The
Pacific Gas and Electric Company , commonly known as
PG&E, is the
utilityA public utility is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service . Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and regulation ranging from local community-based groups to state-wide government monopolies...
that provides
natural gasNatural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
and
electricityElectricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
to most of the northern two-thirds of
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, from Bakersfield almost to the
OregonOregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
border. It is a subsidiary of the
PG&E Corporation.
PG&E was founded in 1905 and is currently headquartered in the
Pacific Gas & Electric BuildingThe Pacific Gas & Electric Building is a skyscraper located at 77 Beale- and Mission-streets in the financial district of San Francisco, California. Completed in 1971, the 34 story building is headquarters for Pacific Gas and Electric Company, the main utility provider for Northern California, and...
in San Francisco.
San Francisco Gas
In the 1850s, manufactured gas was being introduced as means of lighting for the first time and coal gasification works were being built in the larger eastern American cities. San Francisco pioneer foundryman and blacksmith Peter Donahue and his brothers established a foundry below North Beach, and later in the south of Market area. The foundry would become the
Union Iron WorksUnion Iron Works, located in San Francisco, California, on the southeast waterfront, was a central business within the large industrial zone of Potrero Point, for four decades at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries.-History:...
, the greatest industrial concern in 19th century San Francisco. Donahue learned all he could about gas manufacturing and with his brother James and a young engineer named Joseph G. Eastland incorporated the San Francisco Gas Company on August 31, 1852. The original location for the gas works was bounded by First, Fremont, Howard and Natoma streets south of Market, on the then shore of the
San Francisco BaySan Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
. On the night of February 11, 1854, the streets of San Francisco were for the first time lighted by gas, and a banquet was held at the Oriental hotel. In a year, the company had 12 miles (19.3 km) of street mains, thousands of gas streetlights, two gas holders at First and Howard with a combined capacity of 160000 cubic feet (4,530.7 m³) and a monopoly of city gasification contracts. The cost of gas was billed at 15 dollars per thousand cubic feet, where no meters were installed, the price was estimated from the size of the burners. Shortly thereafter, the Citizens Gas Company was given a fifty year franchise by the state legislature but when the company was built and ready to deliver gas, it sold out to the San Francisco Gas Company.
In April 1870, the City Gas Company was organized and built its works on the
Potrero PointPotrero Point San Francisco is the location of the earliest and most important industrial facilities in the Western United States on the eastern extension of San Francisco's Potrero Hill, a natural land mass extending into San Francisco Bay south of Mission Bay. Potrero Point, the point of Potrero...
shoreline. Another company, the Metropolitan Gas Company, was established but was not a success, and it was quickly purchased by the San Francisco Gas Company.
San Francisco Gas Light
All these companies were merged with larger infusions of capital into the San Francisco Gas Light company in 1873. A rival company, the Central Gas Company, came into existence in 1882 and the rate for gas went as low 0.90 cents a thousand cubic feet. The Central and the Pacific Gas Improvement Company were merged into the San Francisco Gas and Electric Company, (SFG&E Co.) September 1, 1903.
Rapid technological improvements in the processes of manufacturing gas were immediately adopted by the company. When petroleum was produced in California, the manufacture of
water gasWater gas is a synthesis gas, containing carbon monoxide and hydrogen. It is a useful product but requires careful handling because of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. The gas is made by passing steam over a red-hot hydrocarbon fuel such as coke:...
, then in general use in eastern and midwest states, began in San Francisco.
Water gas was first made from anthracite coal brought around Cape Horn from Swansea in Wales and enriched with California petroleum. The first water gas works, a thoroughly modern plant, was established at Potrero Point and the manufacture of water gas was a success due to the increased amount of petroleum available that reduced costs. The company then acquired land in North Beach at Bay, Laguna and Webster streets, and in 1891, the North Beach Gas Works was built. For many years this facility, with its 2 Mcuft gas holder, was considered the finest gas works in the world. The original plant at Howard Street was dismantled.
