Talk:Pacific Gas and Electric Company
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[edit] Environmental inaccuracies
PG&E operates in California, where coal-fired generation is prohibited by law. While the company does operate some gas-fired power plants, the paragraph cites natural gas in passing and then focuses on the pollutants caused by coal. This is very misleading.
Electromagnetic fields (EMFs) are in fact a "possible" health concern, but the evidence here is so scant that this sentence should either be 1)deleted, 2)heavily qualified or 3) at least given a citation.
[edit] POV Concerning Nonrenewable Resources
Call me silly, and perhaps I don't understand something. We have "While the company supplies what has been called the most liberal consumer base in the country, as of April 2004 some 99% of its power is supplied by nonrenewable sources, if hydroelectric plants are not included." I doubly fail to see the coherence here. We're speaking on who their customers are, apparently a diverse crowd. We follow that by saying they don't use nonrenewable sources. But our fact says "they don't use nonrenewable sources, if we exclude the main way they get power, a renewable source." I was wondering if someone could clear up my troubles. Thanks! Zenosparadox 02:42, 21 January 2006 (UTC)
- An August 2005 press release (here) says, "The utility currently supplies 31 percent of its customer load from renewable resources—18 percent from its large hydroelectric facilities and 13 percent from small hydro and other renewable resources that qualify under California’s RPS Program—one of the highest volumes of any utility in the United States." So hydro is 18+13=31% of the 31% of renewables. The axe they seem to have been grinding is that despite providing power to Berkeley and Marin and other bastions of altruism and virtue, PG&E has virually nothing in the way of production from solar, wind, tide, or whatever else, if you take away the admittedly impressive amount of hydro. —RandallJones 06:29, 21 January 2006 (UTC)
- Indeed, I appreciate the clarification. I still am concerned with someone having an axe to grind. Were the company entirely renewable hydroelectric power, the commentary would hold just as well. I merely fail to see the point concerning their lack of diversity of nonrenewables (I can understand emphasizing them not having nonrenewables, but not having a diversity of nonrenewables seems POV. However, I myself feel uncomfortable reading a POV where one may not exist (if it does, it is subtle, but I still remain concerned). Thoughts? Zenosparadox 02:07, 15 February 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Company Leadership
Can someone supply the names of company Chairmen/Presidents/CEO's over time? Thanks.
[edit] Description of the energy crisis
I'm not sure why my edits concerning the energy crisis and PG&E's bankruptcy were deleted, but I was there working for the Public Utilities Commission, and the statements in the article now are demonstrably false. Enron did not dominate the market for electricity in California. It is debatable whether the State "bailed out" PG&E, but even if one concludes that it did, it had absolutely no effect on the state's budget deficit--the entire cost of the energy crisis was born by ratepayers, it had no impact whatsoever on the State's General Fund or on taxes. Whoever has written this has some sort of political agenda that, in my opinion, does not belong here.
Garcohsf 07:02, 26 August 2006 (UTC)
- Garcohsf, you're definitely right about some POV people controlling this article. Check out my anonymous edits of the environmental impacts section of the article, which I think are initially better than the misleading and mostly irrelevant ramblings about coal by-products. I've attempted to raise this on the discussion board (see comments above) but they've been completely ignored.
- Pedalin' Joe 15:59, 27 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Editing Needed
Wow, this information about PG&E really needs some editing. First off, I think whoever wrote it doesn't understand the difference between PG&E Corporation and Pacific Gas & Electric Company. PG&E Corporation is the parent company of the regulated electric utility, Pacific Gas & Electric Company.
Second, I completely agree that the discussion of pollution from coal has no place here. PG&E doesn't generate any electricity from coal. Rather than trying to make PG&E out as some kind of gross polluter, you might want to actually mention how way far ahead of the pack they are on the issue. PG&E's emissions are among the lowest in the industry, and the company has been way out in front on the subject of Global Climate Change.
The other thing that really stands out like a sore thumb is mentioning only one company officer, Bill Morrow. It's true that he is one of the Presidents of Pacific Gas & Electric Company, but he reports to Thomas King, the President and Chief Executive Officer. (Morrow is the President and Chief Operating Officer.) Thomas King reports to Peter Darbee, the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President of PG&E Corporation. So, it's odd to only list Morrow in the article, as he is below two other people. If you're only going to list one name, the one to list is Peter Darbee... he is at the top of the org chart.
Jim Zimmerlin 20:57, 25 November 2006 (UTC), an employee of Pacific Gas & Electric Company and a shareholder of PG&E Corporation.
[edit] Let's Green (Wash) This City edits
I've got a proposal: let's collect the sentences and clauses questioning PG&E's green credentials and combine them into one section.
I think resolves a couple problems. First of all, having bits and pieces scattered throughout the article makes each section less readable. If I want to know about kind of generation PG&E owns, let me read that section. If I want to know about the impacts of that generation, let me read that section.
Second, PG&E's new management is pursuing all sorts of interesting new strategies. The San Francisco stuff is one piece of that. A section devoted to these new moves and marketing would be far more interesting, informative, and have a bigger impact than a dig here and an added sentence there.
I'll make a few changes tonight, please leave your comments on what you like/don't like/have changed.
Also, there's a huge difference between "utility-owned generation" and the "power content" of electricity delivered by the utility. Utility-owned means that PG&E actually owns the facility. PG&E owns neither solar nor wind, when you get down to it, but it does deliver power through contracts with owners of both types of generation.
--Pedalin' Joe 01:07, 26 February 2007 (UTC)Pedalin' Joe, also a PG&E Co. employee and occasional stockholder (401k matching, you see)
