San Francisco lawmakers are pushing new legislation to break away from PG&E and establish a publicly-owned utility. (Courthouse News)
Frustrated by high rates and a recent December substation fire that left 130K without power, State Sen. Scott Wiener introduced a bill to remove legal "poison pills" and create a fair eminent domain process for the city to acquire PG&E's local grid.
For context: San Francisco has been attempting to municipalize its power since 2019. A 2021 CPUC petition to value PG&E's electric distribution system was supposed to take 18 months, but remains tied up in ongoing delays.
San Francisco estimates the grid assets are worth between $2–3B. PG&E argues the city is drastically undervaluing the infrastructure and that the heavy costs of rebuilding a separated system would ultimately drive up customer bills.