Around 1890, they also built a small electrical generator at the Potrero Point site, a first in California. This site would later become the
Potrero Generating StationThe Potrero Generating Station is a natural gas and diesel burning electricity generating station owned by Mirant and located on a site in Potrero Point, San Francisco, California. The plant's primary power source is a 206 MW, natural gas burning steam turbine providing baseload power and...
.
San Francisco Gas and Electric
In December 1896, the San Francisco Gas Light Company merged with the Edison Light and Power Company under the new title San Francisco Gas and Electric Company and this company existed until 1903 and then dissolved.
Other companies that started in the business in active competition but eventually merged into the SFG&E co. were the Equitable Gas Light Company and the Independent Electric Light and Power and the Independent Gas and Power company, founded by
Claus SpreckelsClaus Spreckels, formally Adolph Claus J. Spreckels , , was a major industrialist in Hawai'i during the kingdom, republican and territorial periods of the islands' history...
, the king of California sugar.
Pacific Gas and Electric company 1905
The company known as Pacific Gas and Electric incorporated on October 10, 1905, as a consolidation of more than two dozen power and water concerns around the state. PG&E went on to consolidate power in northern California and by 1952 represented 520 companies merged.
By 1906, the exclusive use of petroleum for manufactured gas was catching on and a 4000000 cubic feet (113,267.4 m³) gas-oil unit was built at the Potrero Gas Works. A similar unit had been built at the Martin Station in Visitacion Valley on the San Mateo County border and was connected to the Potrero works by a 12 inches (304.8 mm) high pressure pipe for use in San Francisco. At around the same time, hydroelectric power was established in California at the Colgate power plant on the
Yuba RiverThe Yuba River is a tributary of the Feather River in the Sacramento Valley of the U.S. state of California. It is one of the Feather's most important branches, providing about a third of its flow. The main stem of the river is about long, and its headwaters are split into North, Middle and South...
which began to deliver power for agriculture. In 1905, Pacific Gas and Electric Company was formed by a merger of the SFG&E Co. and the California Gas and Electric Corporation. The 1906 earthquake destroyed the North Beach Gas Works but the Potrero works were unaffected and along with the Martin Station, supplied the city after the Great fire. In 1912 PG&E began installing meters to free itself from the previous flat rate billing scheme.
PG&E began delivering natural gas to San Francisco and northern California in 1930 through the longest pipeline in the world, connecting the Texas gas fields to northern California with compressor stations that included cooling towers every 300 miles (482.8 km), at
Topock, ArizonaTopock is a small unincorporated community in Mohave County, Arizona. Topock has a ZIP Code of 86436; in 2000, the population of the 86436 ZCTA was 1,790....
, on the state line, and near the town of
Hinkley, CaliforniaHinkley is an unincorporated community in the Mojave Desert in California, U.S., northwest of Barstow, east of Mojave, and north of Victorville. It sits just north of California State Highway 58....
. With the introduction of natural gas, the company began retiring its polluting gas manufacturing facilities, though it kept some plants on standby.
Streetcars
1906 also marked the year that PG&E purchased the Sacramento Electric, Gas and Railway Company. The history of the PG&E streetcar lines in Sacramento goes back to the Sacramento City Street Railway, a 5 feet (1.5 m) gauge
horsecarA horsecar or horse-drawn tram is an animal-powered streetcar or tram.These early forms of public transport developed out of industrial haulage routes that had long been in existence, and from the omnibus routes that first ran on public streets in the 1820s, using the newly improved iron or steel...
railway that operated 9 miles (14.5 km) of street railway in Sacramento in the late 19th century. The Sacramento Street Railway was purchased by the Sacramento Electric, Power and Light Company Electric Railway. In 1896, the Sacramento Electric, Power & Light Company Electric Railway was purchased by the Sacramento Electric, Gas & Railway Company. In 1906, PG&E acquired the line and in 1915 PG&E operated the line under the PG&E name. PG&E's streetcars had lines such as the "#6 - Oak Park Line". In 1943, PG&E sold the lines to Sacramento City Lines which ended up in the hands of the
National City LinesNational City Lines, Inc. , was a controversial company founded in Minnesota, United States in 1920 as a modest local transport company operating two buses which was reorganized into a holding company in 1936 with equity funding from General Motors, Firestone Tire, Standard Oil of California and...
