The local utility is always a monopoly. Because it is a natural monopoly, as it is uneconomic to run parallel physical services - double gas pipes, power lines, etc.
CA utility rates, not just PG&E, are driven mainly by state mandates, such as, in this case, the forced investments in “green” everything.
Interestingly in CA municipally owned utilities like LADWP (Los Angeles Department of Water and Power) are exempt from the costly mandates imposed on utility companies. Hence LADWP benefits by being able to buy cheap electricity from coal plants in Arizona.
MORE REASONS to totally OPT OUT OF “SMART THERMOSTATS”.
The fly in the soup is that utilities have to run “parallel physical services”. Those services are in generating capacity. For every wind or solar farm, the utility, which is responsible for “reliable power” needs to build, maintain & have available an “old school” coal or oil generating plant.
Consider an analogy with your home, every modern home has an HVAC system for heat and AC. But in the analogy, your modern home will have two HVAC systems, one will operate when God provides sufficient wind and sun. And the other HVAC system for when sunless, windless days befall us.
But you’ve doubled HVAC purchase costs, 2 identical physical systems, different power sources. In addition to purchase, there is installation costs, maintenance and repair costs, etc. That’s what the utilities face. The days of the utility manifest for providing safe, inexpensive and reliable service are gone. Utility CEOs don’t even fight the Public Utility Commissions (PUC) anymore about fulfilling their manifest as a monopoly. If PUC says the utility needs 50% of their power grid to be renewable sources, the utilities sets into motion building “parallel physical services” and add the additional costs into the rate base.
The widows and orphans that own utility stocks are protected bec John Q Customer picks up the tab threw higher utility bills. Remember utilities are guaranteed a profit so long as they provide safe and reliable service, inexpensive not so much. But CEO replies to unhappy customers that the PUC instructed us what we need to do for our guaranteed profit, customer be D@mned.