if PG&E has title and deed ownership of Yolo County, as if us voters were mere serfs with no right to decide whom we want to buy our energy from. We're on PG&E land, and SMUD has no right to us. How arrogant! We the people of Yolo County can choose who provides utilities for us, we aren't your property. We are citizens, not just captive ratepayers in your monopoly.

And seriously, does PG&E really think that sending me an endorsement by the cranky old man from the reactionary Yolo Taxpayers Association is going to help persuade me? The same sort of folks who passed Prop. 13 and crippled the state's budgeting process just to save corporations a buck on their property taxes (since corporations never die, that means they have 1970s tax rates forever)? Pardon me as I chuckle and toss the cranky man flyer into the recycling.

Give me a break. PG&E have proven themselves over the years to provide expensive, mediocre energy, and be total jerks about doing right by their captive audience of customers. And for all their crocodile tears about environmental concerns about SMUD, PG&E has been busted repeatedly over the yearts for egregious environmental violations, from polluting the water to building a nuclear plant on a fault line. SMUD, by contrast, has the possibility of local control, does not have to turn a profit (which means lower rates), has cheaper, more sustainable energy, and has a great reputation for reliability.

For those interested in the whole story of the SMUD issue, the Sacramento News and Review has a thorough article on it. Additionally, Doug Paul Davis has a whole series on PG&E's misleading campaign and actual track record over at The People's Vanguard of Davis that is worth reading as well.

So here's the deal: if Measures H and I (and L in Sac county) pass, SMUD will buy PG&E's power infrstructure, at a price determined by the courts. Like with the Folsom annexation a while ago, which turned out pretty well for Folsom, PG&E is vastly and dishonestly overstating the value of their poorly-maintained infrastructure in an effort to scare Yolo voters and customers away from bailing on them. As part of the deal that SMUD cut with the governments of every single governmental body in Yolo County, Yolo ratepayers will be guaranteed a 2% reduction in our rates from whatever PG&E would charge until those lines are paid off, at which point our bills would fall to 30% or so lower than the current PG&E rates. Which means you come out ahead. Over the long run, the lower rates should translate into a huge amount of savings, which is why the governments and school boards of Davis, Woodland and West Sac, as well as local businesses like Nugget have all signed on, because it will cut operating costs significantly.

So what's the downside? For Yolo County and Sacramento County ratepayers, nothing. Yolo gets lower rates, Sac gets more customers in its utility district which means more capital to finance bigger projects in the future, esp. alternative energy. For PG&E, they face the danger of this sort of thing catching on, the municipal power movement gaining steam, and a loss of their lucrative monopoly over most of California's power. Boo hoo.

So in sum, what you need to ask yourself is this: are you so concerned with keeping PG&E's profits high enough that you're willing to pay 2 to 30% more for your electric bill, or would you like cheaper energy with better service and local control of its policies?

The choice is simple, if vastly underfunded compared to PG&E's use of your electric bill money: Yes on H and I (and L, for you Sacramento County readers). Monopolies The "free market" has not served us well; public energy will.