. National City Lines converted several streetcar lines in that era to bus service and the track was abandoned on January 4, 1947.
North American Company
By 1940, PG&E had become one of four major direct operating company subsidiaries, out of a group of ten major direct subsidiaries, that were controlled by
North American CompanyThe North American Company was a holding company incorporated in New Jersey on June 14, 1890, and controlled by Henry Villard, to succeed to the assets and property of the Oregon and Transcontinental Company...
. In eight of the ten direct subsidiaries, North American owned at least 79% stake. By 1940 North American was a US$2.3 billion holding company heading up a pyramid of by then 80 companies.
North American's stock had once been one of the twelve component stocks of the May 1896 original
Dow Jones Industrial AverageThe Dow Jones Industrial Average , also called the Industrial Average, the Dow Jones, the Dow 30, or simply the Dow, is a stock market index, and one of several indices created by Wall Street Journal editor and Dow Jones & Company co-founder Charles Dow...
. North American Company was broken up by the Securities and Exchange Commission, following the United States Supreme Court decision of April 1, 1946.
Postwar era
In the post war era, PG&E went on a massive building spree, creating 14 new hydroelectric plants and 5 steam plants.
As of December 1992, PG&E operated 173 electric generating units and 85 generating stations, 18450 miles (29,692.3 km) of transmission lines and 101400 miles (163,187.1 km) of distribution system.
In the later 1990s, under
electricity marketIn economic terms, electricity is a commodity capable of being bought, sold and traded. An electricity market is a system for effecting purchases, through bids to buy; sales, through offers to sell; and short-term trades, generally in the form of financial or obligation swaps. Bids and offers use...
deregulationDeregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or...
this utility sold off most of its
natural gasNatural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
power plants. The utility retained all of its hydroelectric plants, the
Diablo Canyon Power PlantDiablo Canyon Power Plant is an electricity-generating nuclear power plant at Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County, California. The plant has two Westinghouse-designed 4-loop pressurized-water nuclear reactors operated by Pacific Gas & Electric. The facility is located on about in Avila Beach,...
and a few natural gas plants, but the large natural gas plants it sold made up a large portion of its generating capacity. This had the effect of requiring the utility to buy power from the energy generators at fluctuating prices, while being forced to sell the power to consumers at a fixed cost. However, the market for electricity was dominated by the Enron Corporation, which, with help from other corporations, artificially pushed prices for electricity ever higher. This led to the
California electricity crisisThe California electricity crisis, also known as the Western U.S. Energy Crisis of 2000 and 2001 was a situation in which California had a shortage of electricity caused by market manipulations and illegal shutdowns of pipelines by Texas energy consortiums...
that began in 2000 on
Path 15Path 15 is an portion of the north-south power transmission corridor in California, U.S. It forms a part of the Pacific AC Intertie and the California-Oregon Transmission Project....
, a transmission corridor PG&E built.
With a critical power shortage, rolling blackouts began on January 17, 2001.
Bankruptcy
In 1998, a change in the regulation of California's public utilities, including PG&E, began. The California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) set the rates that PG&E could charge customers and required them to provide as much power as the customers wanted at rates set by the CPUC.
In the summer of 2001 a drought in the northwest states and in California reduced the amount of hydroelectric power available. Usually PG&E could buy "cheap" hydroelectric power under long term contracts with the
Bonneville DamBonneville Lock and Dam consists of several run-of-the-river dam structures that together complete a span of the Columbia River between the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington at River Mile 146.1. The dam is located east of Portland, Oregon, in the Columbia River Gorge. The primary functions of...
, etc. Drought and delays in approval of new power plants and market manipulation decreased available electric power generation capacity that could be generated in state or bought under long term contracts out of state. Hot weather brought on higher usage,
rolling blackouts-Track listing:...
. etc..
