Completely off The Grid ( aol news article)

[Nifty]

Actually, California (PG&E) is a very interesting case where the company is trying to get people to use LESS of it's product... it's really weird! We get notices all the time to lower our usage, rebates to buy power saving lightbulbs, rebates to use whole-house-fans vs. A/C, etc. From what I understand, PG&E makes it's money from maintaining the transportation / infrastructure and not from the quantity of electricity it provides... and the state actually incentives PG&E to get their customers to use less power. It's all pretty weird.

 

[Daffodils At The Sea]

Nifty, you might want to look at this skeptically. there is no way on this planet that a company as powerful as PG&E, that gets breaks from the state that they do, is going to encourage consumers to use less so they make less. Get real about this, please

Check out how they do it, and how they actually make money at it:

http://www.turn.org/consumer-tools/consumer-advisor/item/593-lower-gas-price-scams.html

"All gas suppliers get gas from the same sources. PG&E passes the cost of the gas itself on to customers, and only makes a profit from delivering it, which leaves little opportunity for these alternate gas companies to beat PG&Es prices."

also look at this:

https://www.baycitizen.org/news/pge/pge-overhauls-billing-system/

"The changes represent the most radical overhaul of PG&E's residential rates in a decade and are designed to alleviate pressure on heavy electricity users, such as residents of big houses that are constantly heated or cooled. About one-quarter of PG&E's residential customers those who use the most electricity have borne virtually all of the company's rate hikes since 2001 under a system designed to promote energy conservation and protect low-income Californians from rising energy prices."