To the editor:
Sammy Roth’s insightful column adeptly highlights the financial burden posed by necessary upgrades to California’s electric grid, tied to wildfire prevention (“Wildfires are driving up California electric bills. Lawmakers need to act,” March 20). However, a critical oversight is whom the bill should really affect. Shareholders of investor-owned utilities seem to be conveniently left out of this conversation, even though they arguably should be front and center. While Roth mentions that previous rate hikes have included a 10% profit margin for investors, he doesn’t delve into why this group isn’t being asked to contribute more.
For years, these investors have reaped the benefits of their companies’ missteps, continuing to profit from rate hikes that already ensure a return. Roth points out how taxpayers share the load to decrease fire hazards, but skips over addressing those who capitalize on the situation. It seems only fair that investors should shoulder their portion of the financial strain first.
– Robert Rosenblum, Woodland Hills
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To the editor:
A careful look at Roth’s column provides a straightforward solution to rising electricity costs. According to his piece, installing underground lines is an “expensive but foolproof” method to prevent fires during dry, windy conditions. Completing this task would effectively take equipment-related fire hazards out of the equation. Utilities such as Southern California Edison should prioritize this by halting shareholder dividends until these lines are securely underground. This approach would finally relieve customers from the substantial indirect costs of public safety power shutoffs, which Southern California Edison currently neither acknowledges nor compensates for.
– Bill Waxman, Simi Valley