With little excess generating capacity of its own PG&E was forced to buy electricity out of state from suppliers without long term contracts. Because PG&E had to buy additional electricity to meet demand some suppliers took advantage of this requirement and manipulated the market by creating artificial shortages and charged very high electrical rates. The CPUC refused to adjust the allowable electric rates. Unable to change rates and sell electricity to consumers for what it cost them on the open market PG&E started hemorrhaging cash.
PG&E Company (the utility, not the holding company) entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy April 6, 2001. The state of California tried to bail out the utility and provide power to PG&E's 5.1 million customer, under the same rules that required the state to buy electricity at market rate high cost to meet demand and sell it at lower fixed price, the state also lost significant amounts of money.
The crisis cost PG&E and the state somewhere between $40 and $45 billion dollars. There is some evidence that this crisis played an important part in the eventual recall of
California GovernorThe Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...
Gray DavisJoseph Graham "Gray" Davis, Jr. is an American Democratic politician who served as California's 37th Governor from 1999 until being recalled in 2003...
.
PG&E Company, the utility, emerged from bankruptcy in April 2004, after paying $10.2 billion to its hundreds of creditors. As part of the reorganization, PG&E's 5.1 million electricity customers will have to pay above-market prices for several years to cancel the debt.
PG&E Rates
| PG&E Rate Structure |
|
|
Summer |
Winter |
Summer |
Winter |
Summer |
Winter |
|
Tier 1 |
Tier 1 |
Tier 1 |
Tier 1 |
Tier 1 |
Tier 1 |
|
Code B |
Code B |
Code H |
Code H |
|
Baseline for
Territory* |
kWh/da |
kW/dah |
kWh/da |
kWh/da |
Therms/da |
Therms/da |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| P |
15.3 |
12.7 |
18.0 |
33.9 |
0.49 |
2.18 |
| Q |
7.5 |
11.7 |
19.1 |
19.3 |
0.69 |
2.05 |
| R |
17.1 |
11.7 |
20.9 |
30.2 |
0.69 |
1.79 |
| S |
15.3 |
12.0 |
18.0 |
28.6 |
0.49 |
1.95 |
| T |
7.5 |
9.1 |
9.1 |
16.8 |
0.69 |
1.79 |
| V |
12.0 |
13.6 |
9.4 |
33.4 |
0.72 |
1.72 |
| W |
18.5 |
10.9 |
23.5 |
22.8 |
0.49 |
1.79 |
| X |
11.0 |
11.7 |
10.3 |
19.3 |
0.62 |
2.05 |
| Y |
11.7 |
13.2 |
14.1 |
30.7 |
0.88 |
2.64 |
| Z |
7.9 |
10.6 |
11.2 |
22.5 |
0.88 |
2.64 |
| Average |
12.38 |
11.72 |
15.36 |
25.75 |
0.66 |
2.06 |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
Notes:
All baseline amounts are per day
Baselines are calculated by multiplying territorial base rate by days in billing cycle
The territory you are in is determined by a map set by CPUChttp://www.pge.com/nots/rates/PGECZ_90Rev.pdf
The territory is the fourth letter/space/number of Rate Schedule on bills: G1 X=Terr. X
Code B refers to regular residential customers
Code H refers to customers with electrical heat
Summer rates apply from April 1 - October 31 for gas
Summer rates apply from May 1 - October 31 for electrical charges
Tier 1 rates apply from 0%-100% Baseline = $0.1223/kWh,
Tier 2 charges from 101% - 130% of Baseline = $0.13907/kWh (137% Base.)
Tier 3 charges from 131% - 200% of Baseline = $0.30180/kWh (246% Base.)
Tier 3 charges apply over 201% of Baseline = $0.34180/kWh (279% Base.)
Tier 4 charges now apply over 300% of Baseline (same charges as Tier 3)
Electric charges are sum of electrical use in each tier. Tiers based on Terr. baselines.
The CARE rates are 68% to 28% of regular electrical rates and 80% of gas rates.
