CPUC WANTS YOUR TEARS, NOT YOUR LIGHTS ON: TELL THEM HOW BAD IT HURTS!

The Lompoc Record reports the unelected mandarins at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) are holding a pair of virtual hearings to solicit 'public input' on a crisis they largely manufactured. Apparently, after years of green-lighting every harebrained 'renewable' scheme and punishing productive energy sources, our state's energy regulators are shocked—SHOCKED, we tell you—that power bills have soared and hardworking Californians can't keep the AC running. It’s like the arsonist asking for feedback on the fire extinguisher’s performance.

One can almost picture the Zoom call now: a panel of pooh-bahs nodding sagely as a parade of desperate citizens explains how their PG&E bill now exceeds their mortgage. Expect plenty of hand-wringing and promises of 'customer assistance programs,' which, of course, means more taxpayer-funded band-aids on a gushing wound. The real 'assistance' would be to stop fetishizing windmills and solar panels and start drilling for oil and gas again, but that's obviously too sensible for this crowd.

This isn't about solving energy poverty; it's about political theater disguised as public engagement. The CPUC needs to document that they 'listened' before they inevitably approve the next round of rate hikes and mandate another fleet of unreliable energy projects. But don't expect answers. This is California, where the 'public input' is merely a required step before the bureaucracy does exactly what it planned to do all along, leaving you to pay the price – literally and figuratively. Your 'input' is just data for their next grant application.