California's green energy scam 

The definition of socialism is the government ownership, aka takeover, of the means of production.

So take PG&E and the fact the environmentalists and the government have harassed them for the past 40 years. Diablo Canyon Power Plant opened in the 1980s.

Environmentalists have pushed to stop clearing dead wood out of our forests for the past 40 years. No more firebreaks, no more clearing dead wood, no more controlled burning of brush by local citizens.

Government regulations have been the reason good forest management practices have gone by the wayside.

Enter 2017 and the monumental rainfall we received that year—which caused a state, already overgrown for decades, to grow even denser, with no firebreaks from one end of the state to the other. The result, fires up and down the state resulted in a monumental loss of lives and thousands of homes. Never in my lifetime have I seen so many homes destroyed. Never have I seen more citizens die as a result of forest fires.

The government restrictions on PG&E brush clearing undoubtedly contributed to PG&E's failure to clear power lines from overgrowth.

So who does state government blame for the devastating fires? Why, PG&E of course. Remember: Never let a good crisis go to waste!

PG&E files for bankruptcy, and presto, Monterey Bay Community Power (MBCP) is here, a public agency, a middleman that does not produce power but purchases it from out-of-state power companies and sells it to us. Energy currently produced from carbon sources, which local politicians support while claiming our energy via MBCP will be cleaner! Hogwash!

We are told California law mandates we go with MBCP if local government decides to opt in, then we are forced to "opt out" of MBCP if we prefer to stay with PG&E.

Once PG&E is out of the picture and MBCP has control, do you think our rates might increase? Do you think MBCP executives will receive increasing salaries financed through future rate increases? Remember, government is inefficient and does not need to make a profit; they just raise rates or increase your taxes.

Why does the state have an interest in entering the electric power business? Just how much revenue will the state receive for their part in this takeover?

Do you understand now what socialism is? Government control of the means of production, in this case your electric power supply.

We are now beginning to experience the full benefit of a socialist economy with power outages lasting for days where the supply of electricity cannot meet the demand. No power, just like Cuba or Venezuela. Is that what we want here? If government is concerned about our growing population, why aren't they building dams to increase water storage and hydroelectric power, and encouraging PG&E to keep the Diablo Canyon Power Plant open? Why aren't subsidies provided to encourage increased production of electric power generation?

Government forced the closure of Diablo Canyon, blamed PG&E for the devastating fires that helped force PG&E into bankruptcy. Our government could care less if you have inexpensive reliable electric power; they want control over cost, production, and distribution of electrical power in the state. Do you think perhaps they knew full well the consequences of their actions would provide them the opportunity to take complete control of the state's electric supply?

Government is subsidizing the manufacture of electric cars, installing solar systems in homes and solar panels on every public building in the state, to include schools and parks. Solar systems on homes provide electricity to the grid, not to the homeowner. The energy produced is taken from the homeowner and sent to the grid, where it will be controlled and directed in accordance with government mandates.

If homeowners want access to the electric power generated by their solar panels, they would need to install a battery system on their solar system at a cost of $5,000 per battery and the battery backup lasts only six to eight hours. PG&E public safety power shutoffs are scheduled to last days at a time. To combat this would require installation of a backup electric generator system costing from $1,000 for a portable generator to $8,500 for a whole house system to include installation of a safety switch panel.

Our electric rates are rising because the government is in the process of taking control of electric power production and distribution. We are witnessing a government takeover of electric energy production and distribution. Do you really believe your electric energy costs will decrease as time goes on?

The definition of socialism is government control of the means of production. Wake up, America! Δ

John Texeira writes from Paso Robles. Send comments through [email protected] or write a letter to the editor and email it to [email protected].