All territories with less than average baselines are subsidizing those with above average baselines
There are only two tiers for natural gas rates: less than and in excess of baseline
Gas rates above baseline usage are charged at 160% of baseline rates
* See:PG&E rates and maps of territorieshttp://www.pge.com/myhome/customerservice/financialassistance/medicalbaseline/understand/# |
PG&E profits are not dependent upon sales. PG&E rates are set by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). The profit the CPUC allows PG&E to earn is "decoupled" from the amount of natural gas and electricity it sells and its cost of operations.
The capital investments made in natural gas pipelines, power plants, and electric transmission wires and from incentives earned by achieving energy efficiency targets set by the CPUC determine allowable rates. Shareholders invest in PG&E because the utility is allowed by the CPUC a given rate of return that supports the value of its shares and allows for dividend distributions to share holders.
The CPUC has set up the rates for different territories and types of customers. The complicated territory boundaries and "customer definitions" are set by politicians for their "reasons". Like nearly all regulated utilities the free market is not allowed to give incentives for PG&E to be more cost efficient, give better service etc., in hopes of getting more customers or lowering the price the customers pay. It is unclear whether their territorial based rate structure really saves in energy use as it subsidizes those with high gas and electrical usage with higher than average baselines. Those with less than average baselines pay for this subsidy. One good result of the tiered charges are that there is strong incentives to use solar panels, etc. to lower the electrical usage out of the top tiers rate structure. Paying $0.34 per kWh makes an investment in solar panels etc. pay off much sooner.
The prices charged relate to the cost of making, transporting electricity plus an allowed return on invested capital and is adjusted at least annually by the CPUC. New or upgrade facilities have to be approved by the CPUC to get incorporated in the allowable rate structure. The average price of natural gas that PG&E has to pay for, the cost of the distribution system and the cost of long term storage systems is reflected in the bill to the customer. Any additional charges are eventually paid for by the consumer--of course.
This complicated tier schedule has resulted in the average cost of residential electricity in California (2009 data) being $0.1524/kWh--the average in the other states is about $0.1151/kWh. Industrial and Commercial users of electricity pay an average of $0.1377/kWh and Agricultural users pay $0.1327/kWh in California. Residential customers consume 31,234 GWh per year. Commercial users consume 32,989 GWh per year, Industrial users 14,804 GWh per year, Agriculture 5,804 GWh per year with the rest (about 1%) an assortment of miscellaneous categories.
PG&E has started introducing Prices Per Period (PPP) where the rates vary by the time of day. Usage during peak usage periods costs more and usage at slack periods is at a minimum. This is done to minimize usage during peak usage periods to reduce the cost of adding new peak load generators, brown outs, etc. These plans are well underway with commercial users and will probably soon be introduced to residential customers.
Generation portfolio
PG&E's utility-owned generation portfolio consists an extensive hydroelectric system, one operating nuclear power plant, one operating natural gas-fired power plant, and another gas-fired plant under construction. Two other plants owned by the company have been permanently removed from commercial operation: Humboldt Bay Unit 3 (nuclear) and Hunters Point (fossil).
Hydroelectric
PG&E's hydroelectric portfolio is the largest under private ownership in the United States. Drawing water from approximately 100 reservoirs along 16 river basins, its maximum electric output is 3,896 MW.
The single largest component is the Helms Pumped Storage Project, located at 37°02′13.78"N 118°57′53.63"W near
Sawmill FlatSawmill Flat is an unincorporated community in Fresno County, California. It is located northeast of Balch Camp, at an elevation of 6755 feet ....
in
Fresno County, CaliforniaFresno County is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, south of Stockton and north of Bakersfield. As of the 2010 census, it is the tenth most populous county in California with a population of 930,450, and the sixth largest in size with an area of . The county...
. Helms consists of three units, each rated at 404 MW, for a total output of 1,212 MW. The facility operates between Courtright and Wishon reservoirs, alternately draining water from Courtright to produce electricity when demand is high, and pumping it back into Courtright from Wishon when demand is low. The Haas
PowerhouseA power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
is situated more than 1000 feet (304.8 m) inside a solid granite mountain.
Nuclear
The
Diablo Canyon Power PlantDiablo Canyon Power Plant is an electricity-generating nuclear power plant at Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County, California. The plant has two Westinghouse-designed 4-loop pressurized-water nuclear reactors operated by Pacific Gas & Electric. The facility is located on about in Avila Beach,...
