PG&E backs gay marriage rights

Sacramento Bee ^ | July 30, 2008 | Aurelio Rojas

[Saundra Duffy]

Pacific Gas and Electric Co., California's largest investor-owned utility, has contributed $250,000 to defeat a ballot measure that would ban same-sex marriage in the state, it was announced Tuesday. Businesses often steer clear of ballot measures that deal with social issues for fear of alienating customers. But PG&E officials said the San Francisco-based company's effort to defeat Proposition 8 on the Nov. 4 ballot is consistent with its long-time advocacy of equality for all.

[Saundra Duffy]

Two summers ago, human beings in the Central Valley literally died because they could not afford to run their air conditioners. Furthermore, during the winter months, many poor customers cannot afford to heat their homes and apts.

I am furious!! PG&E flushing our fees down the toilet to promote their liberal agenda.

[Saundra Duffy]

Have you heard about this?

[Cementjungle]

Maybe they figure married gays use more electricity that co-habitating ones... who knows.

[Drago]

Also here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2053354/posts

Not to mention the infrastructure in my part of Central Cal. is going to pot. Many more outages since AB1890 gutted PG&E.

[Navy Patriot]

I am furious!! PG&E flushing our fees down the toilet to promote their liberal agenda.

Me too, damn monopolies, PG&E is full of fraud, graft and kickbacks as well, the PUC covers for 'em.

[IrishCatholic]

bookmark for later.

[rawhide]

Will PG&E seek a rate hike to pay for this?

[yankeedame]

Maybe they figure married gays use more electricity that co-habitating ones... who knows.

Don't know about that, but they'll run up the health costs for PG&E that's for sure.

[camle]

nice to know that the utility company has enough resources to engage in this kind of activity. imagine if that monney was used for something like, oh I dunno, lowering the cost of energy to consumers?

[Polynikes]

“Businesses often steer clear of ballot measures that deal with social issues for fear of alienating customers. But PG&E officials said the San Francisco-based company's effort to defeat Proposition 8 on the Nov. 4 ballot is consistent with its long-time advocacy of equality for all.”

BS cover story. I believe the truth is closer to PG&E buckling to pressure. SF owns Hetch Hetchy reservoir system. PGE draws hydro-electric power from that system. SF has toyed for years with the idea of going into independent power production. My guess is PGE was threatened with loss of hydro-electric power revenues unless they contributed to defeat of Prop 8. The suits at PGE caved.

[television is just wrong]

there should be something illegal about this.

[television is just wrong]

there should be something illegal about this.

[screaminsunshine]

Question...How do they prove they are gay?

[television is just wrong]

using public funds froma public utility commission to further a perverted political agenda should be illegal.

our fees are making them way too much of a profit.

[ViLaLuz]

Is there another power company there you can switch over to?

[theBuckwheat]

Another reason why only natural persons should be allowed to contribute to political campaigns.

[rockinqsranch]

SierraWasp

PING!

[Impy]

Why does a power company feel the need to support queer “marriage”?

[Alia]

The story of what was done to PG&E to buckle under the Socialist thumb happened decades ago. Under then Speaker in CA, Willie Brown. It involved the building of Diablo Nuclear Plant Facility, and Willie wanting to have PG&E basically grant a friend of his, some "energy". PG&E said no; suddenly all kinds of liberals and protestors came out of the woodworks claiming the Facility was unsound. And the more the socialists did these things, led and organized by SF Democrats, the more the Plant was going into budget overruns. In the end, PG&E buckled to the demands of Willie Brown to "help" his friend.

Fast forward to something more current:

Former reporter Lance Williams did some phenomenally breathtaking investigative work on Willie's strongarming of PG&E. I still have hardcopies of those articles. So good and fair was he, well, he was almost sent to prison for digging up facts.

A quote from the above-urled article:

snips:

Williams said, "I am glad we did these stories.

"We took President Bush at his word when he said our stories were a 'service.' I don't mean to sound immodest when I say I think our stories provided a public benefit, and it is now disappointing beyond words that I would face prison for doing public-service journalism. But it doesn't make me regret what we did.''

--end snips

Ethics boss raps worker for revealing PG&E error, 2003

--snips:

San Francisco's ethics boss has reprimanded an employee for making public $800,000 in campaign finance irregularities involving Pacific Gas & Electric Co.'s efforts to block a public-power initiative, city records show.

Ethics Commission Director Virginia Vida placed a letter of reprimand in the personnel file of city campaign finance officer Joseph Lynn last month, accusing him of "selectively" publicizing PG&E's campaign finance reports in hopes of getting the utility in trouble for alleged clean-government violations.

Lynn denies wrongdoing and says he was punished for simply answering questions about public documents filed with the Ethics Commission. In an interview, he said he worries that Vida will fire him and muzzle the staff from providing information to the public.

--end snips

For additional reading:

How a Willie Brown real estate venture snagged tens of millions of dollars in government subsidies and opened the way for Democratic heavyweight Angelo Tsakopoulo to make even more money

Pretty decent timeline at this site: Tidbits:

--snips:

"1986 State politicians Willie Brown and Bill Lockyer negotiated a bill that exempted tobacco and alcohol from product liability lawsuits in the “napkin deal” at Frank Fat’s restaurant.

(SFC, 4/7/97, p.A20)"

"1989 The Holy Land Foundation was founded in California as an Islamic charity. In 2002 it filed suit against the US Departments of Justice, Treasury and State for violation of its civil rights and putting it out of business as a suspected conduit for terrorist funds. (SFC, 3/16/02, p.A14)

"1995 A state law made an independent, non-profit foundation responsible for the operations of the new state museum in Sacramento to open in 1998. (WSJ, 6/11/97, p.CA3)

[Alia]

BINGO! See my post, um, above this one.