Marin Energy Freedom

"We are sorry that a company that we have invested in, and from which we expected ethical corporate responsibility, has behaved in such a terrible fashion", laments Diane Tippen, a member of "PG&E Shareholders Against PG&E", or P-SAP, for short.

Tippen and other shareholders have become increasingly concerned with the tactics they say PG&E is using to "buy the vote". So they decided to join forces, and to do what they can to defeat Prop 16.

In cafes and restaurants, around kitchen tables and office desks, and even in a corner of the room at a recent PG&E shareholder meeting in San Ramon, a diverse assembly of individuals has been congregating to hear the many complaints against the company's endorsement of Proposition 16.

As a way of mitigating the damage from what they say is "PG&E's lack of integrity", shareholders are contributing money, time and their ire to work against the very company in which they own shares.
"It's an absolute disgrace to see this corporation put so much money into maintaining its monopoly on supplying energy. And it's not even cleaner or greener energy that they are supplying", states Gord Smothers, another P-SAP member.

Smothers' comment particularly resonates in Marin County, where after years of community discussions, politicians and clean energy activists adopted the provision in state law called CCA – or, Community Choice Aggregation – which permits a municipal agency or energy authority to procure energy on behalf of its residents.

Through Marin's version of CCA, (the Marin Energy Authority), the energy purchased is going to be much cleaner than before: almost twice as much of it will be from green sources than PG&E's energy mix, and it will be the same price as PG&E's product.

The development of the MEA was met with severe displeasure from PG&E: numerous incidents of wrongdoing and dirty politics have been documented and reviewed by the PG&E shareholder group. It is these incidents that prompted an apology.

Tippen explains, "PG&E stepped way outside the bounds established by the Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), and actually had staff people visiting and calling residents and telling them how to opt out of Marin's new Energy Authority. This aggressive solicitation completely disregards the rules established by the CPUC, and shows the company clearly acting in an improper way. We've also heard that politicians who worked to establish the CCA have been told that their future political ambitions will be challenged. I speak for PG&E Shareholders Against PG&E when I offer my sincere apologies for such flagrant abuses."

Other cities in California are looking at Marin's success and considering using the CCA model to form their own energy authorities. If CCA takes hold, PG&E, the state's largest investor-owned utility, could see its stake in the energy market diminished. So a few years back, when CCA was gaining traction, PG&E CEO Peter Darbee hatched the Prop 16 idea to halt the spread of public electricity providers.

Smothers comments, "Obviously, PG&E doesn't feel it can compete in a fair way, in a free market sort of way. So it has resorted to dirty tricks and paying for a State Proposition. Instead of just dealing with the competition as an opportunity, it has created a lot of ill will and rancor, and now even has its own shareholders calling foul."

Kate Bellgarden, a young, hard-working P-SAP member, has been listening intently to the discussion. She becomes animated as she offers her opinion. "The Prop 16 campaign is so misleading!" Bellgarden emphatically declares,"The full-color mailers, the tv ads running hundreds of times, all telling people that somehow PG&E is looking out for everyone's best interest! PG&E is banking that voters will trust a for-profit company's motives more than they trust community choice energy. For pete's sake, we're shareholders that have a stake in the company and we're saying enough is enough!"

P-SAP's website pronounces, "In our opinion, PG&E is actively destroying any decent reputation it had. The company and it Board of Directors have fostered a sentiment of distrust by aligning with Wall Street greed. A new model of cooperation is needed to solve our energy problems and to address the growing risks from climate change. Sadly, PG&E has made it clear it will not cooperate."

Contact PG&E Shareholders Against PG&E's Prop 16. at: PGEshareholders@gmail.com