, located in Avila Beach, California, is the only operating nuclear asset owned by PG&E. The maximum output of this power plant is 2,240 MWe, provided by two equally sized units. As designed and licensed, it could be expanded to four units, at least doubling its generating capacity. Over a two-week period in 1981, 1,900 activists were arrested at Diablo Canyon Power Plant. It was the largest arrest in the history of the U.S.
anti-nuclear movementThe 1970s proved to be a pivotal period for the anti-nuclear movement in California. Opposition to nuclear power in California coincided with the growth of the country's environmental movement...
.
The company operated the
Humboldt Bay Power Plant, Unit 3The Humboldt Bay Nuclear Power Plant is a 63 MWe boiling water reactor, owned by Pacific Gas and Electric Company that operated from August 1963 to July 1976 just south of Eureka, California. Concern about previously undiscovered seismic faults combined with more stringent requirements required...
in
Eureka, CaliforniaEureka is the principal city and the county seat of Humboldt County, California, United States. Its population was 27,191 at the 2010 census, up from 26,128 at the 2000 census....
. It is the oldest commercial nuclear plant in California and its maximum output was 65 MWe. The plant operated for 13 years, until 1976 when it was shut down for seismic retrofitting. New regulations enacted after the
Three Mile Island accidentThe Three Mile Island accident was a core meltdown in Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg, United States in 1979....
, however, rendered the plant unprofitable and it was never restarted. Unit 3 is currently in decommissioning phase and scheduled to be fully dismantled in 2015. The spent nuclear fuel is currently stored at the Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) on the plant site because of the
United States Department of EnergyThe United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
's failure to find a suitable alternative to storing or disposing of the spent fuel.
Pacific Gas & Electric planned to build the first commercially viable
nuclear power plantA nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
in the United States at Bodega Bay, a fishing village fifty miles north of San Francisco. The proposal was controversial and conflict with local citizens began in 1958. In 1963 there was a large demonstration at the site of the proposed
Bodega Bay Nuclear Power PlantThe Bodega Bay Nuclear Power Plant was proposed but never built.Pacific Gas & Electric planned to build the first commercially viable nuclear power plant in the USA at Bodega Bay, California, a fishing village fifty miles north of San Francisco...
. The conflict ended in 1964, with the forced abandonment of plans for the power plant.
Fossil fuels
Built in 1956, there are two conventional fossil fuel (natural gas/fuel oil) units at Humboldt Bay Power Plant that produce 105 MWe of combined output. These units, along with two 15 MWe Mobile Emergency Power Plants (MEPPs), will be retired in the summer of 2010. The Humboldt Bay Generating Station, built on the same site, is set to take the older power plant's place in the summer of 2010. It will be producing 163 MWe using natural gas for fuel and fuel oil for backup on
WärtsiläWärtsilä is a Finnish corporation which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include large combustion engines...
Diesel engines. It will employ technology to produce 80 percent fewer ozone precursors and 30 percent less CO
2 than the previous facility. The new design will also reduce water use by eliminating the need for "once-through" cooling.
As part of a settlement with
Mirant Services LLCMirant Corporation, an Atlanta-based energy company, produces and sells electricity in the United States. The company was spun off from its former parent, Southern Company, on April 2, 2001...
for alleged market manipulations during the 2001
California energy crisisThe California electricity crisis, also known as the Western U.S. Energy Crisis of 2000 and 2001 was a situation in which California had a shortage of electricity caused by market manipulations and illegal shutdowns of pipelines by Texas energy consortiums...
, PG&E took ownership of a partially constructed natural gas unit in
Antioch, CaliforniaAntioch is a city in Contra Costa County, California. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area along the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta, it is a suburb of San Francisco and Oakland. The city's population was 102,372 at the U.S...
. The 530 MW unit, known as the Gateway Generating Station, was completed by PG&E and placed into operation in 2009.
