Letters: PG&E waste | Rate accountability | Auto theft | Convicted president | Unlikely to help | Inaction expensive

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Rate hike an outrage
in light of PG&E waste

Re: “PG&E is seeking to increase bills to meet energy demands, more” (Page A1, Nov. 26).

Is PG&E seeking to increase bills to meet energy demands, or is it to cover the cost of their endless TV commercials about burying cables?

This tiring commercial has been running for years, over and over again, on multiple TV channels, several times a day. Why? Bury the cables instead of just talking about it. We got it, years ago, so why keep wasting more of our money? A slip about it in connection with the bill would have been more than enough.

Is there no oversight? Who is responsible for such enormous waste? Should PG&E have been taken over by the state? And on top of it, their CEO made $17 million in 2023 — for doing what? How can that be justified?

Jorg Aadahl
San Mateo

PG&E rate hikes must
have accountaility

Re: “PG&E is seeking to increase bills to meet energy demands, more” (Page A1, Nov. 26).

PG&E, enough with the rate increases. California’s largest investor-owned utility has paid out billions of dollars in profits to its shareholders. PG&E has also paid millions of dollars in bonuses to its executives. Both payouts were in the shadow of some of California’s largest utility-related disasters. In support of these expenses, customers will be paying another rate increase just as winter approaches.

PG&E needs to reinvest profits, not demand a handout from current customers. PG&E needs to also be accountable to its customers by providing them with a safe and reasonably priced product.

And the PUC needs to be accountable to the ratepayers by holding them to it.

Conrad Garcia
Sunnyvale

Concerted effort is
needed to stop car theft

Re: “Bay Area auto thefts on rise” (Page A1, Nov. 25).

Your article sheds light on an alarming issue impacting our communities. With over 1 million vehicles stolen nationwide in 2023 and the Bay Area ranking among the highest in theft rates, it’s clear this is a crisis requiring immediate action.

Law enforcement faces resource limitations. Car manufacturers must improve anti-theft technologies to address the problem effectively. Companies like Honda can enhance security measures, such as advanced tracking systems and tamper-resistant locks, to deter theft. Local governments should strengthen task forces and invest in public awareness campaigns to educate residents on protecting their vehicles.

I urge policymakers and automakers to collaborate on these solutions and encourage residents to take proactive steps, like installing security devices and reporting suspicious activity. Together, we can combat auto thefts and safeguard neighborhoods.

Maher Dedgeba
San Jose

Convicted president
promises a bumpy ride

Our military generally rejects those with felony convictions, yet our next commander in chief will be a felon with a record of 34 convictions. In addition, he has been charged with many more serious felonies that would certainly result in us ordinary folk spending most of the rest of life in a federal penitentiary.

I can almost hear the sounds of high-pitched spinning from the graves of our Founding Fathers. Fasten your seat belts, I think we are in for a bumpy ride.

Matt Rode
San Jose

Musk unlikely to make
government efficient

We can all breathe a sigh of relief, now that President-elect Donald Trump announced he will appoint Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head a new Department of Government Efficiency, responsible for rooting out wasteful government spending.

Also promised by the new administration is a massive reduction in the government workforce, an area where Musk has expertise. When he bought Twitter, he reduced its workforce by 80%, and since then his investment has lost a corresponding 80% of its value.

This time may be different, but the first Trump administration was unconcerned with spending and racked up more debt than at any time in history. One area the new department should immediately focus on is the excessive lodging costs charged by the Trump Organization for Secret Service protection when the president is staying at his own properties.

Warren Seifert
Gilroy

Not switching to clean
energy would be costly

Re: “Climate legacy we leave will be the financial mess” (Page A8, Nov. 24).

I share Mr. Gutmann’s concern about leaving our children a financial mess. But the mess we leave them will be much larger if we scale back on the tremendous progress we are making in transitioning to clean energy.

A recent report from the Environmental Defense Fund entitled “Fighting climate change costs far less than doing nothing” states, “Without action to slow global warming, the economic damage caused by climate change is projected to cost $38 trillion a year.”

Solar was the fastest-growing source of electricity in 2023 for the 19th consecutive year, and has been cheaper than fossil fuels for years.

Climate pollution is not a “future existential problem.” Hurricanes are becoming increasingly destructive due to warming oceans. Total 2024 economic losses due to hurricanes in the United States are estimated at more than $7.5 billion.

To avoid financial (and social) ruin we must transition to clean energy.

Karl Danz
Los Altos