Projecting Our Energy Justice Future!

(07/2020) After many months fighting to stop Governor Newsom's bad PG&E/bankruptcy deal, lift the voices of impacted people into the governance of our energy future, and building our movement to #cancelPGE and #ReclaimOurPower, the Reclaim Our Power campaign is entering a new phase. We memorialized the passage of an important date with a powerful press conference, projected striking images of PG&E's deadly failures, and have been pushing hard to shape the legislative solution that aims to serve as a backstop for when PG&E fails California again.

June 30th marked a significant day: the deadline that PG&E had to meet in order to get billions in bailout from ratepayer funds allowed by Governor Newsom’s AB 1054 legislation. Newsom said that “PG&E as an entity no longer exists”, and that ratepayers, fire survivors, workers, our communities and the climate would be protected in the new utility. But then, PG&E and the Governor got together and made a deal that failed to do just that. The bad deal shortchanges those who lost their homes and family members to fires, guarantees more reckless power shutoffs, and burdens our communities with the costs. (You can see our analysis of that plan here.)
 
To mark the day, we brought forward our images and our voices. On the eve of the date, we projected images on their San Francisco headquarters of the fires and explosions that PG&E has inflicted on our community. You can see images here and see our team at work here. 
 
 
Then, on June 30th itself, we held a press conference to outline what we'd hoped to be celebrating- a truly transformed energy system- and instead what we are mourning: a propped up corporate energy model that keeps our health and safety in the hands of Wall St, not the people. We heard from North Bay Organizing Project, Asian Pacific Environmental Network, Jessica Tovar from LCEA, and two dynamic young people from Youth Vs. Apocalypse, each calling on the Governor to live up to the promise, and join us in moving towards a truly safe, affordable, reliable, worker and community controlled utility. You can see the video here. 
 
We know, and so do the Governor, the legislature, and regulators, that their sloppy plan to keep PG&E afloat will not protect us, provide us energy safely, nor allow us to build our dreams. We know that PG&E will fail us again.
 
That’s why we worked hard on a Plan B to replace PG&E with a new utility under SB 350: the Golden State Energy bill. This bill is designed to serve as a backstop if and when PGE fails us- through failing to get secure financing, deciding to sell the company, or through burning down our communities. Testifying, filling public comment, and meeting with legislators at every turn of what was a breakneck and non-transparent process, we've improved the bill and are fighting to get the voices of impacted communities in meaningful decision making roles inside Golden State Energy.  
 
We see an opportunity to take our energy system out of the hands of Wall St and instead make it work for people with disabilities, Black and brown neighborhoods, immigrant communities and workers, and our youth who envision a just transition from the climate crisis. And, we know that the Governor's Plan A - propping up PG&E- is a disaster, and his "Plan B"- Golden State Energy through SB 350-  is not nearly good enough. 
 
Looking ahead, we face a fire, smoke, and shutoff season that might be worse than ever, with the added complications of COVID-19, and PG&E still in charge of our energy, we've got work to do. This summer, we'll be building our movement, working to respond to fires and shutoffs, and demanding the Governor take action to protect our health and safety. We hope you'll join us.