On May 15, 2006, after a long and bitter political battle, PG&E shut down its 48-year-old Hunters Point power plant in
San FranciscoSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. At the time of closure, the maximum output of the plant was 170 MW. Residents of the impoverished neighborhood had been pushing for more than a decade to close the plant, claiming it contributed to above average rates of asthma and other ailments.
PG&E broke ground in 2008 on a 660 MW natural gas power plant located in Colusa County. It is expected to begin operation in 2010, and will serve nearly half a million residences using the latest technology and environmental design. The plant will use dry cooling technology to dramatically reduce water usage, and cleaner-burning turbines to reduce CO
2 emissions by 35 percent relative to older plants.
Solar
On April 1, 2008, PG&E announced contracts to buy three new
solar power plants in the Mojave DesertThere are several solar power plants in the Mojave Desert which supply power to the electricity grid. Solar Energy Generating Systems is the name given to nine solar power plants in the Mojave Desert which were built in the 1980s. These plants have a combined capacity of 354 megawatts making them...
. With an output of 500 MW and options for another 400 MW, the three installations will initially generate enough electricity to power more than 375,000 residences.
On April 14, 2009 the San Jose Mercury News carried an article by Steve Johnson stating that PG&E is asking the California Public Utilities Commission to approve a project to deliver 200 Megawatts of power to California from space. This method of obtaining electricity from the sun eliminates (mostly) the darkness of night experienced from solar sites on the surface of the earth. According to PG&E spokesman Jonathan Marshall, energy purchase costs are expected to be similar to other renewable energy contracts.
PG&E and the environment
Beginning in the mid-1970s, regulatory and political developments began to push utilities in California away from a traditional business model. In 1976, the California State Legislature amended the Warren-Alquist Act, which created and gives legal authority to the
California Energy CommissionThe California Energy Commission is California’s primary energy policy and planning agency. Created in 1974 and headquartered in Sacramento, the Commission has responsibility for activities that include forecasting future energy needs, promoting energy efficiency through appliance and building...
, to effectively prohibit the construction of new nuclear power plants. The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) filed as an intervenor in PG&E's 1978 General Rate Case (GRC), claiming that the company's requests for rate increases were based on unrealistically high projections of load growth. Furthermore, EDF claimed that PG&E could more cost-effectively encourage industrial co-generation and energy efficiency than build more power plants. As a result of EDF's involvement in PG&E's rate cases, the company was eventually fined $50 million by the California Public Utilities Commission for failing to adequately implement energy efficiency programs.
Since Darbee took control of the PG&E Company in 2004, PG&E has aggressively promoted its environmental image through a variety of programs and campaigns.
In the early first decade of the 21st century, the CEO of PG&E Corporation, Peter Darbee, and then-CEO of Pacific Gas & Electric Company, Tom King, publicly announced their support for
California Assembly Bill 32The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, or Assembly Bill 32, is a California State Law that fights climate change by establishing a comprehensive program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from all sources throughout the state...
, a measure to cap statewide greenhouse gas emissions and a 25% reduction of emissions by 2020. The bill was signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on September 27, 2006.
Groundwater contamination in Hinkley, California
The town of
Hinkley, CaliforniaHinkley is an unincorporated community in the Mojave Desert in California, U.S., northwest of Barstow, east of Mojave, and north of Victorville. It sits just north of California State Highway 58....
had its
groundwaterGroundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock...
contaminated with
hexavalent chromiumHexavalent chromium refers to chemical compounds that contain the element chromium in the +6 oxidation state. Virtually all chromium ore is processed via hexavalent chromium, specifically the salt sodium dichromate. Approximately of hexavalent chromium were produced in 1985...
from a PG&E natural gas compressor plant resulting in a legal case and multi-million dollar settlement. The legal case was documented in
Erin BrockovichErin Brockovich is a 2000 biographical film directed by Steven Soderbergh. The film is a dramatization of the story of Erin Brockovich, played by Julia Roberts, who fought against the US West Coast energy corporation Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Roberts won the Academy Award, Golden Globe,...
, a drama film released in 2000.
