What would happen if the state took ownership of distribution and ran it at $0 profit? Customers could choose any generation service they like.
Any downsides?
Any downsides?
And instead of shareholders capitalizing the company, the government would need to use tax payer money.
And worst of all, when the state company fucks up, then the politicians would take the blame and might lose votes.
#1 and #2 are possible, but #3? Never going to happen in California.
For what it's worth, I agree with you and feel many things should be turned into non-profit government services.
Since we're talking about the one party state of California, I assume you're talking about Democrats.
It works in much of the world. Plenty of places have have government run the power companies.... like, for example, the capital city of California, or the largest city in California (LA). And SF, another major city, is looking into having a municipal power company as well.
I grew up in a small town on the east coast, and we had a municipal electricity company. Service was better and cheaper. And we got discounts on next month's electricity if the company accidentally ran a profit the prior month.
Americans have such a visceral reaction to their own perception of communism they forget that it can work, even in America.