Record Number Of Utility Requests For Rate Increases In 2018 -- Reality Sucks -- The Cost Of Renewables -- Americans Won't Pay $10/Month To Save The Earth -- This Is How FREE Wind / Solar Energy Is

The other day a reader sent me a link to an article that PG&E out in California was asking for a huge ($2 billion) rate increase --- and this had nothing to do with the recent record-setting fires allegedly started by PG&E transmission lines. Folks were outraged.

This is the link.

The request for a rate raise must be approved by the commission and would give the utility company:

• $1 billion above current rates in 2020; 
• $454 million more in 2021; and, 
• $486 million more for 2022 

For the average customer the rate raise would be approximately $10.50 more per month — $8.75 for electricity and $1.84 for gas. - Chico Enterprise-Record

Actually, $15 / month to save the world doesn't seem that much to pay. 

I didn't post the story at the time. It didn't seem noteworthy. I assumed this was the norm (annual rate increases). It was (the norm). But not entirely.

 As soon as I saw the story I asked my wife (from California) if she had any ideas why PG&E was asking for the huge rate increase. She had no idea. I said: transmission lines for wind and solar farms.

Look at this, from twitter today.

People are complaining but they are:

• not asking the right questions; and,
• not voting (or not thinking when they vote)

Folks are simply going to get what they voted for.

At great expense.

[Hunch: PG&E won't get all it wants this year. But they will be back next year if they don't get what they need now.]

If one argues that this is simply an up-front cost for wind/solar energy and that in the long run, wind/solar energy will be free, then amortize the up-front costs over 30 years.