San Bruno, California explosion
On the evening of September 9, 2010, a suburb of San Francisco,
San Bruno, CaliforniaSan Bruno is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. The population was 41,114 at the 2010 census.The city is adjacent to San Francisco International Airport and Golden Gate National Cemetery.-Geography:San Bruno is located at...
,exploded when a 30-inch PG&E gas pipeline erupted that killed 8 people, injured dozens and led to 6 missing people. The blast created a crater at the epicenter damaging several homes and was reported by the
USGSThe United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...
to have a shock wave similar to a 1.1 magnitude earthquake. Following the event, the company was heavily scrutinized for ignoring the warnings of a state inspector in 2009 failing to provide adequate safety procedures. The incident then came under investigation by the
National Transportation Safety BoardThe National Transportation Safety Board is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine...
(NTSB). In response to the hundreds of lawsuits on July 2011 following the incident, PG&E tried to shift its responsibility in court to that of the victims claiming negligence upon the victim's part, and therefore PG&E should not be responsible for paying out settlement. On August 30, 2011, the NTSB released its findings from the investigation and placed fault upon PG&E for the blast. The report states that the pipeline installed in 1956 that exploded was found inadequate to standards even of that time and thereon.
Smart meters
In the middle of 2010, PG&E rolled out new electronic meters that replaced traditional analog electric meters. Customers whose meters were reverted reported seeing their energy bills spike up multiple-folds and accused the company of deliberately inflating their bills, along with questioning the accuracy of the meters. Complaints of PG&E's failing to honor customer's refusal of upgrading their meters also surfaced. Although the contractor that installed the meters would honor these requests, PG&E would eventually come out and replace them despite objections. Subsequently, the
California Public Utilities CommissionThe California Public Utilities Commission is a regulatory agency which regulates privately owned public utilities in the state of California, including electric power, telecommunications, natural gas and water companies...
would conduct an investigation and find that some of the meters were indeed inaccurate, although PG&E maintains that only a small percentage of meters faced the problem despite large public outcry.
Proposition 16
In 2010, PG&E was accused of erasing competition in Proposition 16 that mandated two-thirds of voters approval in order to start or expand local utilities. Critics argued that this would make it harder for a local governments to create their own power utilities, thus effectively establishing a monopoly to allow PG&E to charge their rates as desired. The company was also rebuked for supplying $46 million dollars to support the ballet when opponents raised $100,000 in the campaign. The proposition would eventually be voted down with 52.5% in opposition and 47.5% in favor.
Energy deregulation
PG&E has long been referred to as a "monopoly." Whether this is true or not can be argued. Recent legislation will certainly put this argument to rest. California will soon be able to choose between competing companies (i.e. companies competing in an 'open market.') A major home services and utility provider/direct seller ACN, - a multi-level marketing company, similar to Amway). ACN is serving customers in Canada, New York, Maryland, and Pennsylvania with natural gas and electricity. However, there are no aggregate reports forthcoming from ACN that indicate how much money, if any, people are saving through their subscriptions with ACN. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have stated that energy deregulation would lead to the biggest transfer of wealth in history, but make no reference to ACN in this regard. ACN doesn't promise savings for legal reasons and is currently offering only gas services.
See also
- Battery-to-grid
- Southern California Edison
Southern California Edison , the largest subsidiary of Edison International , is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California, USA. It provides 14 million people with electricity...
- Diablo Canyon Power Plant
Diablo Canyon Power Plant is an electricity-generating nuclear power plant at Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County, California. The plant has two Westinghouse-designed 4-loop pressurized-water nuclear reactors operated by Pacific Gas & Electric. The facility is located on about in Avila Beach,...
- San Diego Gas & Electric
San Diego Gas & Electric is the utility that provides natural gas and electricity to San Diego County and southern Orange County in southwestern California, United States...
Further reading
- "The History of Gas Lighting in San Francisco" Pacific Gas and Electric Magazine Vol. 1 #3 August 1909
- PG&E - A Report on the Companies Environmental Policies and Practices - Council on Economic Priorities - NY April 1994
- Roe, David. Dynamos and Virgins. (New York: Random House, 1984.)
External links