The next time you pass a power pole consider this: Pacific Gas & Electric expects that pole to be there until the year 2357 and perhaps until 2785. The average PG&E pole has just nine years of useful life left, according to PG&E’s sworn testimony asking for more money to speed pole replacement. It got money through rate hikes to replace poles on a 50-year cycle, but it has been replacing them on a 346 to 778 year cycle while, by PG&E’s own testimony, diverting that money to other purposes.
Author Archives: David Cay Johnston
David Cay Johnston, a San Francisco native and Public Press donor, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and president of the 4,200-member Investigative Reporters & Editors who writes books about hidden aspects of the American economy. He teaches business regulation and tax law at Syracuse University’s law and graduate business schools.