{"id":111035,"date":"2026-06-13T14:43:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T14:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/13\/san-francisco-has-been-trying-to-leave-pge-for-100-years-will-this-time-be-different\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T14:43:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T14:43:00","slug":"san-francisco-has-been-trying-to-leave-pge-for-100-years-will-this-time-be-different","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/13\/san-francisco-has-been-trying-to-leave-pge-for-100-years-will-this-time-be-different\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco Has Been Trying to Leave PG&E for 100 Years. Will This Time Be Different?"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The utility company initially offered him just $2,500, he said \u2014 which barely covered his typical electricity bill, let alone all the product and business that he lost. After more than three months of back and forth, he said he finally got PG&E to agree to something he found reasonable, but only after threatening to hire a lawyer.<\/p>\n

Between December\u2019s series of power<\/a> outages and skyrocketing<\/a> electricity bills, Dabit and other San Franciscans are growing increasingly frustrated with the utility company. Their discontent recently led the Board of Supervisors to reaffirm their commitment to cutting ties with PG&E, a process that\u2019s been quietly underway for about five years.<\/p>\n

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Customers sit at Pizza Joint in San Francisco\u2019s Richmond District on June 8, 2026. (Beth LaBerge\/KQED)<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While PG&E has said that a takeover would increase<\/a> San Francisco electricity rates for decades, some advocates believe it might be the only way out. With the ever-increasing cost of living, would a takeover make life easier for Dabit?<\/p>\n

Though many residents may not be aware of it, the city has been in a protracted battle over whether or not to leave PG&E since the start of the 20th century, said Josh Lappen, a researcher at the University of Notre Dame who studies utilities and energy. The last significant attempt took place in the early 2000s and failed<\/a> as a ballot measure over concerns about government spending, questions about San Francisco\u2019s ability to run a utility and significant campaigning from PG&E.<\/p>\n

While similar ballot measures have been voted<\/a> down for decades, the city may no longer have to go through voter approval. Since residents passed Proposition A<\/a> in 2018, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission can now issue revenue bonds to buy clean power facilities with approval by two-thirds of the Board of Supervisors. This means that, if San Francisco and PG&E agree on a price, the city could potentially buy PG&E\u2019s wire, poles and other physical infrastructure without putting anything on the ballot, according to John Cot\u00e9, a spokesperson for San Francisco Power and Water.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The city\u2019s latest attempt to buy the utility officially started<\/a> in 2019 when it offered $2.5 billion for PG&E\u2019s infrastructure. The company rejected the offer outright, saying the offer was too low, but in 2021, the city asked the California Public Utilities Commission to set a fair price. After years of delays, the CPUC directed San Francisco to submit its valuation and for PG&E to file its response by Oct. 20, 2026.<\/p>\n

In April, San Francisco submitted a valuation of $3.4 billion to acquire the land, infrastructure and equipment needed for a takeover.<\/p>\n

If San Francisco ever gets to the end of this process, Jim Lazar, an economist with a five-decade career in utility regulation and an advocate for public power, estimated that rates could go down by 15%-20% in the 10 years following purchase. Lazar said that prices would go down primarily because investor-owned utilities come with some baked-in costs that make them more expensive to run than consumer-owned utilities.<\/p>\n

For example, being a public, nonprofit company allows consumer-owned utilities to both borrow money for construction projects at a cheaper rate and to pay less in taxes.<\/p>\n

Consumer-owned utilities also tend to pay their executives less than investor-owned utilities, and that\u2019s certainly the case for PG&E. The CEO of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, a consumer-owned utility, is set to earn $1.4 million<\/a> in 2026. While that\u2019s a lot, PG&E\u2019s CEO made $19.8 million<\/a> in 2025 alone. The skilled workers that maintain the grid, however, earn about the same regardless of ownership \u2014 about $79<\/a> per hour at SMUD and about $77<\/a> at PG&E.<\/p>\n

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A PG&E substation on Mission and 8th Streets in San Francisco on June 11, 2026. (Beth LaBerge\/KQED)<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As an investor-owned utility, PG&E also pays dividends to shareholders. While PG&E said that those dividends make up less than 1%<\/a> of a typical residential bill, the incentive to generate dividends creates one more expense for ratepayers \u2014 a never-ending need to increase profits by building more infrastructure. In 2024, they built enough to pay their shareholders $1.45<\/a> billion.<\/p>\n

While ratepayers may see gains in the long run, Michael Wara, a senior research scholar at Stanford University\u2019s Woods Institute for the Environment, said that the road ahead would be long, winding and costly.<\/p>\n

And, Wara said, PG&E ratepayers outside of San Francisco, including places like Oakland and Marin, would take on the costs that San Francisco leaves behind.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why: San Francisco ratepayers heavily subsidize grid upgrades across Northern California, particularly in fire-prone areas. And PG&E increased<\/a> its spending on wildfire prevention from $3.84 billion in 2019 to $6.17 billion in 2024. According to Wara, this wildfire spending was the \u201clargest driver of rate increase for PG&E over the last decade,\u201d and the majority of these investments happened outside of the city \u2014 where wildfires actually get started.<\/p>\n

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A PG&E substation on Mission and 8th Streets in San Francisco on June 11, 2026. (Beth LaBerge\/KQED)<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The investments still benefit San Franciscans by protecting them from the impacts of these natural disasters and making sure their energy gets to them safely.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know people that really think this is a great idea, but they tend to think about it solely from the perspective of San Francisco and the residents of San Francisco,\u201d Wara said, referring to a takeover. \u201cAt the end of the day, the city is a regional entity that relies on energy that comes from oil refineries, electric dams and ports across the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wara said that because \u201celectric power is this essential good that\u2019s provided over a very large system,\u201d more radical change \u2014 like turning all of PG&E into a public utility \u2014 would be better than cities leaving individually.<\/p>\n

Jessica Tovar, a climate and environmental justice advocate in San Francisco, generally agreed with this take.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really would like to see a municipalization push that\u2019s not solely big cities like San Francisco,\u201d she said, \u201cbut other communities as well, because there is a lot of benefit to having control of the whole system.\u201d<\/p>\n

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International currency and graduation photos from customers hang behind the counter at Pizza Joint in San Francisco\u2019s Richmond District on June 8, 2026. (Beth LaBerge\/KQED)<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While experts and advocates agree that PG&E\u2019s current structure does not always protect consumers, \u201cthere\u2019s a lot less consensus among the voters on what to do than there is on the fact that something needs to be done,\u201d Lappen said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese utilities really prop up daily life and any sort of change that risks increasing costs for any portion of the electorate would be really immediately and severely felt,\u201d Lappen said.<\/p>\n

Dabit, the Pizza Joint owner, said that while he had \u201cheard about the government taking over PG&E, I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s going to be any better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just need PG&E, and whoever is providing electricity and gas to all these restaurants all over the city, to just be fair,\u201d he said. \u201cJust be fair, you know? We\u2019re struggling. We really are.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n